US fine chemicals company Albemarle (Europe: Louvain-la-Neuve Sud / Belgium; www.albemarle.com) has reported an operating loss of USD 17.6m for the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with a profit of USD 77.5m in the same period of 2007. Sales in the quarter fell 14% year-on-year to USD 518m. However, over the full year, sales increased by 6%, reaching USD 2.47 bn. Operating profit in 2008 fell by 29% year-on-year to USD 221m. Albemarle CEO Mark Rohr said that the influence of the economic crisis “had been more acute than originally expected, in terms of both its duration and its intensity.”

The operating loss in the fourth quarter was due in part to one-off costs, including USD 38.5m associated with the sale of the company’s facility in Port de Bouc / France and restructuring costs of USD 22.5m.

The company’s polymer additives business reported fourth quarter 2008 operating profits of USD 6.3m, compared with USD 31.6m in the same period of 2007. Sales in the quarter fell by 36% year-on-year to USD 149m. Full year profits fell by 31% compared with Q4 2007 to USD 92.6m on sales increased marginally at USD 915m.

In January 2009, Albemarle completed the sale of its plant in Port de Bouc. The production of brominated fine chemicals at the site – including flame retardants for polystyrene – was taken over by Azur Chimie, a wholly owned affiliate of International Chemical Investors (Luxembourg; www.ic-investors.com). The purchase price was not disclosed. Azur Chimie will manufacture various products for Albemarle on commission.