Ferro Corp. recently reported net sales of $435 million in the second quarter of 2013, compared with net sales of $476 million in the previous year’s second quarter. Value-added sales, which exclude precious metal sales, were $408 million, vs. $424 million in the second quarter last year. The reduction in sales resulted primarily from the company’s divestiture of its solar paste assets in the first quarter of 2013 and its borates mining operation in Argentina during the second quarter of 2012, coupled with product de-selection in the Polymer Additives segment.
Although value-added sales declined across all reportable segments, adjusting for divested operations, sales in the Pigments, Powders and Oxides segment reportedly increased by approximately $2 million. Sales in the Performance Colors and Glass, Performance Coatings and Specialty Plastics segments were nearly flat. Polymer Additives sales declined by approximately $7 million due to expected changes in environmental regulations pertaining to certain plasticizer products, which are resulting in product replacement by some customers in the U.S. and Europe.