Tronox Holdings plc

we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Friday, August 2, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jennifer Gunther. Please go ahead.

Thank you and welcome to our second quarter 2024 conference call and webcast. Turning to slide two, on our call today are John Romano, Chief Executive Officer, and John Cervasol, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. We will be using slides as we move through today's call. You can access the presentation on our website at investor.toronox.com. Moving to slide three, a friendly reminder that comments made on this call and the information provided in our presentation and on our website include certain statements that are forward-looking and subject to various risks and uncertainties. including but not limited to the specific factors summarized in our SEC filings. This information represents our best judgment based on what we know today. However, actual results may vary based on these risks and uncertainties. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. During the conference call, we will refer to certain non-U.S. GAAP financial terms that we use in the management of our business and believe are useful to investors in evaluating the company's performance. Reconciliations to their nearest US GAAP terms are provided in our earnings release and in the appendix of the accompanying presentation. Additionally, please note that all financial comparisons made during the call are on a year-over-year basis, unless otherwise noted. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to John Romano. John?

Thanks, Jennifer, and good morning, everyone. We'll begin this morning on slide five with some key messages from the quarter. We delivered the second quarter performance within our previously guided ranges. TIO2 volumes improved sequentially 8% over a strong Q1 performance, and this represented a 16% increase over the prior year as volumes continued to recover from the low levels realized in 2023. This sequential growth reflects an increase in demand that is consistent with our seasonal trends. Zircon demand was relatively stable compared to the first quarter, which factored into a shipment at the end of the quarter that rolled into Q3. Pricing for both TIO2 and Zircon increased sequentially, but were both partially offset by unfavorable mix. On the operation side, our total pigment plant utilization rate in the second quarter was lower than targeted, driven by short-term challenges relating to ramping up our assets. As a result, we incurred higher costs in the second quarter than anticipated and delivered adjusted EBITDA of $161 million at the lower end of our guided range and margins just under 20%. While this will impact the margins of pigment sold in the third quarter, The operating challenges we experienced during the ramp up in the second quarter are now resolved, and our average pigment plant utilization rate for July was in the 80% range, and we expect this to continue for the balance of the year. We'll discuss these operational dynamics and how it will impact the third quarter cost later in the call. Our free cash flow for the quarter was a source of $84 million, and we expect to continue to generate positive free cash flow for the second half and full year. On the sustainability front, we published our 2023 sustainability report earlier this week. Turning to slide six, I'll briefly review the sustainability-related goals and targets. Our 2023 report details meaningful accomplishments achieved in the past year driving continued progress toward our previously established sustainability goals. It also reinforces the unwavering commitment to our sustainability strategy and our purposeful investments in our people, operations, and product portfolio. In this report, we reinforced our carbon emissions reduction targets, including reducing Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions intensity by 50% by 2030 against the 2019 baseline, and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and reducing Scope 3 carbon emissions by 9% by 2025 and 16 by 2030 against the 2021 baseline. We've made significant progress on our carbon emissions reduction targets this year with two renewable energy contracts in South Africa that will convert on a combined basis a total of 70% of our electricity in the region from coal-based to renewable sources when the second project comes online in 2027. As a result of this latest expected project timeline, we adjusted our scope one and two emissions reduction target for 2025 to 25% from 35%. We're focused on numerous other initiatives, including reducing waste to external landfills, partnering with our top emitting suppliers to help reduce emissions across the value chain, and our continuous involvement and partnership with the communities in which we operate. We firmly believe in the importance of safeguarding our operational privilege, both now and in the future. This is why we ensure that sustainability is seamlessly integrated through our business strategy, operations, and culture, and will continue to support our priority to grow the business and create lasting value for stakeholders. I'll now turn the call over to John to review some of our financials from the quarter in more detail. John?