Rob and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to The Chemours Company fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, again, press star one. Thank you. Jonathan Lock, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, you may begin your conference.
Good morning, and welcome to The Chemours Company's fourth quarter and full year 2021 earnings conference call. I'm joined today by Mark Newman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Sameer Ralhan, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we start, I'd like to remind you that comments made on this call, as well as the supplemental information provided in our presentation and on our website, contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the impact of COVID-19 on our business and operations and the other risks and uncertainties described in the documents Chemours has filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events that may not be realized. Actual results may differ, and Chemours undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements as a result of future developments or new information.
During the course of this call, management will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe are useful to investors evaluating the company's performance. A reconciliation of non-GAAP terms and adjustments are included in our release and at the end of this presentation. With that, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Mark Newman, who will cover the highlights from the past quarter and full year. Mark?
Thank you, Jonathan, and thank you for joining us this morning. I will begin my remarks on chart three. 2021 was a year where the Chemours team pulled together to deliver strong results quarter after quarter, despite being a year full of challenges. Our performance reflects strong customer demand for our products and our commitment to customer service and supply chain reliability through the toughest conditions, all underpinned by our company-wide commitment to the holistic safety and health of our workforce. Revenue was up 28% year over year to $6.3 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rose 49% to $1.3 billion. We generated $543 million of free cash flow, consistent with our focus on sustainable growth and high-quality earnings across our businesses with strong free cash flow conversion. 2021 was truly a team effort across the entire business.
In our TT segment, we built what we believe is the strongest book of contracted business ever with strategic customers who appreciate our value proposition and with whom we can grow over time. In TSS, we delivered strong sales and margin performance despite auto OEM headwinds and look forward to the growth we can achieve under the U.S. AIM Act. In APM, we achieved record-setting results on both the top and bottom line in a business which is being driven by several exciting secular growth trends. Finally, in Chemical Solutions, we completed the sale of our Mining Solutions business, which will give us greater bandwidth to focus on our industry-leading TT, TSS, and APM businesses. I'm proud of the results we're reporting today and proud of the entire Chemours team that delivered them. I would also like to thank our customers for their trust and confidence in Chemours.
2021 wasn't just about the financial results. We made significant contributions to the planet, our people, and the communities in which we operate through progress on our corporate responsibility commitments. Chemours believes that together with our employees, customers, suppliers, and communities, we will create a better world through the power of our chemistry. Our chemistry is essential to so much of our daily lives today and is also key to a more sustainable infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced electronics. In fact, we are integral to the U.S. semiconductor industry supply chain, and we are making significant investments to manufacture this chemistry responsibly with the latest abatement technology, all part of our commitment to reduce emissions of fluororganic compounds by 99% and greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030.
Additionally, we continue to focus on our remediation commitments at our key sites, including the Barrier Wall Project at our Fayetteville, North Carolina plant. Finally, with the DuPont, Corteva, Chemours MOU behind us, we are actively working to address, manage, and resolve risks to the company related to legacy PFAS liabilities. A good example of this is the resolution of legacy natural resource damage claims in the past year with the state of Delaware. As we look forward to 2022, our guidance reflects our confidence in Chemours and our intent to drive consistent performance through the cycle while generating significant free cash flow.
We continue to invest behind key secular growth drivers, especially in clean energy and advanced electronics, and behind innovative and responsible chemistry that enables the sustainable pproducts of the future, from advanced coatings to low-GWP thermal solutions to fuel cells and beyond, all while strengthening our balance sheet and returning the majority of our free cash flow to shareholders. Turning to the next chart, I'd like to highlight more of the good work we're doing across Chemours through our corporate responsibility commitment programs. Last quarter, we discussed our Evolved Portfolio pillar and how the AIM Act will help drive opt-in low-GWP refrigerant adoption across the U.S. Today, I'd like to cover our Inspired People pillar. The Inspired People pillar has been one where we have consistently delivered outstanding progress through all three platforms. Safety excellence, vibrant communities, and employee empowerment.
In the fourth quarter, we launched a new program we call ChemFEST, short for the Chemours Future of Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology. ChemFEST helps bring STEM education to under-resourced middle schools in communities in which we operate. This year, with an initial investment of $4.3 million, we are bringing improved access to early STEM education to schools around our Wilmington headquarters, our New Johnsonville site, and our Chambers Works site. This program is a natural feeder to Rafasi program, which targets high school seniors pursuing STEM education at the college level. In total, Chemours has committed over $15 million to our Inspired People initiative, an investment which will pay back many times over in the lives we change and the impact we have on the communities in which we operate.
