Orion, Celanese cut costs, idle assets as demand softens

This week, specialty chemicals makers Orion S.A. and Celanese Corporation each reported lower 2025 sales and earnings as soft demand in key industrial markets prompted operational cutbacks, asset rationalization and cash-focused strategies.

Orion reported 2025 net sales of $1.8 billion, down 4% year over year, as lower oil-linked pricing and weak demand in transportation and polymer markets weighed on results. The company posted a $70 million net loss, including an $81 million goodwill impairment, and $248 million in adjusted earnings before tax.

Operationally, Orion cited high levels of lower-tier tire imports and soft specialty carbon black demand, particularly in the second half of the year. In response, the company reduced costs, rationalized production at certain assets, lowered inventories and tightened working capital. Those actions helped generate $216 million in operating cash flow and $55 million in free cash flow, the company said in its report.

Looking ahead, Orion said it plans to cut growth capital spending, focus maintenance on its most profitable assets and adjust its cost structure to match demand, with cash generation and debt reduction as priorities.

Celanese reported 2025 net sales of $9.5 billion, down 7%, driven by declines in both price and volume amid weak automotive, paints, coatings and construction markets. The company posted a $786 million operating loss but generated $1.1 billion in operating cash flow and $773 million in free cash flow.

Across its businesses, Celanese took several operational steps to offset demand pressures. In its engineered materials division, the company reportedly launched a complexity-reduction program that delivered about $70 million in cost savings and cut inventories by more than $100 million.

In its acetyl chain segment, Celanese announced plans to close an acetate tow site in Belgium, idled a vinyl acetate monomer facility in Germany for much of the second half of the year and shifted production toward lower-cost U.S. Gulf Coast plants. The company also reduced operating rates at higher-cost facilities and trimmed distribution expenses.

Despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, both producers said operational optimization and cost-control measures position them to improve earnings and cash flow as demand recovers.