HOUSTON—Orion Engineered Carbons is confident that the war in Ukraine will have little impact on its European operations, saying in a March 8 statement that its "business activities in Ukraine and Russia have been very limited."
"Our few Russian customers have been informed that deliveries to them have been discontinued," the carbon black maker said.
Orion also noted in its March 8 statement that spot trading formed only about 10 percent of its business in Europe. With much more of its business being contract sales, the carbon black maker contends that it is insulated from commodity market fluctuations.
That said, carbon black supply is under pressure and capacity will remain "tight" in Europe, according to Orion. The company's recently inaugurated facility in Ravenna, Italy, will help to offset some of that. The new 25-kiloton facility produces both specialty and technical rubber carbon black.
On the general business environment in Europe, the carbon black maker said that while it is facing many challenges in Europe, it remains optimistic about the weeks ahead.
"On a net basis, our business in Europe is facing an overall manageable headwind from current energy pricing developments," Orion said. "We have hedging programs in place and for our formula and nonformula customers, natural gas costs are part of our pricing negotiations."