I'm proud of this work, which reflects our company's strong commitment to purpose and people, and would like to thank Alvenia Scarborough, our Chief Brand Officer, and her entire team for leading the charge over the last several years. With that, I'll turn things over to Sameer to review the financial results for the fourth quarter. I'll be back to talk about our guidance before turning to Q&A. Sameer.
Thanks, Mark, and thanks everyone for joining us today. Before I begin my remarks, I would also like to recognize all our employees for their outstanding effort over the course of 2021. Your energy and determination were instrumental in delivering the outstanding financial results, which Mark and I have the privilege to report. Let me turn to chart 5 to cover the full year results. Our 2021 full year results were driven by strong demand across all three of our primary businesses, with a significant rebound in demand from 2020. Full year net sales rose $1.4 billion to $6.3 billion. Volume and price gains across the portfolio, backed by solid operational performance, drove the strong results.
GAAP EPS more than doubled to $3.60 per share in 2021 from $1.32 per share in 2020. Adjusted EPS was $4 per share in 2021, also more than double the $1.98 per share we earned in 2020. Our full year 2021 adjusted EBITDA was $1.313 billion, up $434 million or 49% from the prior year. This resulted in adjusted EBITDA margins of 21% for the full year, up 300 basis points from 2020. Free cash flow continues to be a strong point for the company. In 2021, we generated $543 million of free cash flow.
This is despite the shift to net working capital consumption in 2021 based on improved customer demand and inventory levels. Our performance on free cash flow reflects the power of the business to generate significant cash through any part of the economic cycle and reflects our collective effort to improve the earnings quality of the business since then. Turning to Chart six and our fourth quarter results. Fourth quarter net sales of $1.6 billion were up 18% from the fourth quarter 2020. Price gains were strong across the breadth of the portfolio, while volume was up across most of our segments. Adjusted EBITDA rose 25% in the fourth quarter to $307 million, resulting in slight margin expansion to 19% versus 18% in last year's fourth quarter.
Free cash flow was $131 million due to higher working capital needed to support increased sales and the impact of certain tax items in the quarter. Turning to Chart seven, let's review the adjusted EBITDA bridge for the fourth quarter. Fourth quarter 2021 adjusted EBITDA was $307 million, up $61 million from the same period in 2020. Price was a large contributor to the improved results, but pricing gains across all four business segments was more than offset by demand headwinds from automotive OEMs, primarily related to the impact of semiconductor shortages on auto builds. Our net price versus cost contribution continues to be positive despite the inflationary environment we are in. As I said in the last quarter, we continue to be diligent across our businesses to ensure that we stay ahead of inflation.
Turning now to chart eight. Our cash position, liquidity, and balance sheet remain strong as the balance at the end of the year was $1.45 billion, up from $1 billion in the prior quarter. In the fourth quarter, we generated $214 million of operating cash flow and CapEx. We returned $134 million of cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. We reduced our debt by $70 million, and proceeds from the Mining Solutions sale were also recognized in the fourth quarter. We ended the year with gross debt of $3.8 billion. Our net leverage ratio improved to 1.8x on trailing twelve-month basis, down from 2.3x in the prior quarter.
Total liquidity stands at approximately $2.3 billion, including revolver availability of approximately $800 million. Turning to chart nine. We continue to strengthen our cash generation. We also continue to execute on our disciplined approach to capital allocation. In 2021, we invested $277 million in CapEx spend and grow the business long term. Timing of our capital expenditures in 2021 was impacted by labor and material issues, which shifted several projects from 2021 into 2022. From a credit profile perspective, we reduced debt by $204 million in 2021, and we also contributed out as per the MOU agreement with DuPont and Corteva. This amount is reflected as restricted cash on our balance sheet.
Last but not least, we continue to return the majority of our free cash flow to our shareholders, with $164 million returned via dividends and $173 million through share repurchases in 2021. Since then, we have retired more than 10% of our total shares outstanding, going from approximately 181 million shares to approximately 161 million shares at year-end 2021. Let's now turn to chart 10, where I'll cover the results and outlook for our Titanium Technologies segment. Our Titanium Technologies segment continued to deliver in 2021 with strong Ti-Pure pigment demand was strong across all regions and all end markets as the global economy recovered from the low levels we saw in 2020. Our TVS strategy continues to deliver with strong traction across all three sales channels.
