Westlake(WLK) - 2017 Q4 - Earnings Call Presentation

Financial Performance - Westlake Chemical Corporation reported Net Sales of $8,041 million for the full year 2017[6] - The company's EBITDA for the full year 2017 was $1,841 million[6] - Net Income attributable to Westlake Chemical for the full year 2017 reached $1,304 million[6] - Olefins contributed $805 million to the EBITDA, representing 42% of the total[6] - Vinyls contributed $1,096 million to the EBITDA, accounting for 58% of the total[6] Strategic Positioning and Growth - Westlake is a leading integrated plastics materials company, holding strong positions in North American and global markets for PVC and Chlor-Alkali[3, 7] - Synergy savings and cost reductions from the Axiall acquisition reached $170 million in 2017, with expectations to achieve a total of $250 million[7] - The company is expanding its global capacity with 750 million lbs of PVC, 200 million lbs of VCM, 60 million lbs of Caustic Soda, and 55 million lbs of Chlorine[13] - Westlake's ethylene plants are fully capable of using ethane and have some NGL flexibility, providing cost advantages[22] Product Mix and Market Focus - Westlake has a unique focus on LDPE, which has a higher margin advantage compared to other PE grades[24, 25] - The company's LDPE capacity represents a significant percentage of its total PE capacity in North America[27] - Westlake/Vinnolit is a leading specialty PVC producer with a global capacity of approximately 4,000 KMT in 2016[46, 47]