AdvanSix Inc.

Good day and welcome to the Advanced Six Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing star then zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Adam Kressel, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Matt. Good morning, and welcome to Advance6's second quarter 2021 earnings conference call. With me here today are President and CEO Aaron Kane and Senior Vice President and CFO Michael Preston. This call and webcast, including any non-GAAP reconciliations, are available on our website at investors.advance6.com. Note that elements of this presentation contain forward-looking statements that are based on our best view of the world and of our business as we see it today. Those elements can change, and the actual results could differ materially from those projected, and we ask that you consider them in that light. We refer you to the forward-looking statements included in our press release and earnings presentation. In addition, we identify the principal risks and uncertainties that affect our performance in our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K, as further updated in subsequent filings with the SEC. This morning, we'll review our financial results for the second quarter of 2021 and share our outlook for our key product lines and end markets. Finally, we'll leave time for your questions at the end. So with that, I'll turn the call over to Advance Six's President and CEO, Erin Kane.

Thanks, Adam, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us and for your continued interest in Advancix. As you saw in our press release, Advancix delivered record sales, earnings, and margin performance in the second quarter, reflecting strong execution amid improving end market demand and tight industry supply conditions. Let me share a few highlights before Mike covers the details of our financials in a moment. This quarter's significant year-over-year and sequential improvement furthers the momentum we've built since last year. You'll recall we generated double-digit net income growth in full year 2020 in a very challenging environment. In the quarter, the industries in which we participate were presented with supply chain and logistics disruptions, escalating raw material inputs and inflationary costs, and on the positive side, underlying demand growth rates we haven't seen in some time. The strength of our business model and portfolio diversity and the continued execution to our long-term strategies again, enabled us to both navigate the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities to deliver the results you see on page three. We are highly focused on executing what is in our control, and when you look beneath the headline numbers, our record performance is bolstered by the improved earning space that we have been building since spin, which further provides an improved foundation for our sustainable long-term performance. Volume growth was supported by historically strong plant utilization rates at both our Hopewell and Chesterfield plants. We converted a record 66% of our ammonium sulfate into higher-value granular grades to meet the growing demands of our domestic customers. Sales of our differentiated products accelerated in all focus areas of high-value intermediates, high-purity applications, and differentiated nylons, as we're now reaching longer-term, mid-teen revenue growth rates, with profitability at more than two times the base business gross margin rate. The investments we've made in high return capital projects continue to generate strong returns at or above our 20% IRR targets in total. We are delivering considerable improvement from our historical pre-tax impact of planned plant turnarounds of approximately $35 million through efficiencies in our processes and executions and are now expecting an impact of $24 to $27 million for 2021. Finally, our balance sheet health provides flexibility and optionality for further value creation. As we look ahead, the outlook for our business remains favorable. We're expecting continued strong execution amid robust industry dynamics overall to support record post-spin earnings and cash flow in 2021. There's a lot to be excited about across the organization as we continue executing against a focused strategy to deliver long-term, strong, and sustainable shareholder returns. With that, I'll turn it over to Mike to discuss the details of the quarter.