Customers continue to see the value of a long lead despite other supply chain issues. As a result, our contracted customer base has never been stronger, and we have welcomed many new customers on our Flex Portal who want to buy Ti-Pure from Chemours. Turning to the results. Fourth quarter net sales rose 25% to $865 million versus the prior year quarter. Price rose 19%, while volume rose 6% on a year-over-year basis. Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA of $198 million improved 33%. Sequential price of 5%, more than offset increased costs in the quarter. For the full year 2021, net sales were $3.4 billion, up 40% from $2.4 billion in 2020 from pandemic-induced lows in 2020.
9% to $809 million from $510 million in 2020. Full-year margins came in at 24%. We exited 2021 having regained all of the share lost on installation of our TVS strategy, and then some. Price stayed. Looking ahead, we anticipate strong demand for Ti-Pure pigment to continue in all geographies and end markets. At the same time, more constraints are likely to continue into the first part of the year but will moderate over time. As Mark said earlier, we have never felt better about the customer book we have built and look forward to continuing to serve them with the highest quality Ti-Pure pigment available in the market today. Turning to chart 11. Thermal & Specialized Solutions delivered a strong fourth quarter improved demand despite headwinds from automotive OEMs related to semiconductor shortages.
Our execution throughout the year benefited from the breadth of our portfolio across D3, aftermarket, and non-refrigerant applications despite automotive OEM demand headwinds and contractual price downs. Fourth quarter net sales improved 8% from the prior year fourth quarter. Strong price contribution in the quarter of 19% more than offset the impact of 11% lower volumes. As a reminder, the fourth quarter of 2020 was an exceptional quarter from an auto OEM demand perspective, but builds have been down across 2021 due to semiconductor shortages. As a result of these headwinds, adjusted EBITDA declined 8% to $97 million in the quarter. For the full year, net sales rose 14% to $1.3 billion, the result of stronger volumes and price, which rose 9% and 4% respectively.
Full year adjusted EBITDA was $412 million, up 16% from $364 million in 2020. Adjusted EBITDA margins improved from 32% to 33%, demonstrating the earnings of low GWP Opteon refrigerants across most end markets. We look ahead to a continued market recovery in 2022, with a recovery in automotive OEM build rates from the semiconductor-related shortages of 2021. The U.S. AIM Act and additional F-gas enforcement in Europe will drive continued conversion to Opteon low global warming potential solutions. At the same time, we continue to enter new markets with innovative products. Chemours remains well positioned to be the sustainable thermal management provider of choice for our customers. Now, for our Advanced Performance Materials segment. The APM segment has delivered outstanding results and exceeded our own expectations for profit.
As the business has continued its turnaround, the power of our chemistry continues to shine. From polymers to membranes, the portfolio contains class-leading products which are key to unlocking the future potential of high-growth end markets in clean energy and advanced electronics. Sales at an all-time record of $346 million in the fourth quarter, up 24% from $279 million in the prior year fourth quarter. Strong demand drove 10% price and 15% volume gains on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted EBITDA rose 160% to $65 million as price actions and productivity more than offset sharply higher. For the full year 2021, we delivered record net sales of $1.4 billion and $261 million, respectively.
The top line grew 27% from 2020 levels, with 20% volume growth reflecting strong demand across all product lines effectively to the top line growth. We continue to experience a favorable price-cost dynamic. As a result, margins expanded to 19% in 2021 from 11% in 2020. This achievement was exceptional given the. Looking ahead, we believe that 2022, we anticipate headwinds from raw material costs, energy, and logistics will moderate over the course of the year. Top line growth in excess of GDP. Getting adjusted EBITDA margins through discipline and efficient plant operations helping to offset rising input costs. We see significant market momentum building in clean energy and advanced electronics, where our technology is uniquely suited to drive our elastomers and electric vehicles.
APM is playing a leading role in enabling the technologies that will help shape the future. Turning to chart. We completed the sale of our Mining Solutions. Comparability of results in the solutions segment was impacted by these portfolio actions. Underlying business performance in PC&I was solid throughout the year. Fourth quarter net sales were $69 million as the impact of price and volume gains of 8% and 14% respectively was more than offset by portfolio changes. Adjusted EBITDA was $8 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, a gain reflecting the impact of portfolio, few changes in the quarter. For the full year, net sales were $336 million, while the full year adjusted EBITDA was $51 million. Strong demand and pricing gains across the most end markets and key product lines contributed to the solid results.
Looking ahead, the segment is now focused on a world-class continued expansion into new markets such as cleaning and disinfectants and electronics. With that, I'll turn things back over to our CEO for our 2022 guidance. Mark.
