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Celanese (CE) to Increase Prices of Acetyl Intermediates

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Celanese Corporation (CE - Free Report) will increase the list and off-list selling prices of certain products. The price hike will be effective from Oct 1 or as contracts permit.

The company will increase the price of MIBK and MIBC by 8 cents per lb in North and South America. Price of Formaldehyde Solution 50% will rise by 2 cents per lb while Formaldehyde Solution 37% will increase by 1.5 cents per lb in North and South America. The price of Paraformaldehyde 91-93% will be hiked by 3.5 cents per lb in North and South America. In the United States and Canada price of Ethyl Acetate will rise by 5 cents per lb and by $110/MT in Mexico and South America.

Celanese is taking appropriate pricing actions amid a volatile raw material pricing environment. Pricing improvement drove margins in its Acetyl Chain unit in second-quarter 2017.

Celanese has outperformed the industry over a year. The company’s shares have moved up around 65.7% over this period compared with roughly 28.8% gain recorded by the industry.

 


Celanese kept its earnings streak alive with a beat in second-quarter 2017. The company logged adjusted earnings of $1.79 per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.74. Celanese sees adjusted earnings per share to increase 9-11% in 2017.

Celanese’s strategic measures including cost savings through productivity actions and pricing initiatives are expected to lend support to its earnings in 2017. The company is also likely to gain from capacity expansion and growth initiatives like acquisitions. Moreover, Celanese remains focused on returning value to shareholders.

Celanese Corporation Price and Consensus

 

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Celanese currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the chemical space are Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (KRO - Free Report) , BASF S.A. (BASFY - Free Report) and Koppers Holdings Inc. (KOP - Free Report) . All three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Kronos Worldwide has expected long-term earnings growth of 5%.

BASF has expected long-term earnings growth of 8.6%.

Koppers Holdings has expected long-term earnings growth of 18%.

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