DowDuPont to Expand Capacity to Meet DuPont Zytel HTN Demand
DowDuPont Inc.’s DWDP Transportation & Advanced Polymers unit is increasing production capacity at its Mechelen, Belgium site. The latest move will address the growing demand for DuPont Zytel HTN high-performance polyamide resin used in the automotive, consumer and electronics markets.
Transportation & Advanced Polymers, a segment of DowDuPont Specialty Products Division, owns and operates world-scale polymerization and compounding assets in major regions of the world.
The Specialty Products Division has increased its investment at the Mechelen site to install a new production line that will come online in the fourth quarter of 2017. DowDuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers continues to invest in compounding capacity expansion to address the strong growth in demand for highly engineered specialty polymers including PPAs.
Part of Zytel HTN high-performance polyamide resin portfolio, Zytel HTN PPA grades offers outstanding chemical resistance. It is also known to retain properties when exposed to moisture and can even perform at high temperature.
DowDuPont has underperformed the industry it belongs to over the last three months. The company’s shares have moved up around 9.2% over this period, compared with roughly 11.4% gain recorded by the industry.
DowDuPont, in its third-quarter 2017 earnings call, said that demand outlook remains positive for most of its key end-markets. It will remain focused on executing its near-term priorities that include delivering earnings and cash flow growth, executing its $3-billion cost synergy initiatives and advancing activities to create three growth companies in Agriculture, Materials Science and Specialty Products.
DowDuPont also declared it will take actions to enable cost savings of $3 billion. These include workforce reductions, buildings and facilities consolidations and select asset shutdowns. DowDuPont recorded pre-tax charges of $180 million in the third quarter of 2017 in connection with the actions that are approved so far. It expects to record total pre-tax charges of around $2 billion, with around $1 billion expected in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Dow Chemical Company (The) Price and Consensus
Dow Chemical Company (The) Price and Consensus | Dow Chemical Company (The) Quote
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
DowDuPont is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.
Some better-ranked companies in the basic materials space are Ingevity Corporation NGVT, ArcelorMittal MT and Westlake Chemical Corporation WLK, all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Ingevity has expected long-term earnings growth of 12%. Its shares have gained 33.5% year to date.
ArcelorMittal has expected long-term earnings growth of 11.3%. Its shares have rallied 27.5% year to date.
Westlake Chemical has expected long-term earnings growth of 8.4%. Its shares have moved up 61.8% year to date.
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