Thanks, Sameer. I'll continue my remarks on chart 14. Our business results have continued to improve steadily and are now well above pre-pandemic levels reported in 2019, a result of the hard work and execution of our focus strategies. As we look ahead to 2022, we believe our results will continue to improve. Our full-year adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $1.3 billion and $1.425 billion, up 8% at the midpoint after accounting for the divestiture of our Mining Solutions business at the end of last year. We project adjusted EPS of between $4.07 and $4.70. Finally, we forecast free cash flow of greater than $500 million in 2022, inclusive of CapEx of approximately $400 million.
Taken together, these results reflect the higher quality business we are driving across to improve earnings through the cycle. From a capital allocation perspective, we remain committed to returning greater than 50% of that free cash flow to our shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. To that end, we expect to complete the remaining portion share repurchase authorization by mid-2022. With the momentum we have built in 2021, we believe and for all our stakeholders. To close with some thoughts on the next chapter of Chemours. At spin-off, we set out to create a new kind of chemistry company, one which would have the courage to make difficult decisions and lead the industry forward. The foundation which has been laid is strong. As a better world through.
This vision will be underpinned by four key elements, agile innovation and sustainable solutions, environmental leadership, community impact, the greatest place to work for every employee. I have challenged every Chemours employee. Their work helps to contribute to these goals. I truly believe the spirit of this vision, owned collectively by our 6,400 employees, can take the company to new heights, and it will reward our customers, our planet, our team, and of course, our shareholders. I'm excited to be leading Chemours on this leg of the journey and look forward to engaging with all of you in the coming year. With that, operator, please open the line for Q&A.
At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star, then the number one on your. Your first question comes from the line of John Roberts from Wolfe Research. Your line is open.
Hey, good morning, guys. For 2022 for TiO2, you're still factoring in continued ore constraints and supply chain issues and raw material inflation. Are you factoring it to get worse relative to the fourth quarter versus throughout the course of the year? If there continues to be ore constraints, what are the supply alternatives for them?
Hey. Good morning, John. Mark here. Our guide really assumes that we continue to build momentum in all three of our industry-leading businesses. On TiO2, in particular from a volume perspective on very strong demand. You know, as we had indicated in our Q3 call, we were ore constrained. We expect that ore constraint to relieve itself in the first half of the year. You know, we start the year with ore constraint. Our expectation is volumes will be relatively flat from Q4 to Q1, but will then, you know, mirror more over the seasonal patterns beyond that and resolves itself. You know, great, good quarter on a-
I just wanna share with you that we see real good momentum in all of our businesses, especially from a demand and a pricing perspective, which we expect to continue.
Thanks for that. Then, just on pricing under the TVS model, you pushed through another 5% increase this quarter on top of that to keep being able to push through higher prices in 2022? Thanks.
The short answer is yes, and as you'll see in our EBITDA bridge, you know, we are continuing to be able to take price, you know, across our entire business to offset costs. Clearly, bumpiness as you move through time, so it's not always, you know, perfect timing in terms of how those. But recall that, you know, we have, you know, three go-to-market approaches on the TVS which provide us real price latitude. Maybe I'll ask Sameer to comment on that because that's something that we watch very carefully.
Thanks, Mark. John, look, you touched on the AVA contracts. At the same time, in Flex and distribution, as Mark talked about, there's an opportunity to push prices even faster than the AVA contracts, right? All in all, we feel pretty good about where the supply and demand is and what our opportunity is to pass through prices.
You know, we have our TiO₂ business. You know, for the full year, we were at 24% going forward. Clearly, you know, you had a quarter in which we, you know, had lower volumes related to ore. As that relieves itself, our expectation is through both price as well as volume, you know, we would return this business to mid 20s% going forward.
Great. Thanks, guys.
Your next question comes from the line of John McNulty from BMO. Your line is open.
Just in terms of how you're thinking about how 2022 plays out. I know we had some of the issues around autos being a little bit weaker in the back half of the year. You know, I assume there's an assumption in your guide for a really strong pricing as well. I guess, can you speak to how you're thinking about how that business progresses in terms of earnings trajectory through 2022?
Yeah. You know, John, thanks for the question. TSS had a good year despite some headwinds, and of course, we had the winter storm, Storm Uri, that impacted our Corpus Christi plant early in the year. When you look at the year being up 14%, but greater than 30% margins with all those headwinds, really great job by the team. You know, when we look at IHS forecasts for auto builds, we expect that to be in line with those projections. Clearly, you know, we're focused on both the OEM and aftermarket growth in Opteon. We feel quite encouraged by that. Our guide reflects, you know, the continuing improvement of the auto as we go through the year.
