Westlake Corp (WLK) 2014 Q2 法說會逐字稿

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  • Operator

  • Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Westlake Chemical Corporation second-quarter 2014 earnings conference call.

  • (Operator Instructions)

  • As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, this conference is being recorded today, August 5, 2014. I would now like to turn the call over to today's host, Dave Hansen, Westlake Senior Vice President of Administration. So you may begin.

  • - SVP Administration

  • Thank you very much. Good morning everyone and welcome to the Westlake Chemical Corporation's second-quarter 2014 conference call. I am joined today by Albert Chao, our President and CEO; Steve Bender, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and other members of our Management team. The conference call agenda will begin with Albert, who will open with a few comments regarding Westlake's performance in the second quarter and the current perspective on the industry. Steve will then provide a more detailed look at our financial and operating results. Finally, Albert will add a few concluding comments and we will open the call up to questions.

  • Today Management is going to discuss certain topics that will contain forward-looking information that is based on Management's beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Management. These forward-looking statements suggest predictions or expectations and thus are subject to risks or uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially based upon factors including the cyclical nature of the chemical industry, availability, cost and volatility of raw materials, energy and utilities, governmental regulatory actions and political unrest, global economic conditions, industry operating rates, the supply-demand balance for Westlake's products, competitive products and pricing pressures, access to capital markets, technological developments and other risk factors.

  • This morning Westlake issued a press release with details of our second-quarter financial and operating results. This document is available in the press release section of our webpage at Westlake.com. A replay of today's call will be available beginning four hours after completion of this call until 11:59 PM Eastern time on August 12, 2014. The replay may be accessed by dialing the following numbers: domestic callers should dial 1-888-286-8010. International callers may access the replay at 617-801-6888. The access code for both numbers is 62091806.

  • Please note that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, August 5, 2014. And therefore you are advised that time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay. I would finally advise you that this conference call is being broadcast live through an Internet webcast system that can be accessed on our webpage at Westlake.com.

  • Now I'd like to turn the call over to Albert Chao. Albert?

  • - President and CEO

  • Thank you, Dave. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us on our earnings call to discuss our second-quarter results.

  • In this morning's press release, we reported quarterly net income of $169 million, or $1.26 per diluted share on sales of $999 million. We also reported record income from operations of $267 million, driven by strong earnings in both our Olefins and Vinyl segments. Both our segments continue to benefit from the low cost ethane feedstock environment as well as from our expanded ethylene capacity. Our ethylene expansion projects have increased our ethylene capacity by approximately 420 million pounds at both our Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Calvert City, Kentucky facilities.

  • Our Olefin segment benefited from higher integrated Olefins margins as higher sales prices more than offset increases in feedstock and energy costs compared to the same period last year. Our Vinyl segment returned an improved quarterly results following two consecutive quarters in which we completed major capital investments, including the startup of our worldscale [chloroform] plant in Geismar, Louisiana, that was completed at the end of fourth quarter last year as well as the ethylene unit expansion and conversion from propane to ethane feedstock that we completed in the beginning of the second quarter at our Calvert City facility.

  • The completion of these projects positions our Vinyls business to benefit from a further integrated Vinyls product chain as well as a lower-cost position as we can now access advantaged ethane from the Marcellus and Utica shale's. We delivered a strong second quarter and I'm pleased with the direction and performance of both our Olefins and Vinyl segments.

  • I would now like to turn the call over to Steve to provide more detail on the financial and operating results for the second quarter.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Thank you, Albert, and good morning everybody. I will start our discussion with the consolidated financial results followed by a detailed review of our Olefins and Vinyl segment results.

  • Let me start with our consolidated results. In this morning's press release, Westlake reported net income for the second quarter of 2014 of $169 million, or $1.26 per diluted share, an increase of $23 million over second quarter of 2013 net income of $146 million or $1.09 per diluted share. Net sales for the second quarter of $999 million was $69 million higher than the sales reported in the second quarter of 2013, primarily driven by higher sales prices for most of our major Olefins products and higher sales volumes for polyethylene, styrene and caustic soda. Partially offset by lower sales volumes were PVC resin and ethylene coproducts.

