Cangzhou, Hebei – TDI maker Dahua recorded a 23% year-on-year drop in 2018 net profit to CNY 991m ($148m). Revenue remained flat from 2017 at CNY 4.4 bn.
China’s TDI price hit a record high for the past decade during the first three quarters of 2018, reaching CNY 31,000/ton in August, but it has been dropping since September, said the company’s annual report, released in April.
Dahua’s TDI business had a 50% gross profit margin last year, down from 61% in 2017. Its 150kT/year facilities ran at a 117% capacity utilisation rate after technology upgrades.
In 2018, Sadara’s 200kT/year TDI facility in Saudi Arabia and Wanhua’s 300kT/year facility in Yantai both came on stream, leading to a surplus in global supply, the report said.
In addition to Wanhua’s new facilities, the total TDI capacity in China reached 840kT/year in 2018, including 250kT/year from Covestro and 160kT/year from BASF, said the annual report.
In February 2018, Dahua and three other Chinese TDI makers, the four largest local companies in the segment, were sued by Chinese polyurethane mattress maker Healthcare Co. under antitrust law at the Intermediate People’s Court in Ningbo. Healthcare Co. had withdrawn the lawsuit in May.
