Eastman Nanjing isopropanolamine plant put into operation

On


,
NYSE: EMN
) announced the successful start-up of the
MDIPA
) plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. For Eastman, this is a new product that will be sold primarily to the home care industry.
, Deputy General Manager, Care Chemicals, Eastman Additives and
Sabine Ketsma
said:
"
isopropanolamine project illustrates our commitment to our customers and our ability to execute projects safely and on time
the
. We are committed to meeting the global needs of our customers. China is clearly a growing market for care chemicals and we are committed to further developing our Nanjing plant.tamara Denecker
, Manufacturing Manager, Care Chemicals,
Eastman Additives and Functional Products, said
"
"
We are very proud of the Chinese team, who met the demanding construction time requirements but completed the task safely. The plant has just been put into operation to achieve the expected product quality and production speed.
"
In addition, Eastman decided to expand its alkalamine capacity at its Nanjing plant and build a world-class plant that will produce dmethylamine (
DMAE/DMEA
), a product used to produce intermediates for the water treatment and energy industries. The project is under construction and will be completed
the second half
2020.
Eastman changed the name of the Nanjing plant from the original Teamine Diamond
(
Nanjing
)
Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. to Eastman Chemical (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. The plant mainly produces methylamine, alkylolamine, and solvents such as
DMF
and
DMAC
.
Eastman is a global company of new materials and specialty additives with revenues of $

95
billion in
,
Kingsport
, Tennessee, USA, with a global workforce of about
14,000,
employees.



,
, Chinese, announced that the company's diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of2018 were $
2.89
, compared with
$
2.22
for the same period in 2017

adjusted diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2018
was $
2.34
per share, compared with $
2.1
9 per share for the same period
in
2017.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eastman
Mark Costa
said: " our third-quarter results fully reflect the effective results of our innovative growth model, ongoing cost management and rigorous capital allocation. Our specialty products business (specialty materials and additives and functional materials) achieved
6%
sales growth and continued and stable revenue for our fiber business. Good operating results and a decline in effective tax rates have driven steady year-on-year earnings per share growth. Eastman's ability to perform well in the face of global economic uncertainty gives us confidence in the resilience of our business mix and our ability to achieve sustainable and strong cash flows in the future.
"
sales revenue growth in the third quarter of
2018 compared to the performance of
's businesses in the third quarter of
2017


-
sales revenue growth was mainly due to higher sales prices for most products. The
EBIT
includes
over
-cost insurance benefits from coal gasification incidents in the third quarter of 2018. The slight decrease in the reported and adjusted
EBIT
was due to higher raw material and energy costs, as well as higher investment costs for growth projects, partially offset by higher sales prices and higher sales volumes.
Specialty Materials
-
sales revenue growth was mainly due to the growth of sales across the business and the continued optimization of the product portfolio, including high-end products such as
Tritan™
polyester,
Saflex®
head-up displays (
"HUD"
) and high-performance membranes. The
EBIT
includes
over
-cost insurance benefits from coal gasification incidents in the third quarter of 2018. The reported and adjusted
EBIT
growth was primarily due to increased sales volume and optimization of the high-end product portfolio, but was partially adversely affected by increased raw material and energy costs and increased investment costs for growth projects.
Chemical Intermediates
-
sales revenue growth was driven by higher sales prices for most product lines, particularly the favourable market environment for acetyl-based derivatives, as well as higher raw materials and energy prices for olefin derivatives. The decrease in sales was mainly due to a decrease in commercial ethylene sales. The
EBIT
includes
over-cost insurance benefits from coal gasification incidents in the third quarter of 2018
. Excluding this unconventional item, the small decline in adjusted
EBIT
was mainly due to lower sales volumes, but higher sales prices offset higher raw material and energy costs, partially offsetting the decline in adjusted
EBIT
.
Fiber
- The decline in sales revenue from
was mainly due to lower sales of acetic acid bundles due to changes in customer buying patterns and lower sales prices of acetate bundles due to reduced industrial capacity utilization. The decline in sales
was offset by strong sales of nonwoven application innovation platform products and strong sales of textile innovation platforms previously included in the
Other
"
business. The
EBIT
includes
over
-cost insurance benefits from coal gasification incidents in the third quarter of 2018. Excluding this unconventional item, the decrease in adjusted
EBIT
was mainly due to lower sales and sales prices of acetate bundles, partially offset by growth in sales and earnings of textile innovation platform products.