SGL Carbon sees rise in sales

WIESBADEN, Germany — SGL Carbon, which makes carbon fibers at a facility in Moses Lake, posted a nearly 9% sales increase for the first nine months of 2021 compared with the same period a year ago.

Sales of carbon fiber, which are used primarily to make sheets of carbon fiber used in aerospace and the auto industry, rose 9.5% to 244.7 million euros ($279.8 million), largely the result of high demand by automakers, according to an earnings statement released early Thursday.

Overall sales rose to 743.5 million euros ($850.4 million) when compared with the same period in 2021, according to the earnings release.

The company said despite problems posed by higher raw material and energy prices, stable revenue and earnings is still expected for the remaining three months of 2021. The company also said it did not anticipate “any renewed deterioration” in general conditions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

A year ago, SGL Carbon announced it was laying off around 500 employees worldwide as part of an effort to restructure the company’s business, about five of those were in Moses Lake. SGL Carbon was started as a joint venture with BMW, which uses carbon fiber components extensively in several of its models, including i3 and i8.

SGL, which is publicly traded on Germany’s Börse Frankfurt, finished Tuesday’s trading day at €9.40 ($10.75) per share, up 8% for the day and more than triple the price of the company’s stock one year ago.