Ulsan, South Korea – Songwon has reported total sales of KRW1030bn ($771m) for 2023, down 22.5% from the KRW1330m achieved in 2022. Net profits of KRW34.8bn represent a 73.6% drop on 2022’s KRW131.9bn.
The company said that a slow start to the year in a highly volatile global environment was followed by worsening economic conditions and inflationary pressures that affected business throughout the year. Customer destocking had an impact, too.
Fourth quarter results in its performance chemicals business, which includes polyurethanes, were similar to the third quarter. Sales were down 22.3% on the 2022 quarter, falling to KRW62.1bn. Full-year sales fell 23.7% year-on-year to KRW264.2bn.
However, business in its polyurethanes business showed signs of improvement, with thermoplastic polyurethanes sales remaining steady on third-quarter levels, and strong demand driving solutions PU revenue growth. Raw material prices remained stable in the quarter.
“Despite expectations for demand to rise in the latter half of the year, true industry recovery has not yet materialised,” the company said. It expects that overall demand will remain at similar levels in the coming months, with an intensely competitive market. Logistics costs are also expected to continue increasing.
“In the face of ongoing demand volatility, geopolitical uncertainty and logistics hurdles, accurately predicting what the upcoming year will bring is not possible,” it said. “Hence Songwon will persist in executing its current strategy and enhancing efficiencies as well as implementing appropriate measures to navigate the dynamic market conditions effectively.”