  • Westlake's operating income for the second quarter of 2014 was $267 million, increased by $32 million compared to the $235 million reported in the same period of 2013 primarily benefiting from improved Olefins integrated product margins as higher sales prices more than offset the increase in feedstock and energy costs and higher Olefins volumes.

  • Our second quarter 2014 results included approximately $4 million in cost associated with the first quarter 2014 maintenance turnaround and other activities at our Calvert City complex that carried over into the second quarter and approximately a $9 million impact from lower ethylene production due to an unplanned outage of one of our Lake Charles ethylene units. Second quarter sales revenue of $999 million decreased by $29 million over sales in the first quarter of 2014 driven primarily by lower sales volumes for ethylene coproducts that is the result of our Calvert City ethylene unit being converted from propane to ethane feedstock.

  • Second quarter income from operations of $267 million was higher by $19 million than the first quarter of 2014, primarily due to first quarter results being impacted by the lost production and related costs associated with the planned turnaround and project work at our Calvert City complex. Second quarter results would have been higher if not for a FIFO impact of $25 million which was the result of a higher cost inventory that was produced from propane and ethane feedstock that rolled through our second quarter cost of sales, as well as the previously mentioned $4 million in costs associated with the Calvert City turnaround activities which extended into the second quarter and the $9 million impact from lower ethylene production.

  • Year-to-date, sales revenues was $223 million higher in the first six months of 2014 compared to first six months of 2013 primarily due to higher sales prices and volumes for most of our major Olefin products and sales contributed by our specialty PVC pipe business, which we acquired in May 2013, partially offset by lower ethylene coproducts sales volumes. Operating income in the first half of 2014 was $86 million higher when compared to the same period of 2013 mainly due to the improved Olefins integrated product margins and higher Olefins volumes. The increase in income from operations was partially offset by the lost production and related costs associated with the turnaround and project work at our Calvert City complex in the first quarter of 2014.

  • As noted in my earlier comments, our utilization of the FIFO method of accounting resulted in an unfavorable impact of $25 million pre-tax or $0.12 per share in the second quarter, as compared to what earnings would've been if we reported in the LIFO method. This impact was primarily in our Vinyls segment as higher cost propane-based ethylene that was produced in the first quarter 2014 flowed through our cost of sales in the second quarter. Please bear in mind that this calculation is only an estimate and has not been audited. Now that the Calvert City cracker has been converted to ethane, it will not be exposed to propane price volatility going forward.

  • Let's move on to review the performance of our two segments starting with the Olefin segment. The Olefin segment reported income from operations of $239 million on sales revenue of $699 million during the second quarter of 2014. Compared to operating income of $188 million on sales of $623 million in the same period of 2013. Olefin sales were up by $75 million due to higher sales prices for most of our major products and higher sales volumes for polyethylene and styrene. The increase in operating income was primarily due to higher Olefins integrated product margins as the increase in sales prices outpaced increases in feedstock and energy costs. Olefins sales revenues of $699 million in the second quarter of 2014 decreased by $24 million compared to the $723 million reported in the first quarter of 2014 and operating income of $239 million in the second quarter of 2014 decreased by $34 million over the same period.

  • Sales and operating income were lower due to lower sales volumes for polyethylene and by approximately $9 million impact for lower ethylene production due to an unplanned outage at one of our Lake Charles ethylene units in the second quarter of 2014 partially offset by higher polyethylene sales prices. For the first six months of 2014, sales revenue of $1.4 billion for the Olefins segment increased by $216 million from the $1.2 billion in the first half of 2013, while operating income of $511 million increased by $163 million in the same period.

  • The increase in sales is primarily due to higher prices and volumes from most of our major Olefins products while the increase in operating results were driven by improved Olefins integrated margins resulting from the increased ethylene production at our Lake Charles complex after the first quarter 2013 completion of the Petro 2 ethylene unit expansion and its conversion to 100% feedstock capability.

