Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, generated net sales of $10.3 billion in 2024, a 6 percent decrease from the previous year consisting of a 4 percent decline in price and a 1 percent decline in volume, with a small currency impact.

Persistently weak global demand in critical end-markets like automotive, paints, coatings, construction and industrial caused headwinds throughout the year. Celanese took actions, including reducing fixed and variable costs and delivered 2024 consolidated operating loss of $697 million, adjusted EBIT of $1.6 billion, and operating EBITDA of $2.4 billion at margins of (7), 16, and 23 percent, respectively.

The difference between U.S. GAAP diluted loss per share and adjusted earnings per share in 2024 was primarily due to Certain Items totaling $2.0 billion with the majority of the cost related to non-cash asset impairment charges.

Celanese reported fourth quarter net sales of $2.4 billion, representing a 10 percent sequential decline due to decreases of 7 percent in volume, 2 percent in price, and 1 percent in currency. The fourth quarter was negatively impacted by amplified sequential seasonality in the Acetyl Chain, as well as severe Western Hemisphere automotive and industrial destocking in Engineered Materials. The Company took actions to reduce costs, align production to available demand, and release working capital through inventory drawdown to mitigate the impact of the challenging demand environment. For the fourth quarter, Celanese reported an operating loss of $1.4 billion, adjusted EBIT of $333 million, and operating EBITDA of $517 million at margins of (59), 14, and 22 percent, respectively.

"The fourth quarter results developed largely as we expected, despite further demand deterioration that gave no sign of easing," said Scott Richardson, president and chief executive officer. "With little indication of near-term recovery, it is our job to drive productivity and earnings growth at Celanese even if fundamental demand remains flat or declines further. As we move forward, we are focused on three strategic priorities: intensifying cost reduction, driving growth through our AC optionality model and EM pipeline model, and increasing cash flow to deleverage the balance sheet. We continue to take actions to reduce costs and accelerate growth, and we expect to take additional actions to deliver on our priorities based on evolving business conditions."