Income from operations for the Vinyls segment increased by $22.9 million to $51.0 million in the second quarter of 2005 from $28.1 million in the second quarter of 2004. This increase was primarily due to higher selling prices and higher sales volumes for all of the company's vinyls products. These increases were partially offset by higher energy and raw material costs.
Second quarter income from operations for the Vinyls segment increased by $9.3 million from the $41.7 million income from operations reported in the first quarter of 2005. The increase was primarily due to higher selling prices for caustic, PVC pipe and other PVC fabricated products and higher sales volumes for VCM and PVC pipe. These increases were partially offset by higher raw material costs.
Income from operations for the Vinyls segment increased by $67.8 million to $92.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005 from $24.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004. This increase was primarily due to higher selling prices and sales volumes for all of our vinyls products. These increases were partially offset by higher raw material and energy costs. A fire at the Calvert City ethylene plant adversely impacted the first six months of 2004 earnings. The estimated impact on operating income of the outage relating to the fire was approximately $8.4 million.
Westlake Chemical Corporation Conference Call Information:
A conference call to discuss Westlake Chemical Corporation's second quarter results held on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 at 11:00 a.m. EDT (10:00 a.m. CDT). To access the conference call, dial (800) 260-8140, or (617) 614-3672 for international callers, approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and reference passcode 31164236.
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