Evonik posts a financial loss

Continuing a spate of poor performances at German chemical firms, the specialty chemical maker Evonik Industries has recorded a net loss of almost $300 million for the second quarter of the year on the back of weak demand for its products. The firm was also affected by write-downs associated with its methionine and silica plants. Its sales for the quarter fell 19% from the year-earlier period, to $4.2 billion. Volumes and prices were down 9% and 5%, respectively, year over year. Evonik’s performance chemical division, which makes products such as superabsorbents, fared worst, with sales down 27% compared with the second quarter of 2022. The company cites ongoing economic problems in Germany and elsewhere. “Germany is in a recession, Europe as well, and the economy in China is not picking up as we had hoped,” CEO Christian Kullmann says in a press release. “Unfortunately, the second quarter showed no meaningful turnaround for our business.”