  • Now moving on to the Vinyl segment. The Vinyl segment reported operating income of $38 million in the second quarter of 2014 on sales revenue of $300 million as compared to operating income of $53 million on sales of $316 million in the second quarter of 2013. Vinyl sales revenue decreased by $16 million, driven by lower ethylene coproducts production as a result of the change from propane to ethane feedstock at our Calvert City ethylene plant following the conversion of the feedstock conversion project. In addition, PVC resin sales volumes were lower in the second quarter of 2014 as compared to the prior-year period.

  • The operating results were lower due to higher cost-based propane -- based ethylene that flowed through the cost of sales in the second quarter of 2014 and by turnaround and other nonrecurring costs associated with the first quarter maintenance turnaround and other activities at our Calvert City complex that carried over into the second quarter. Additionally the second quarter 2014 Vinyls results were negatively impacted by a lost PVC sales due to the extended downtime in the second quarter to complete the ethylene and PVC expansion projects. As we have completed the conversion of our Calvert City cracker to ethane, the full benefit of lower-cost ethane feedstock should now be more evident in the third quarter.

  • The Vinyls segment had operating income of $38 million in the second quarter of 2014, on sales of $300 million compared to an operating loss of $21 million on sales of $305 million in the first quarter of 2014. Second-quarter Vinyl sales revenue was $5 million lower than the first quarter, driven by lower sales volumes for ethylene coproducts, PVC pipe and resins, partially offset by higher selling prices for PVC pipe and resin.

  • The increase in operating income in the second quarter was primarily the result of the negative impact in the first quarter of 2014 of the lost sales and production and related costs associated with the maintenance turnaround at our Calvert City complex. In addition, the second quarter of 2014 benefited from higher PVC prices and the ramp-up of production of our Geismar chlor-alkali plant which was partially offset by lower sales volumes for PVC resins and higher cost propane-based inventory that flowed through our cost of sales.

  • For the first six months of 2014, sales revenue of $604 million for the Vinyls segment increased by $6 million from the $598 million in the first half of 2013 while operating income of $17 million decreased by $80 million in the same period. The increase in sales was primarily attributed to sales by our specialty PVC pipe business, mostly offset by lower ethylene coproducts and PVC resin sales volumes and lower caustic sales prices. The change in operating results between the first half of 2014 and the first half 2013 were driven by the lost sales, lower production rates and the expensing of $20 million related to unabsorbed fixed manufacturing costs and other costs associated with the maintenance turnaround in ethylene feedstock conversion expansion project in Calvert City.

  • In addition, income from operations in the first six months ended June 30, 2014, was negatively impacted by lower PVC resin sales volumes, lower caustic sales prices and severe winter weather experienced in early 2014 and, prior to the completion of the Calvert City ethylene feedstock conversion project, lower Vinyls integrated product margins attributable to significantly higher propane costs.

  • Now let's turn our attention to the balance sheet and the statement of cash flow. Cash generated from operating activities in the first half of the year was $432 million. And we spent $217 million on capital expenditures. As of June 30, 2014, we had cash balances of $876 million and total debt was unchanged at $764 million. Our guidance for 2014 capital expenditures remains in the range of $475 million to $525 million.

  • Looking forward into the second half of the year, I would like to highlight two items. On July 31, we completed the acquisition of the German-based specialty PVC manufacturer Vinnolit Holdings GmbH. Vinnolit had EBITDA of approximately EUR40 million for the first half of 2014. We anticipate that third quarter benefits from this transaction will be offset by the required inventory [write-up] and associated transaction cost. Also we expect that if ethane prices continue to decline in the third quarter, our FIFO impact will be negative.

  • Now I'll turn the call back over to Albert for some closing comments. Albert?

  • - President and CEO

  • Thank you, Steve. In the second quarter, we continue to demonstrate strong results as well as announced two strategic initiative. On July 31, we closed on our acquisition of Vinnolit, the global leader in specialty PVC. This acquisition, along with our strong suspension grade PVC position in North America and our presence in Asia, makes Westlake one of the leading global PVC manufacturers and suppliers and opens up new opportunities for growth.