On the pricing side, you know, we're seeing a better market in the stationary, mainly here in North America. As we get through this next COVID wave, you know, our expectation is we'll see a lot more of the refrigerant. Quite encouraged by early indications in the year, but clearly, you know, we have a cautious note as the OEM situation clears itself.
Got it. No, that's helpful. Maybe just as a follow-up to a kind of a broader question. When I look at the guidance that you provided, admittedly, look, it's a crazy year to start, maybe that's part of the rationale. But when I look at 2022, when you adjust for, you know, the ChemSol sale, about like 1.5%-2% EBITDA growth. You know, to the outlook that you laid out for TSS and what I would think is gonna be continued decent demand growth in the APM segment. Candidly, I can't figure out what could get you to that low end of the range.
Can you kinda help us to at least frame the risks or the potential that or the things that could go wrong that, you know, maybe put you toward that low end of the range? Or is it just, "Hey, look, it's early and, you know, we don't wanna set the bar too high," type of thing? Like how can we be thinking?
Yeah. John, I'd say it's early and we're starting the year obviously with a number of uncertainties. We did mention being, you know, ore constrained in TiO2. You know, we're seeing you know, we're not through the semicon issue with auto. There's been some auto disruptions even in the quarter unrelated to semicon. You know, I think it's just you know starting the year you know with a lot of uncertainty and having some caution in our guidance. I would not factor anything more into that than just you know being thoughtful early on in the year.
Got it. Thanks very much for the color.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from the line of Bob Koort from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.
Looking again at the 2022 outlook, it reflects a continued economic recovery. Just kind of across the businesses, what trends have you seen that give you confidence in that normalization?
Great question. I would start by saying that demand in key markets and all key product lines, and in fact, in many sold out and, you know, pricing power is in our favor. Obviously, we make sure we're not doing anything that's disruptive. As I look at it, you know, clearly, demand is strong at the outset. We're somewhat constrained, especially in TiO2 as we start the year. I think our guidance really reflects, top line growth in all of our businesses this year. Clearly, you know, if I go through the impact of the AIM Act, you know, we're gonna start to see more traction on some of our blends businesses in refrigerants.
Our expectation around our APM business from this point on because of all the secular trends related to both semicon and EVs that are, you know, driving
Okay, great. Just one more. Can you provide more color on the new strategic partnerships you mentioned in the TT business?
Strategic partnerships we have with the HVAC OEMs. Some of these are public and some are, of course, not in the public domain, but, you know, across a broad spectrum of OEM supply, as they transition to the new equipment, right? As the AIM regulation comes in, yes, it'll be initially the blends portfolio, but all the OEMs are working through their models and upgrading how they will work with the new refrigerant. There's a great exciting opportunities and to help them transition into the new product lines.
Thank you.
Arun Viswanathan from RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.
Real quickly on the just kinda go through and order your priority uses of cash. It looks like you do have quite a bit of cash on the balance sheet there and really $1.45 billion. It sounds like your buyback plans are for about $250 million in the first half. How do you plan to spend the remainder of the cash there? Thanks.
Arun, great question, and I'll start and ask Sameer to follow on as well. Clearly, when you look at our free cash flow generation in 2021 and the guide that we've given for this year, this will be the third year of free cash flow. What we want investors to see, which has improved all three businesses. This is a management team with support from our board that believes in returning the majority of free cash flow to our investors. In 2021, coming out of COVID, we approached with that in mind, you know, we made really good gains in terms of improving the strength of our balance sheet and our leverage, as well as returning the majority of free cash flow.
We actually stepped up the cash flow to shareholders more so in the second half of last year as we got more confident on the full year outlook. We're coming into the new year and stepping that up again. We have $250 million remaining on our current share buyback authorization and, you know, consistent with the cash generation of the business going forward. Maybe Sameer and I-
talked about the cash usage and our first priority in terms of investing our cash is to make sure we have safe and reliable operations. As you know, we have you know, our responsibility commitments that we have to ensure we can cut down on the emissions and all the stuff that's happening around semiconductor onshoring. It's a great exciting opportunity for us on both the APM, TSS, and TT franchises. Our first priority is to make sure we do the guide roughly $400 million. I would look at CapEx, as I said in my remarks, is number of projects moved from 2021 into 2022. So combine that, the 2021 and 2022 is roughly $350 million of CapEx.
After that, as Mark said, you know, we'll do a little bit of a debt reduction. Improvement in that. We'll continue our march forward on that. Then last is our commitment that we will return majority of the free cash flow to shareholders. So, comments around that we expect to finish the remaining commitment on the buyback program in the first half. That's roughly $250 million of cash coming back to the shareholders via repurchases just in the first half of the year. So that's how, like, you know, you should think about our cash usage. Investment, credit profile enhancement, and majority cash coming back to shareholders.
