We drive business transformation and deliver performance in response to shareholders' support and encouragement.
The chemical industry experienced significant headwinds in profitability in 2023 due to the global economy growth slowdown, broad-cased supply chain destocking, steep price competition and rising cost pressure. Confronting the challenges and uncertainties, TSRC responded to the market changes with agility, focusing on its business plan execution and disciplined cost management, and maintained business resilience. The Synthetic Rubber business delivered solid performance leveraging the recovery of global automotive market, while the Advanced Materials business experienced significant profit erosion due to tepid demand and severe competition.
In 2023, the sales volume was 541 thousand metric tons, an increase of 4% versus 2022. Consolidated revenue was NTD 31,427 million, a decrease of 7% compared to NTD 33,841 million in 2022. Gross profit decreased 40% to NTD 3,308 million and gross margin was 11%. Operating profit was NTD 948 million, a decrease of 65% from 2022, and operating profit margin was 3%. As a result, TSRC delivered net income of NTD 680 million with an EPS (earnings per share) of NTD 0.82 in 2023.
In 2023, TSRC made steady progress in its ESG initiatives: achieved carbon reduction objectives, completed ISO certification for product carbon footprint (PCF), gained ISCC+ certification for its Kaohsiung plant, expanded community educational engagement program, “ChemCamp”, and progressed on new product commercialization for EV tire & medical applications. TSRC continued its dedication to technic innovation and had 20 patents granted in 2023.
For 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast global economy to grow moderately at 3.1% as in 2023. The economic outlook is expected to be uncertain and constrained by the continued structural challenges in mainland China, geopolitical conflicts, and interest rate policy changes. Looking ahead, although the industry supply chain destocking is expected to stabilize, the market demand-supply imbalance is yet to be resolved as the end-application demand is still weak and market competition intensifies with the new supply capacities.
Facing the uncertain industry outlook, TSRC will focus to optimize production rate, carefully manage cost and capital expenditure, drive technology platform innovation to accelerate new product commercialization, and endeavor to deliver on customers’ expectation for product performance and our strategic objectives for enterprise sustainability.
Nita Ing
Chairman