  • Additionally, yesterday, we completed the initial public offerings of Westlake Chemical Partners LP, a new master limited partnership which we believe creates value for our shareholders and provides a platform for future growth. We will continue to seek opportunities to further integrate our product chains as we plan our next ethylene expansion project for the end of 2015 or early 2016. We believe the investments Westlake has made lowered our costs and expand our product offerings into the specialty PVC markets. We remain confident in our long-term outlook and we continue to focus on achieving our strategy to create value for our shareholders.

  • Thank you very much for listening to our earnings call this morning. Now I'll turn the call back over to Dave Hansen.

  • - SVP Administration

  • Thank you, Albert. Ladies and gentlemen, before we begin taking questions, I would like to remind you that a replay of this teleconference will be available starting four hours after we conclude the call. We will provide that number again at the end of the call.

  • Operator, we are now prepared to take questions.

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions)

  • Edlain Rodriguez, UBS.

  • - Analyst

  • Good morning, guys.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Good morning.

  • - Analyst

  • Quick question for you, Albert.

  • I mean, given what's going on in the industry right now -- I mean, we had the outages and everything else. And while your numbers came below expectations, when you look at industry fundamentals, I mean, has anything changed for the worse? Or is it still as strong as it was earlier in the year?

  • - President and CEO

  • I think the industry fundamentals is quite strong. Our business is really impacted by the difference between gas prices and international oil prices. And the gap between natural gas prices is still quite -- much below the international brand oil prices which supports the polyethylene prices globally as well as PVC prices.

  • And as we see that ethane prices certainly has dropped to in the low 20s, which helped ethylene cash costs and there are prices growing -- increases going on both domestically and overseas in polyethylene PVC. So I think the industry fundamentals are still quite strong.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay. Just another question.

  • With all the ethylene production issues, the market is extremely tight. I mean, what are you seeing in ethylene and polyethylene prices, let's say for July, August, and September? What do you expect prices to do going forward?

  • - President and CEO

  • Domestically, they -- there are four producers announced price increases in September in the 3 to 4 pound -- 10 pound range and, as you know, the spot ethylene prices has been the $0.60 to $0.70 a pound in Houston and in Riverside. And as the plans come back from their turnaround or their stoppages, we think that the ethylene price will moderate somewhat but the future prices for ethylene, still quite strong going even into 2015.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay. Thank you.

  • - President and CEO

  • You're welcome.

  • Operator

  • Frank Mitsch, Wells Fargo Securities.

  • - Analyst

  • Good morning, Albert and Steve.

  • You've been very busy. You closed Vinnolit late last week. You closed the MLP yesterday. You're announcing earnings today.

  • I'm just wondering, what are you guys doing tomorrow?

  • - President and CEO

  • (Laughter) Work.

  • - Analyst

  • Work. Possibly announcing something in terms of the pipeline dispute? And could you give us an update as to where you stand with the Texas Railway Commission on that and when might we expect a resolution to that issue?

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Frank, it's Steve.

  • As you think about that, the Texas Railroad Commission has had hearings both in May and we expect them in August and have not had a resolution of the issue that they heard in May. And of course, no conclusion on the issues that will be heard in August.

  • So as you can imagine, these issues have and could continue and be -- continue to be pushed to the next stage and if one party or the other wants to, they can appeal it or even take it into the court issues. So as you can see, it could continue for a while.

  • - Analyst

  • All right. I'm still betting on tomorrow.

  • And then, you talked about the Geismar plant startup and that you're ramping up operating rates. Can you give us an idea as to where you are now in terms of that? And then as I look at the ECU metrics that you provide in the release, some of the industry data, it looks as if on a benchmark basis, your ECU would've been up $10-plus sequentially from Q1.

  • What sort of realizations did you have there? And how do things look here in July in that area?

