MOSES LAKE – SGL Carbon SE recently released its financial reports for the first half and first nine months of 2024. It presented a mixed performance across its various business units, reflecting sector-specific dynamics and varying demand patterns. 

The company has one of its plants located in Moses Lake. According to the SGL Carbon website, the Moses Lake plant became a volume production facility in 2011 and uses a fully electric and automated process. The site houses various operations and employs around 180 people. The Moses Lake location is one of eight based in the United States, though there are other sites globally.

Half-Year Performance  

In its Half-Year Report published Aug. 8, 2024, SGL Carbon reported sales of $564.1 million (€538 million) for 2024. This is a decrease of 4.0% compared to around $587.8 million (€560.5 million) in the same period last year. According to the SGL Carbon release, the decline was attributed to weak demand in the Carbon Fibers business unit, which heavily impacted overall profitability.  

Despite this decrease, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — EBITDA — remained relatively stable at about $90.7 million (€86.5 million), only slightly down from approximately $92.3 million (€88.0 million) year-on-year. The adjusted EBITDA margin improved from 15.7% to 16.1%, largely due to a favorable shift in product mix, particularly within the Semiconductor market segment and associated change in the product mix. 

However, the weak demand for carbon fibers continued to weigh on the company's sales and earnings performance.  

“The different dynamics in our sales markets are also reflected in the development of our business units,” said CEO Torsten Derr. “As expected, Graphite Solutions and Process Technology performed well in the first six months of 2024. Due to the termination of a supply contract and weak demand from the automotive industry Composite Solutions was unable to repeat its good figures from the previous year. We do not see any recovery for the business unit Carbon Fibers even after six months in 2024.” 

9-Month Results  

In the Nine-Month Report released Nov. 7, 2024, SGL Carbon revealed further challenges, indicating a sales decline of 4.8% to around $819.9 million (€781.9 million) compared to $861.7 million (€821.7 million) in the previous year.  

The adjusted EBITDA for the same period was roughly $133.8 million (€127.6 million), only slightly down from the approximate $136.3 million (€130) million in 2023, showcasing an improvement in the EBITDA margin from 15.8% to 16.3%. During this quarter the equity ratio did increase from 41.1% in December 2023 to 43.3%. 

“Even with our diversified product portfolio, we can no longer completely withdraw from the generally weak economic environment,” Derr said in the release. “In addition, there was a decline in demand for specialty graphite products for the semiconductor industry in the third quarter. In particular, our products for the manufacture of silicon carbide-based semiconductors are suffering from the restrained demand for electric vehicles on the customer side.”

ForeignExchange.org was used to convert euros to U.S. dollars.