Carbon black supplier Orion S.A. announced that it has completed upgrading its air emissions control technology at all four of its US carbon black plants – the biggest sustainability-related initiative in the company’s history.
The company recently finished its final air emissions project at its plant in Belpre, Ohio. Previously, the company upgraded its Borger, Texas; Ivanhoe, Louisiana; and Orange, Texas, facilities.
The upgrades were part of an initiative from the US Environmental Protection Agency that applied to all carbon black producers in America. The projects were especially challenging for Orion because it has more carbon black plants in the US than any other company. Despite suffering from contractor issues, Covid-19 and supply-chain disruptions, Orion adds it finished its projects ahead of some of its competitors.
“Our difficult journey to make our facilities run cleaner is now completed,” Orion CEO Corning Painter said. “Looking forward, we are entering an exciting new era as we focus more on investing in profitable growth, reducing debt and returning value to shareholders.”
“Central to our growth strategy, Orion will continue to invest in sustainability-linked projects,” Painter added. “This will include producing conductive materials for lithium-ion batteries and developing products for the circular economy.”
With a slower recovery in end markets and downtime as a result of Orion’s final EPA project, the company expects 2023 results to land at the lower end of its adjusted EBITDA guidance range of US$330 million to US$340 million. While demand is recovering, it is building slower than expected in many markets.
“We are projecting our fourth year in a row of earnings growth in 2024 and expect the rate to be similar to 2023, which was a mid-single digit EBITDA increase,” Painter said.