  • - President and CEO

  • Yes. Our Geismar plant, as you know we started the end of last year and tried to ramp it up through the first quarter and second quarter. We have had some new plant startup problems but pretty much those issues are behind us. And the plant's running at or above industry operating rates.

  • In terms of VCU, it bounces up and down. I think there was some announcements for caustic price increases by industry which by and large did not go through. And so I would think it's pretty much flat ECU values.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay, flat. All right. Thanks so much.

  • - President and CEO

  • You're welcome.

  • Operator

  • James Sheehan, SunTrust.

  • - Analyst

  • Good morning, guys.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Good morning.

  • - Analyst

  • Could you please provide us some comment on your building products prices and volume trends during the quarter?

  • - President and CEO

  • Yes. The building products has been going, I would say, okay, even though the season has come back and has some improvement over the first quarter. It has not jumped up as people have -- industry has expected.

  • The price is a reflect the improvements in PVC price. There's some PVC price announcement out there for August. So I think the high price reflects the increasing cost. But by and large, it has been okay but has not been doing great.

  • - Analyst

  • And did those trends continue in July?

  • - President and CEO

  • Yes.

  • - Analyst

  • Great.

  • And then could you also give us your thoughts on inorganic growth opportunities? Do you have any interest in getting bigger in chlor-alkali if the price were right?

  • - President and CEO

  • Well, we look at opportunities both organically and inorganically in our business segments, mainly olefins and vinyls go up and down the chain. So we will look at the opportunities as they come.

  • - Analyst

  • Thanks, Albert.

  • And finally, just on caustic demand, it seems to have been a little bit weaker than expected. What's your outlook for that going forward and what's been the cause of the weakness?

  • - President and CEO

  • Well, I think caustic demand has gone with the economy. As you know, the first quarter economy was pretty bad, has improved the second quarter. And I think it is just -- it follows the economy generally speaking. I don't think there's anything unusual going on there.

  • - Analyst

  • Thank you.

  • - President and CEO

  • Thank you.

  • Operator

  • Don Carson, Susquehanna Financial.

  • - Analyst

  • Thank you. Steve, just a clarification.

  • The $4 million cost associated with Calvert City and the $9 million with the Lake Charles outage, was that just the direct cost of the outage or did that include lost volumes? And going into Q3, did you have less inventory than you normally did?

  • And then also one question on the MLP impact, just wondering, what's the net tax impact on putting those assets into the MLP from a Westlake standpoint?

  • - SVP and CFO

  • John, as it relates to the impacts -- the $4 million was really costs associated with the turnaround and just carried into the second quarter. The $9 million related to lost volumes.

  • As it relates to -- I guess your other question related to the tax impact related to the MLP and there has been -- and we've been very clear there. We don't see adverse tax impacts to the parent nor to partners related to dropping these assets into and monetizing part of Westlake Chemical [opco].

  • - Analyst

  • Okay.

  • And your inventory position going into the third quarter because of the downtime, did you have lower than expected inventory? So is there going to be some lost sales potential in Q3 as well?

  • - President and CEO

  • I think our inventory was [pretty] low end of the first quarter and we built some inventory back during the second quarter. So we're pretty much back into reasonable -- I won't say high range, but a reasonable comfortable range for inventories in both our polyethylene and PVC segments.

  • - Analyst

  • Thanks. And then one final question.

  • On the Vinnolit acquisition, I mean, you've long talked in North America about 70%, 80% of the PVC chain profitability comes from having a position in the monomer. And even though Vinnolit has a lot of specialty product, I'm just wondering why you would be interested in an operation with somewhat limited monomer supply?

  • - President and CEO

  • Yes. Vinnolit produces own chlorine, but they purchase ethylene in the marketplace. They have the leading global position in specialty PVC. They are adding the value from own chlorine purchase ethylene and we purchase at approximately 6 times EBITDA, and we think at a low part of the business cycle for European PVC business. And we believe there's synergy in terms of potential business in Asia and the US which has been not very active. And we are not very active in the European business either. So with those synergy and a price that we are paying, we think it's a reasonable return for us.

