Waste Control Specialists suffered an $8.1 million operating loss in the second quarter of 2015, WCS’ parent company, Valhi Inc., announced late last week. Valhi attributed the operating loss to the shortage of available hazardous waste shipping containers in the second half of the second quarter. “Disposal volumes for the second quarter of 2015 were negatively impacted by availability of certain classifications of hazardous waste shipping containers to us during the latter part of the second quarter,” Valhi said in an earnings release. The lack of shipping containers also affected already- delayed shipments from generator sites that were adversely impacted by severe winter weather in the first quarter of 2015, which had been scheduled for the second quarter, the company said. As a result, WCS recorded an operating loss of $11 million for the first six months of the year— better, though, than the $13.5 million operating loss in the same period last year.
In an effort to solve the shipping container shortage, the radioactive waste and disposal specialist contracted to obtain two additional shipping containers. “In July 2015 we entered into an exclusive leasing arrangement to secure a dedicated access to two such containers and we continue to seek alternative suppliers to increase availability,” Valhi said in its earnings report. WCS thought it had solved its shipping container troubles last year after it obtained three shipping containers from Robatel Technologies capable of shipping waste up to Class C. In its first-quarter earnings report, Valhi had predicted a profitable year for WCS, but these shipping problems most likely have derailed that prediction.
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