The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Operator: Our next question comes from Mike Leithead from Barclays.

Mike Leithead: I wanted to maybe, reask Hassan’s question a bit differently or succinctly. Should 2Q be the peak of net leverage? Or how should we think about your leverage profile as we work through the second half?

Matt Abbott: No, I think, similar to that question earlier, I think we’re at 3.7 now at the end of the first quarter. We think cash will be flattish as we approach the midpoint in the year. And then normal seasonality will kick in at that point and we expect to see a source of cash through the second half. So we think it will trend back more favorably in the second half. And then over the longer term, we aim to be around 3 times. That’s our goal.

Mike Leithead: Is that fair to assume we’ll probably finish the year above 3 times just given where earnings and cash flow are looking today?

Matt Abbott: Yes. We’re not giving that full guide for the year, but it will be somewhere between 3 and where we are now.

Operator: We have our next question from an Analyst from Morgan Stanley.

Turner Hinrichs: This is Turner Hinrichs on for Vincent Andrews. I’m wondering if you could provide a little bit more color on Chinese TiO2 exports and what you’re seeing in the region in terms of local production and demand.

Denise Dignam : Yes. I think the export data is pretty visible to the market. Year-over-year, there’s a 10% increase quarter-over-quarter. It’s lumpy, and certainly you can think about the EU dumping case as some of the driver for that increase here in March. But again, just going back to big picture, we’re leaders in this market. We’re focusing on what we control, driving to low cost position and making sure we can participate in the long run. Again just leaning to, we have very, very strong customer’s relationships. So we’re driving to low cost, so we can participate in market, but there’s more to serving customers in around the relationships and supply reliability and quality where we really are second to none.

Turner Hinrichs: Would you mind providing a little bit additional color on U.S. export versus domestic demand and the potential for tailwinds from restocking?

Denise Dignam : Turner, can you ask that question again?

Turner Hinrichs: Would you mind providing a little additional color on U.S. export versus domestic demand and the potential for any tailwinds from restocking?

Denise Dignam : Yes. I mean, I would just say is we’re seeing the restocking. That’s really what we’re seeing going into the second quarter. Again, we haven’t seen any market catalyst, whether think you’re talking about interest rates or residential homebuilding things like that. So we think that the volume that we’re seeing is relative to restocking.

Operator: We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. Thank you for joining the Chemours first quarter 2024 results conference call. You may now disconnect.