  • - Analyst

  • Thank you.

  • - President and CEO

  • You're welcome.

  • Operator

  • Hassan Ahmed, Alembic Global.

  • - Analyst

  • Good morning, Albert and Steve.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Good morning.

  • - Analyst

  • A question around volumes. You guys obviously broke out the negative impact from Calvert City and Lake Charles. But as I look at the sequential volume trends that you've -- the numbers that you've given by segment, volumes down around 4% in olefins, down around 7% in vinyls.

  • If these outages had not taken place, what would those numbers have looked like? Only reason I ask this is, I look at some of your competitors and those sequential figures are somewhere close to 3%. Would you have been in line with those numbers?

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Hassan, it's Steve.

  • As it relates to the vinyls volumes, those are really related to the coproducts. And as we've switched feedstocks from propane to ethane, obviously that's going to have an impact in volumes. But in terms of margin you can see, as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we'll continue to see the significant bottom-line impact of switching from propane to ethane.

  • So as it relates to the olefin side, as Albert earlier commented, we've built inventories back both in polyethylene and in vinyls and going forward we are back at what I would consider more normal levels as we've gone through these operational and turnaround events. So we're back to what I would consider normal operating inventory levels.

  • - Analyst

  • Fair enough.

  • And switching gears to the ethylene side of things, obviously net gas prices have come down as has ethane. But alongside that, we've heard a few newer announcements, Reliance in particular, maybe considering ethane imports. Does that change in any way your near- to medium-term view about -- call it supply demand for ethane in the US?

  • - President and CEO

  • No, not really. Near-term definitely not. I think the enterprise announced terminal supposedly started in the third quarter of 2016. So near-term that's -- and who knows today with the construction environment whether the project will be delayed or not.

  • But at the same time, with the announcement of this terminal, enterprise has also said they estimate by 2020 there will be 700,000 barrels a day of excess ethane and the terminal can export only 240,000 barrels a day of ethane. So there is technically 460,000 barrels of excess ethane still in the system by year 2020.

  • - Analyst

  • Very good. Thanks so much, guys.

  • - President and CEO

  • You're welcome.

  • Operator

  • John Roberts, UBS.

  • - Analyst

  • Good morning.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Good morning.

  • - Analyst

  • Now that you've got the ethylene MLP complete, did you learn anything from the process that might make you think about chlorine as an MLP-able asset?

  • - SVP and CFO

  • John, as we continue to look at this MLP, we find that it was a very value-added exercise and as we said very consistently we'll continue to assess opportunities, but we've seen no other assets dropped into MLPs at this stage.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay. And then secondly, would there be an opportunity to close chlorine at Vinnolit and export monomer from the US?

  • - President and CEO

  • In terms of what?

  • - Analyst

  • Export UBC or BCM over to Vinnolit.

  • - President and CEO

  • Oh. Suddenly there is possibilities and things -- we disclosed it this week. We are looking at ways to have synergies between the two businesses.

  • - Analyst

  • Thank you.

  • - President and CEO

  • You're welcome.

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions)

  • Charles Neivert, Cowen & Co.

  • - Analyst

  • Good morning, guys. A couple quick questions.

  • I know you guys don't export a lot of product but, I mean, what are you seeing in the export markets for both the vinyl side and the poly -- the polyethylene side? Do they seem to be improving or what do you see out there in terms of both volumes and pricing?

  • - President and CEO

  • We see that the demands are pretty strong globally. It is the time -- summertime where demand for polyethylene and PVC are both strong. And as I said, there are some price increases going on with a higher oil price.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay.

  • And then on the other side, on the chlorine -- on the new chlor-alkali unit, as a Company, if I understand it, you guys are generally if all the PVC is running, basically balanced in chlorine. But if you're not running all your PVC, you have some excess chlorine. Would you typically -- or until operating rates get higher would you typically sell any chlorine or are you just going to basically run the balance?

