YASTEST
COVINGTON, Kentucky, September 1,
2017 - Ashland (NYSE: ASH) today issued the following statement
related to the impact to its manufacturing operations and supply
chain as a result of Hurricane Harvey:
Ashland operates two manufacturing
facilities in the Houston area and south Texas - one in Texas City
and the other in Kenedy. Together these sites employ approximately
230 employees. Our top priority is the safety of our employees and
the surrounding communities. Both plants were shut down according
to plan last weekend due to the storm, and all employees are
accounted for and safe.
The Kenedy plant, which primarily
produces N-HanceTM guar
derivatives and AquaflowTM rheology
modifiers, restarted operations on Monday, Aug. 28. Our Texas City
plant - which produces PVP linear and crosslinked homopolymers,
PVP/VA copolymers and NMP - is currently conducting a comprehensive
assessment and inspection of the entire facility to ensure all
equipment is safe and in proper working condition prior to
restarting operations. While this assessment is progressing
steadily, there is much more work needed to validate the
operational condition of all the critical plant equipment. At this
point, it is premature to estimate when the plant will resume full
production.
Like nearly every company in the
region, we are facing significant challenges to our supply chain as
a result of the torrential rain and flooding. At this time, the
biggest challenge is the constraints facing the broader shipping,
trucking and rail networks. We are monitoring the situation closely
and implementing contingency plans. We also are working through
challenges associated with moving materials in and out of the
region.
At this time, Ashland has not
declared force majeure. We are working diligently to supply our
customers from existing inventories wherever possible.
We also source many key raw
materials from the affected region for our other North American
facilities. All efforts are being made to utilize alternate sources
of supply during this period. In some cases, existing inventories
will mitigate the potential disruption of supply. Nevertheless,
lack of raw materials for production may occur in some
instances.
These challenges are not unique to
Ashland. However, through our Incident Management Team and the
efforts of our operations teams on the ground in Texas, we are
committed to resuming production as soon as possible while
maintaining safe and responsible operations.
Given the uncertainty around the
time needed to resume full production at Texas City and the ongoing
transportation and logistics challenges in the affected regions, it
is premature to estimate the potential impact to Ashland's earnings
from the hurricane.
Ashland announced that it has made
a $125,000 donation to the American Red Cross to support disaster
relief. In addition, Ashland employees across the U.S. are donating
gift cards to provide a helping hand to their colleagues in Texas
City and Kenedy who have been affected by the flooding. Additional
employee assistance is planned.
About
Ashland
Ashland Global Holdings Inc.
(NYSE: ASH) is a premier global specialty chemicals company serving
customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets,
including adhesives, architectural coatings, automotive,
construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care and
pharmaceutical. At Ashland, we are nearly 7,000 passionate,
tenacious solvers - from renowned scientists and research chemists
to talented engineers and plant operators - who thrive on
developing practical, innovative and elegant solutions to complex
problems for customers in more than 100 countries. Visit
ashland.com to learn more.
C-ASH
Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Ashland has identified
some of these forward-looking statements with words such as
"anticipates," "believes," "expects," "estimates," "is likely,"
"predicts," "projects," "forecasts," "objectives," "may," "will,"
"should," "plans" and "intends" and the negative of these words or
other comparable terminology. Ashland may from time to time make
forward-looking statements in its annual reports, quarterly reports
and other filings with the SEC, news releases and other written and
oral communications. These forward-looking statements are based on
Ashland's expectations and assumptions, as of the date such
statements are made, regarding Ashland's future operating
performance and financial condition, as well as the economy and
other future events or circumstances. Ashland's expectations and
assumptions include, without limitation, internal forecasts and
analyses of current and future market conditions and trends,
management plans and strategies, operating efficiencies and
economic conditions (such as prices, supply and demand, cost of raw
materials, and the ability to recover raw-material cost increases
through price increases), and risks and uncertainties associated
with the following: the impact of the flooding and the shutdown at
the Texas City, Texas manufacturing facility, the impact of
acquisitions and/or divestitures Ashland has made or may make,
including the acquisition of Pharmachem (including the possibility
that Ashland may not realize the anticipated benefits from such
transactions); Ashland's substantial indebtedness (including the
possibility that such indebtedness and related restrictive
covenants may adversely affect Ashland's future cash flows, results
of operations, financial condition and its ability to repay debt);
the potential that Ashland does not realize all of the expected
benefits of the separation of its Valvoline business; and severe
weather, natural disasters, cyber events and legal proceedings and
claims (including product recalls, environmental and asbestos
matters). Various risks and uncertainties may cause actual results
to differ materially from those stated, projected or implied by any
forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks
and uncertainties affecting Ashland that are described in Ashland's
most recent Form 10-K (including Item 1A Risk Factors) filed with
the SEC, which is available on Ashland's website at
http://investor.ashland.com or on the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov. Ashland believes its expectations and
assumptions are reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the
expectations reflected herein will be achieved. Unless legally
required, Ashland undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements made in this news release whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise. Information
on Ashland's website is not incorporated into or a part of this
news release.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Investor Relations:
Seth A. Mrozek
+1 (859) 815-3527
samrozek@ashland.com
Media Relations:
Gary Rhodes
+1 (859) 815-3047
glrhodes@ashland.com
This
announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Ashland Inc. via Globenewswire
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