Umicore reports that its first half 2019 revenues were €1.6 billion, a 3% decrease from the same period of the previous year, ‘against a backdrop of challenging conditions in key industries and reduced consumer confidence, especially impacting the automotive sector’.
The company recorded higher revenues in its Catalysis segment, while in Energy and Surface Technologies, Umicore faced a temporary slowdown in demand for its cathode materials and adjusted its capital spending to the current slower pace of growth. In Recycling, the throughput rates of the company’s Hoboken plant improved significantly after investments but in the first half volumes were lower due to the impact of the shutdown on the availability of the smelter.
This story uses material from Umicore, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.