  • - President and CEO

  • Yes. We have -- even we run our existing PVC plants, we will have this long axis in chlorine and we are expanding our PVC capacity. We will take some of that away. And if we have long, then we will look at whether we can sell the chlorine to EDC or ship it to our sister companies to make into PVC -- DCM, whether it's in Europe or Asia.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay. Thanks very much.

  • - President and CEO

  • You're welcome.

  • Operator

  • Jeff Zekauskas, JPMorgan.

  • - Analyst

  • Hi. Good morning.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Good morning.

  • - Analyst

  • My impression is that caustic -- domestic caustic soda prices are edging lower. Is that your impression?

  • - President and CEO

  • I think it's pretty much flat. It has been hedging lower during the year. Definitely is lower than last year at the same period.

  • But we have had 800,000 -- 80,000 short-term capacity additions by Dow. We added 350,000 tons capacity and Oxy add about 200,000 ton capacity. And so those capacity are being absorbed by the industry and it takes them a while for industry to balance itself.

  • - Analyst

  • I don't think there was a PVC price increase in July. And ethylene prices are up. Why do you think that is?

  • Or can you speak to the overall PVC supply demand balance? Where do you think -- sorry. Go ahead.

  • - President and CEO

  • Go ahead.

  • - Analyst

  • Where do you think industry operating rates are now?

  • - President and CEO

  • Yes. I think for PVC, people were expecting the ethylene plants to come back and, as a result, the ethylene price will drop. So people are waiting for PVC price to also drop. It turns out the ethylene price stayed high or went higher. And so they say $0.02 a pound price increase for PVC in August and we believe that that will definitely go through.

  • And -- well, time will tell in terms of the strength of PVC, but if you look at CDI's estimate of PVC operating rates for the second quarter, there's about 83%, and they expect the third quarter of this year to go to 89.6%.

  • - Analyst

  • What do you think is a normal operating rate for your Geismar chlor-alkali plant?

  • - President and CEO

  • It all depending on our plant operations, both downstream and upstream, but I think we'll be at or above the industry operating rates.

  • - Analyst

  • At or above. You don't think you can do much better than the industry operating rates? And then do you think you'll be at those rates -- above? Yes

  • - President and CEO

  • At or above industry operating rates.

  • - Analyst

  • Do you mean negligibly above or materially above? What you mean?

  • - President and CEO

  • Well, it's up -- depending on the supply/demand and also depending on the EDC mentioned -- EDC exports.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay. Thank you so much.

  • - President and CEO

  • You're welcome.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • Operator, I believe that ends our question period. We'd like to -- do we have another question?

  • Operator

  • Yes, sir. We have a follow-up from John Roberts with UBS.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • We'll take that call.

  • - Analyst

  • Thank you. Do you in the future plan on releasing WLKP results simultaneous with WLK and will the WLK results change in any way as a result of the MLP?

  • - SVP and CFO

  • We will release partners results the same day that we release WLK's results. And because Westlake Chemical will consolidate partners, we will not see a material change. Obviously there'll be a minority interest, but you'll consolidate -- you'll see Westlake Chemical consolidate partners from a financial statement perspective.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay. So the WLK release will essentially look very similar to what we've been getting in the past.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • That's correct.

  • - Analyst

  • Okay. Thank you.

  • - SVP and CFO

  • You're welcome.

  • Operator

  • At this time that ends Q&A. Are there any further closing remarks?

  • - SVP and CFO

  • We would like to thank all of you for participating in today's call. We hope you will join us again for our next conference call to discuss our third-quarter 2014 results. Have a great day.

  • Operator

  • Thank you for participating in Westlake Corporation's second-quarter earnings conference call. As a reminder, this call will be available for replay beginning four hours after the call has ended and may be accessed until 11:59 PM Eastern time on Tuesday, August 12, 2014. The replay can be accessed by calling the following numbers: domestic callers should dial 1-888-286-8010. International callers may access the replay at 617-801-6888. The access code at both numbers is 62091806.