Okay, thanks for that. Just as a follow-up, I wanted to understand the high end of the guidance. I know there's about a $60 million difference between the midpoint versus the high end. Would you characterize that as mostly possible that $60 million in APM and TSS if there's quicker resolution on chip shortage issues or supply chain? Is that the right way to think about it? Thanks.
Yeah. There are lots of puts and takes, but I would say it's pretty balanced. Look, I mean, there are growth opportunities across all three businesses, right? If ore situation resolved, I think on the TiO2 side, as Mark said earlier, the demand remains really strong. So there's an opportunity from there, from some pretty interesting, exciting opportunities. F-gas regulation, you know, Mark mentioned about AIM Act, but the same increases in Europe on the F-gas. That provides us an opportunity as well. And similarly on the APM side, I mean, as we talked about, the margin improvement as the efficiency of the operation improves, you know, getting into the margins in the low 20%, that provides us a great opportunity as well. So this is an opportunity-rich environment and across all our three businesses.
On the high end, I would keep it pretty balanced.
Arun, as I said, you know, we really love the momentum we have in all of our businesses. Obviously, we're being very thoughtful on our guide early in the year. You know, when I look at TIO2, we have the best book of business that we've ever had. Customers, we are working to, you know, unlock the bottleneck capacity to achieve that growth. When I look at TSS, you know, we have the recovery of auto plus, you know, the growing impact of AIM over time, as well as just, you know, more commercial refrigeration as you know, things go back to normal post-COVID.
Then in APM, you know, we're working on so many exciting opportunities from semicon to hydrogen to EVs to advanced electronics, where our fluoropolymers, you know, are the only answer to sort of solving the world's most difficult issues. I'm very excited about, you know, the potential of these three businesses and the focus we have of our leadership team and our employees, you know, to keep driving forward.
Thanks.
From the line, Duffy Fischer from Barclays. Your line is open.
Yeah, good morning. First question is just around your free cash flow. Last year, you guys did about 41% conversion from EBITDA to free cash flow. At the midpoint this year, that would give you $564 million of free cash flow, which is a pretty big distance from. You know, I mean, it's within the guidance, but, you know, it's much higher than the $500. Still good in your mind, or are you likely to convert less EBITDA to free cash flow this year than last year?
No, Duffy, this is Amit. Let me just take that one. As you kind of look at 2022 versus 2021, I think that one of the biggest drivers is CapEx, right? As we kind of move from this year to next. As I said, just to Arun, you know, CapEx is going up. Just a transition given to how some of the projects got delayed. I think from the working capital perspective, this is a year in which we will be more seasonal in terms of the working capital consumption and release of the working capital. So that's gonna have a little bit of impact as well. 2019, 2022, you know, inventories have been pretty light across chain, and that applies to us as well.
As we kind of move into 2022, you're gonna see some of the working capital stuff as well. All in all, I would say, you know, combination of the two years, given the CapEx movement kinda makes more sense the way you look at it.
Fair enough. A couple quick ones just on TiO2. One, as you exited last year, what % of your TiO2 was on the AVA contracts? Two, if you look at the tons you produce, where is that relative to your capacity? You know, so we can kind of build in if we think things are gonna grow, how many more tons we're gonna be able to add over the next couple years, you know, to
Yeah. Duffy, you know, we've guided to about 70% of our book of business is contracted, and the rest, you know, is either our distribution business or our Flex portal. We oscillate around that, you know, from quarter to quarter, but that's a pretty good guide. What I'd tell you is in 2021, you know, really improved. We used as a way to enhance both product and customer mix throughout the year. This is the best set of strategic customers with the best contracts that we've had in our history. You know, I'm really encouraged by that.
You know, clearly, the impact of Ore as it relates to capacity had an impact on our Q4 volumes, and we're starting the year that way. Expect to be able to show, you know, as well.
Terrific. Thank you, guys.
Your next question comes from the line of Vincent Andrews from Morgan Stanley.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Could you just give us a sense of the visibility you have on your supply improving for, you know, after the first half? I just ask because obviously, you know, the situation has gotten more challenging over the last three months. I'd just like to get a better sense of, you know, how much comfort you have in that view on ore.
Yeah. You know, I would say the issue is ore supply to TiO2. You know, that, Vincent, and that's related to some force majeure activity in Q3 of last year, which, you know, we see improving as we move forward in time. Clearly, even though things so you know, that's really playing into sort of our near term, you know, performance. But again, expect to have more to say at the end of.
