BERWYN, Pa.—Trinseo S.A. can see signs of recovery in the Chinese automotive market, CEO and president Frank Bozich said in a third-quarter earnings call Nov. 4.
In particular, he noted that the Caixin, China Purchasing Managers' Index had registered a fourth straight month of improvement in October, reaching its highest rating in more than two and a half years.
The U.S. polymers group also is encouraged by new incentives within the Chinese automotive market, Bozich said.
These include decisions by two of the most populated cities in China to raise license plate quotas from June 2019 until December 2020. Bozich did not identify the two cities.
"This has led to a substantial increase in new license plate registrations in these cities during the third quarter," Bozich said. "We're hopeful that government initiatives like this will stimulate sales growth in the automotive market."
Trinseo's synthetic rubber business reported a 53.3 percent decline in earnings (adjusted EBITDA) for the third quarter of 2019. This, it said, was due in part to a sharp drop in sales of emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (ESBR), which is widely used in the production of standard tires in China.