GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call July 26, 2024 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Mike Dillon - VP, IR and Corporate Communications
Catherine Delgado - Interim CFO
Tim Flanagan - CEO and President
Jeremy Halford - COO

Conference Call Participants

Bill Peterson - JPMorgan
Alex Hacking - Citi
Andy Jones - UBS
Abraham Landa - Bank of America
Kirk Ludtke - Imperial Capital
Arun Viswanathan - RBC Capital Markets

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the GrafTech Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. At this time all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]

This call is being recorded on Friday, July 26, 2024. I’d like now to turn the conference over to Mike Dillon. Please go ahead.

Mike Dillon

Thank you, Ace. Good morning, and welcome to GrafTech International's Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. On with me today are Tim Flanagan, Chief Executive Officer; Jeremy Halford, Chief Operating Officer; and Catherine Delgado, Interim Chief Financial Officer. Tim will begin with opening comments. Jeremy will then discuss safety, the commercial environment, sales and operational matters.

Catherine will review our quarterly results and other financial details, and Tim will close with comments on our outlook. We will then open the call to questions. Turning to our next slide. As a reminder, some of the matters discussed in this call may include forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, performance, trends, and strategies. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements are shown here.

We will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures and these slides include the relevant non-GAAP reconciliations. You can find these slides in the Investor Relations section of our website at www. graftech.com. A replay of the call will also be available on our website.

I will now turn the call over to Tim.

Tim Flanagan

Thanks, Mike and good morning and thank you for joining GrafTech's second quarter earnings call. Let me start by saying that we operate in a cyclical industry and we find ourselves in a challenging part of the cycle for our business and more broadly for our industry. Graphite electrode demand remains weak, industry-wide capacity utilization rates remain low and consequently cost per ton are high. At the same time, pricing discipline in the inventory has been somewhat sacrificed to support volume. Against this backdrop, GrafTech, and we believe most others in our industry are operating their electrode business at losses or low margins.