Just as a follow-up. If I look at your historical balance sheet and the cash balances at the end of the year, the lowest number I see is 2015's $366 million. Is that a working assumption, is that sort of an amount that you could comfortably finish, or would you need more than that?
Yeah. Vincent, this is Sameer. Depends on the needs of the businesses and versus non-U.S. cash. What I would say is, the balance sheet cash, you should really look in the context of where we are spending. You know, our view is we will continue to make investments in our businesses, both on the run and maintain reliability perspective and, you know, continue to make progress balance sheet debt back to $3.5 billion kind of a range. We are committed to that. Go back to returning majority of the free cash flow to shareholders. Look, I mean, that's how I would look at it.
The exact balance sheet cash, as you know, can move around based on where the needs are and also really importantly, how we generate the cash into U.S. versus non-U.S. and making sure we have enough U.S. cash.
Thanks very much.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from the line of Josh Spector from UBS. Your line is open.
Yeah. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Just a couple ones to pick on ore again. Just, you know, for me to think about most of your AVAs already, so they get perhaps first dibs at North America supply. Does that mean that Europe gets a bit shorted in the near term, the next couple of quarters? Just on your 2Q seasonal ramp comment, I assume for you to meet that you need the ore for 2Q already on the water and ships now. Is that in place to get a 2Q seasonal ramp?
I'd say, as I said earlier, the issue at the mine has, you know, largely been resolved and we're seeing improvements there and shipments are on the water. Yes. The last question as to the short answer is yes. Obviously, it's something we keep monitoring. Clearly, you know, we are very focused on meeting our contracted book of business and their customer needs first. When I look at our growth in 2021, you know, we grew in all markets. There's no sort of North America versus Europe versus AP trade-off here. The trade-off is, hey, you make sure you deliver first and protect your contracted book of business.
That's candidly part of the value prop that so many customers have flocked to are being contracted with Chemours. As a percentage on our AVA book. Again, this is just a matter of a couple quarters here where we're somewhat ore constrained.
Maybe another way to ask that then is your Flex portal distribution significantly different than your average? I mean, I guess I would think maybe AP perhaps has more of the spot market activity. Is that a fair way to think about it?
Our Flex portal is available to our global customers, so customers around the world in different markets. The availability on Flex is somewhat reduced when you're constrained, and then that usually results in prices on Flex, you know, which reflect the spot market being significantly higher. You know, that's. We always wanna have volume available for Flex and distribution because of the opportunity it brings in a tight market like we have. That's why, you know, we've made this sort of rule of thumb that we would constrain our contracted book of business to about 70% of our volumes.
Okay. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Your next question comes from the line of Matthew DeYoe from Bank of America. Your line is open.
Morning, thanks. A few quick ones on the TSS volumes. If the business was down like 11%, does that mean Opteon was down closer to 18%-20%? Why did it take until 4Q to see that headwind when given what we kind of saw transpiring even in the 3Q? I know you mentioned comps from last year, is that the case? You know, what should we see as this type of volume? Like, should we see this kind of volume print consistently until we get to the back half of next year? Do things ease up a little bit?
No. I'll start and maybe ask Sameer to comment a little bit further. Recall Q4 of last year was a very robust recovery for auto. It's just a tough year-over-year comp on auto volumes vis-a-vis the semicon constrained build and Omicron constrained build in Q4. You know, the way you should read that is just a year-over-year comp. Our expectation, and I think you, if you look at IHS outlook, you know, they're projecting auto volumes this year to be up around 10%. You know, we're using IHS as the guide. Clearly, you know, we're focused on both OEM and aftermarket opportunities as the Opteon car part continues to build.
Okay. Then a quick one on PFOA. DuPont made some comments about making progress on settlement work. They didn't really go into a lot of detail on the call, maybe that's on purpose, but there's kind of this outstanding South Carolina MDL and perhaps other cases. I'm just kind of wondering through what the cadence of any kind of announcements we might get through the year, what you're looking at and how you frame out liabilities versus perhaps risk to setting precedents.
Josh, I wouldn't speculate on cadence, but I'd make two comments here. First is, you know, DuPont, Corteva and Chemours continue to work well together under the MOU framework, and you saw that this year, you know, with the Delaware settlement that we announced last year. Secondly, you know, as a leadership team, we're always open to potential for settlements that reduce the risk to the company, but are done in a way that we believe create value to our shareholders. You know, we will continue to have that mindset. I'm very encouraged by the fact that, you know, in my discussions with DuPont and Corteva, you know, we have a shared view of using the MOU to work through issues that relate to our legacy path.
