Adjusted EBITDA across the business fell 44.0% and reached $262 m in the first quarter of 2019.
A substantial part of this fall came about as volumes in the company's large titanium dioxide business fell. This is in response to the company trying to maintain or increase prices for its materials.
The company's Fluoroproducts business had sales which fell 6.1% between Q1 2018 and Q1 2019 . They reached $687 m in the Q1 2019 period. This compares with $732 m in the previous period.
At the same time, adjusted EBITDA across in the division fell 22.4%, It reached $159 m in the first quarter of 2019 .
The company said it suffered from 'illegal imports of stationary refrigerants into the European Union. Softer base refrigerant demand in North America, and supply constraints in Fluoropolymers more than offset higher demand.'
Volumes in the business were down but prices were stable. This fed through to the division's adjusted EBITDA figure. In addition, lower net sales and higher than anticipated costs related to starting up its Corpus Christi, Texas Opteon facility.
Chemours CEO Mark Vergnano said: 'Our performance reflects the combination of lower volumes in our Titanium Technologies segment and the impact of illegal imports on our refrigerants business in Europe.'
