Zeon's elastomers unit signals strong rebound

TOKYO—Zeon Corp.'s elastomers unit registered a strong recovery in the final three months of 2020, including an almost four-fold rise in earnings compared to the previous quarter.

For its fiscal third quarter, to Dec. 31, segment operating income reached $42.7 million, representing an increase of 73 percent year-on-year and 374 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Zeon's financial presentation, issued Jan. 29, did not include detailed commentary on the performance of its elastomers business, which supplies synthetic rubber, latex and chemicals.

However, it did note that sales prices for rubber materials had increased along with raw material prices, helping to improve business performance in the third quarter.

Increased sales levels also reflected improvement in the market situation and supply/demand balance seen since the second quarter, according to Zeon.

Revenue improved 26 percent compared to the previous three months, to $409 million, but remained 1 percent below prior-year levels, Zeon added.

Breaking down the figures, Zeon's synthetic rubbers unit posted 4 percent year-on-year lower sales of $271 million, on 4 percent lower volumes of 82,000 metric tons.

Third quarter sales volumes of rubbers continued a recovery trend picked up since the second quarter of the fiscal year.

In the latex business, sales prices rose on strong demand balance for protective gloves. Revenue grew 10 percent to $42.7 million, despite 1 percent lower volumes, at 32,000 tons.

The chemicals business saw a 16 percent year-on-year increase in volumes, helped by steady demand for petroleum resin. Sales, however, remained 2 percent lower than prior-year levels at $80 million, Zeon reported.