In the second quarter of 2018, EBITDA for Huntsman's MDI business was nearly 50% higher than in the second quarter of 2017. EBITDA for the second quarter of 2018 was $ 246 million, and for the second quarter of 2017 was $ 165 million.
Peter Huntsman said at the conference that the MDI business increased by 9% year-on-year. In addition to the spray foam business Demilec, which increased by 10% year-on-year, the business of other differentiated investments increased by 13% year-on-year.
The largest increase was in the Americas, where sales rose 21% compared to the same quarter in 2017.
Part of the growth is due to Demilec's business. In the first quarter of this year, Huntsman announced the acquisition of Demilec, a new business that increased its sales of basic businesses by 5%.
Growth in the United States also benefited from the startup of the company's MDI plant in Shanghai with BASF. He added that this meant that raw materials from the company's US plant were used locally for free. North American demand is now driven by composite wood products, insulation and adhesives.
In Asia, sales increased by 8% in 2018, and demand for large-scale infrastructure projects such as automotive projects and district heating is driving development in this region. He added that the new Chinese plant is starting production and will be fully operational by the end of this year.
In Europe, sales fell by about $ 20 million due to third-party problems hitting sales. Peter Huntsman explained: "Europe's demand fundamentals remain optimistic and the market is growing."
Peter Huntsman estimates that 75% of the company's MDI business comes from differentiated systems business with higher profit margins.
The company's sales in the first half of 2018 were $ 4.6 billion, an increase of 18% from $ 3.9 billion in the first half of 2017. The company's total profit in the first half of 2018 was $ 1.1 billion. By comparison, revenue for the first half of 2017 was $ 895 million.