Cabot Corp (CBT) Q1 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

Cabot Corp (CBT) Q1 2020 Earnings Call Transcript

As expected, our first quarter results decreased as compared to the prior year.. During the quarter, we finalized the negotiation of our calendar year 2020 customer agreements for the Reinforcement Materials segment with a positive outcome.. In Europe, the current demand environment is softer and new carbon black supply has come online from Russian producers, which impacted the negotiations.. Volumes in Europe are expected to be about 5% lower year-on-year starting in the second quarter.. Results in the Performance Chemicals segment increased 14% compared to the same fiscal quarter of 2019.. The segment benefited from strong sales volumes in both the performance additives and formulated solutions businesses compared to first fiscal quarter of 2019.. In the first fiscal quarter, we also continued to aggressively manage costs and began to implement several actions to enable us to be more efficient and cost effective.. We believe the acquisition will not only strengthen our global leadership position in carbon additives, but will allow us to deliver new innovative conductive formulations to enhance battery performance.. I'll now turn the call over to Erica to discuss the business results.. I will discuss the segment results, beginning with Reinforcement Materials.. EBIT and Reinforcement Materials for the