Stay tuned, but nothing more to say at this time.
Understood. Thanks.
Your next question comes from the line of Eric Petrie from Citi. Your line is open.
Hi. Good morning, Mark and Sameer.
Hi, Eric.
I saw your second patent infringement case in Japan, and it's a good example of enforcement. I was wondering, could you give an overview of your patent estate? When could we expect a competitor to produce an HFO for the auto air conditioning market?
Hey, we continue to view our patent estate as going well towards the end of this current decade, you know. We will vigorously defend our IP estate globally. I just say, you know, we continue to innovate around our Opteon franchise, bring new IP to market that, you know, makes the product better for our customers. We would expect, you know, to continue to have significant IP defenses through the later half of this decade.
Okay. Secondly, on TiO2, given the shipping and logistics constraints, did you have to reroute any of your TiO2 volumes? I know Altamira is a big exporter of TiO2, so any changes in trade routes?
Hey, Eric. This is Sameer. Nothing of significance. Look, there's always supply chain teams making some adjustments here and there based on the port availability and the vendors that we use, but nothing material.
Eric, I just say, you know, this year, our operations teams worked hand in glove with procurement and logistics and our customer service organization to ensure minimal disruption to our customers. You know, you don't build a book of business like we have by not really taking seriously your value prop to your customers. You know, it was a year where we got, you know, a big shout-out to our ops teams who despite, you know, three waves of COVID, you know, ran our plants really well and worked with our logistics team to make sure our customers had minimal disruptions.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Your next question comes from the line of Hassan Ahmed from Alembic Global. Your line is open.
Morning, Mark.
Hi, Hassan.
How are you doing? Question
Great.
Around Titanium Technologies. Look, sequentially, your volumes were down 10% and I, you know, obviously understand the seasonality of things. I understand the sort of supply chain constraints. You guided to volume decline sequentially in the mid-single digits. So I'm just wondering into Q4, or was that just, you know, the way the market was. Part and parcel with that on a go-forward basis in 2022, now that you've regained lost market share, how should we think about your volumes in TiO2 year-on-year? Will you grow with the market or will you continue to try to regain market share as you consider debottlenecks and the like?
Yeah, Hassan, it's a great question. Clearly, you know, among competitors you will have variation quarter to quarter. When you look at our overall volumes for the year, you know, TiO2 revenue up 40%. You know, it's hard to argue with the result that we had in the year. As Sameer said in his remarks, we regained the market share we lost with TVS and then some. You know, our focus here is to really, you know, maintain our market share. Maintain/grow our market share. By doing that, by growing with our customers first. You know, we have a really good strategic book of business, and our focus now is how do we grow a volume outlook for the year.
Clearly, we're starting the year, we're constrained, and as I said earlier, we expect that to alleviate itself as we move through the first half. You know, our inventories are throughout the whole system. You know, that we should have another great year in terms of revenue growth in this business.
Understood. As a follow-up, you know, as you sort of sit there and look at where the cost curves are today, you know, with what you rightly pointed out ore constraints, obviously, ore prices going higher, you know, Olin out there sort of shuttering as much as 15% of their capacity. Could 2022 be a year where you see major differences between the integrated TiO2 producers versus the non-integrated ones? You know, I'm thinking about the flexibility that you guys have in sort of, you know, toggling between a whole range of ores. Could this be a year where the non-integrated, you know, feast or famine, you know, relative to whether you're integrated or not?
Listen, we like our book of business. We like our supply on all of our raws. You know, we continue to work, you know, across both chlorine and ore to be well supplied through time. You know, I just say. We like our cost curve, where we are on the cost curve. As we, you know, debottleneck capacity, you know, we're seeing opportunities to do that at some of our lower cost plants as well. Overall, you know, Hassan, I remain very encouraged about where we are in our TiO2 journey. Clearly, we're starting the year slightly more constrained, and that's something we'll work our way through.
Very helpful.
Yeah. If you look at, you know, the quality of our operations, the technology in TiO2, I wouldn't exchange that for anything else. At the end of the day, what matters is return on capital. With our technology, we believe we have very attractive return on capital in the broader scheme of things. We take a lot of pride in that.
Perfect. Thank you so much.
Thanks.
There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Mark Newman, I turn the call back over to you for some closing remarks.
Thank you. Listen, we are very excited about the momentum we have in all of our businesses. We're starting the year with very strong customer demand. Our focus this year is to throw off as we grow revenue and earnings going forward. Thank you for your continued interest, and I look forward to speaking to many of you today.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.