The US specialty materials company said it had received “broad and significant interest” from both strategic and financial parties, but the deterioration of financing markets and the economic uncertainty created by the war in Ukraine, particularly in European energy markets, has impeded its ability to obtain full value for the business.

President and CEO Frank Bozich commented: “While the separation of the styrenics business is part of our transformation strategy, the current economic and financing environments make it challenging to get a value for the assets that is reflective of their significant cash generation, and therefore, we have decided to pause the sale process.”

Trinseo intends to reevaluate a potential sale when macroeconomic conditions improve. “In the meantime, we will utilize the cash generation of the styrenics and other businesses to invest in organic growth projects, increase our sustainable product offerings, decrease our CO₂ footprint and return cash to shareholders,” Bozich said.

Expansion of PMMA resin in Italy

In separate news, Trinseo has announced that it is expanding capacity for Altuglas PMMA resins at its plant in Rho, Italy. A new compounding line is scheduled to go into operation in the third quarter of 2022, meeting increased demand from the market.

“This added capacity supports Trinseo’s mold-in color, paint replacement solution,” said Olivier Bourgeois, resins business director, engineered materials EMEA. “There’s a growing interest in this solution – particularly with automotive customers […] From a sustainability perspective, it also eliminates volatile organic compounds attributed to the paint process.”

Trinseo added that the new production line is more flexible, allowing it to respond quicker and easier to changing market conditions. The company also intends to improve its capacity for specialty and sustainable products by almost doubling capacity over the next three years, while also improving product performance with low dust content.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist