PITTSBURGH, Sept. 5,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Koppers Holdings
Inc. (NYSE: KOP) today announced that, as part of its ongoing
efforts to recoup higher input costs due to inflation, the company
has agreed to an amendment of its contract with one of its Class I
railroad customers. The amendment will extend the current term of
the agreement from 2026 to 2030, with favorable pricing
adjustments. This represents the fourth Class I customer with
which Koppers has reached agreement this year on increased
pricing.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
James Sullivan said, "Significant
unexpected inflation and supply chain shocks, exacerbated by the
pandemic and the war in Ukraine,
put our rail business in an untenable situation with long-term
supply contracts in place that provided only partial relief. This
latest amendment and extension is another important step toward
returning to an acceptable level of profitability. I appreciate our
customers' recognition of the various challenges and willingness to
come to terms that benefit both parties."
President and Chief Executive Officer Leroy Ball said, "We are proud of our long
history serving the rail industry and wish to continue that legacy
far into the future. At the same time, we have seen a significant
erosion in the profitability of our treated wood products over the
past five years, which has led to a questioning of our long-term
future serving the rail portion of that market. Adjusting the
pricing in our existing agreements is a shot in the arm for this
piece of our business and a recognition of the need to have a
healthy supplier base serving the industry. While I am pleased with
this latest development, we still have more work to do to convince
others of the need to pay fair value for crossties, consistent
with current market conditions."
About Koppers
Koppers, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an integrated
global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals,
and carbon compounds. Our products and services are used in a
variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end markets,
including the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential
lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction
industries. We serve our customers through a comprehensive global
manufacturing and distribution network, with facilities located in
North America, South America, Australasia, and Europe. The stock of Koppers Holdings
Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol "KOP."
For more information, visit: www.koppers.com. Inquiries from the
media should be directed to Ms. Jessica
Franklin Black at BlackJF@koppers.com or 412-227-2025.
Inquiries from the investment community should be directed to Ms.
Quynh McGuire at McGuireQT@koppers.com or 412-227-2049.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 and may include, but are not limited to,
statements about sales levels, acquisitions, restructuring,
declines in the value of Koppers assets and the effect of any
resulting impairment charges, profitability and anticipated
expenses and cash outflows. All forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties.
All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical
in nature are forward-looking, and words such as "outlook,"
"guidance," "forecast," "believe," "anticipate," "expect,"
"estimate," "may," "will," "should," "continue," "plan,"
"potential," "intend," "likely," or other similar words or phrases
are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Any
forward-looking statement contained herein, in other press
releases, written statements or other documents filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, or in Koppers communications
and discussions with investors and analysts in the normal course of
business through meetings, phone calls and conference calls,
regarding future dividends, expectations with respect to sales,
earnings, cash flows, operating efficiencies, restructurings, the
benefits of acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures or other
matters as well as financings and debt reduction, are subject to
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies.
Many of these risks, uncertainties and contingencies are beyond
our control, and may cause actual results, performance or
achievements to differ materially from anticipated results,
performance or achievements. Factors that might affect such
forward-looking statements include, among other things, the impact
of changes in commodity prices, such as oil and copper, on product
margins; general economic and business conditions; disruption in
the U.S. and global financial markets; potential difficulties in
protecting our intellectual property; the ratings on our debt and
our ability to repay or refinance our outstanding indebtedness as
it matures; our ability to operate within the limitations of our
debt covenants; potential impairment of our goodwill and/or
long-lived assets; demand for Koppers goods and services;
competitive conditions; interest rate and foreign currency rate
fluctuations; availability and costs of key raw materials;
unfavorable resolution of claims against us, as well as those
discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Koppers,
particularly our latest annual report on Form 10-K and any
subsequent filings by Koppers with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Any forward-looking statements in this release speak
only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation
to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or
circumstances after that date or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
For Information:
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Quynh McGuire, Vice
President, Investor Relations
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412 227 2049
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McGuireQT@koppers.com
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SOURCE Koppers