O-I Glass, Inc. provided a business update in advance of management’s participation in the R.W. Baird 2021 Sustainability Conference on Wednesday February 24, 2021.
“The severe weather conditions that swept across the southern United States in recent weeks significantly impacted a number of our operations. Access to natural gas and electricity was curtailed which are key inputs for our business. As a result, the company temporarily idled eight facilities across Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico. While the situation was most acute in Texas, Mexico was also significantly impacted as Texas supplies natural gas to the country. In response, the O-I team took swift and proactive measures to preserve our asset base and minimize the impact of this unexpected situation. Understanding the situation remains very fluid, the company currently anticipates lower shipment and production levels as well as higher energy and transportation costs in these markets compared to original expectations for the first quarter of 2021,” said Andres Lopez, O-I Glass CEO.
“On an encouraging note, conditions are beginning to normalize, and we are working to quickly ramp up production at the affected plants. Excluding the impact of the severe weather, global shipments in February have been in-line with the prior year, despite continued pandemic related lockdowns in a few markets. This represents an improvement in demand trends from January which was impacted by supply chain adjustments. Likewise, very good operating conditions continue across our operations.”
“Prior to this event, our business performance was trending above our most recent first quarter 2021 guidance which reflected improving demand trends and solid operating performance. Considering this situation, management now expects first quarter global shipments (in tons) will be down slightly from 2020 levels and adjusted earnings1 will be below our previous guidance range of $0.32 to $0.37 per share. The company has not changed its full year business outlook at this stage and will continue to update the market as we gain greater clarity and events unfold,” concluded Lopez.
