Shell and Exxon Mobil posted significantly better refining profits while their chemical gadgets earned less. Eastman and Olin pointed to pricing, feedstock costs and plant operations.
Third-area quarter reported this week show a split throughout the chemical sector. Incorporated oil companies published large refining gains, even as their chemical businesses earned less as margins narrowed.
Shell plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. both pronounced higher overall profits on sturdy refining margins. Chemical makers Eastman Chemical Co. And Olin Corp. Said reported outcomes formed via pricing actions, feedstock costs and plant operations.
Exxon Mobil
Exxon Mobil reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $17.5 billion, or $4.23 per share, on Oct. 30. Its Chemical Products segment earned $725 million on an adjusted basis, down from $1.21 billion within the second quarter.
The company mention chemical earnings fell as margins declined. Growth in high-value product volumes, driven by seasonal demand in Asia Pacific, in part offset the drop. Chemical sales volumes scale up to 4,888 kilotons from 4,471 kilotons in the second quarter.
Shell
Shell reported adjusted earnings of $10.8 billion on Oct. 29. Its Chemicals and Products phase earned $3.86 billion, but almost all of that came from refining and trading. The chemicals subsegment earned $103 million.
Shell said its chemicals production plants ran at 84% utilization and that the chemicals business was free cash flow positive for a second consecutive quarter. On the earnings call, management said Shell does not see itself as a natural owner of chemical assets and is in detailed talks to sell or restructure them.
Eastman
Eastman reported third-quarter sales of $2.39 billion on Oct. 29, up 8% from a year earlier. A 7% rise in selling charges accounted for most of the gain.
Adjusted earnings were $1.84 per share, up from $1.14 a year earlier. Both earnings and revenue got here in slightly below analyst estimates.
Olin
Olin reported net income of $14.4 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, on Oct. 29. That compares with $42.8 million, or 37 cents as per share, a year in advance. Sales scale up to $1.75 billion from $1.71 billion, while adjusted EBITDA fell to $191.4 million from $222.4 million.
President and CEO Ken Lane said the company returned its vinyl chloride monomer assets to normal operations during the quarter. Those gadgets at Freeport, Texas, had operating issues in the second region.
Olin anticipates a weaker fourth quarter. The company referred to year-end customer destocking, better feedstock costs, competition from subsidized Asian exports and considerable planned maintenance turnarounds. It anticipates its merger with Huntsman Corp. To close within the first quarter of 2027.
Feedstock costs
Higher energy prices persist to affect manufacturers. Brent crude traded close to $118 a barrel on the morning of Oct. 30, about $53 higher than a year in advance, amid ongoing U.S.-Iran tensions.
Dow Inc. Has proposed polyethylene price increases in the U.S. And Canada of 7 cents per pound for October and 5 cents per pound for November. Dow noted higher feedstock costs, together with ethane.
Chemical Processing pronounced in August that ethane-fed U.S. Commodity manufacturers have benefited from the gap among oil and gas costs, even as specialty manufacturers have had more trouble passing on higher costs.
