Calumet Specialty Products Partners posted a net loss of $116.8 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, down further from a $63.5 million loss in the year-earlier period. Full-year 2015 net loss amounted to $139.4 million, down from $112.2 million.

Excluding five special items, Calumet posted an adjusted net loss of $52.8 million, compared to a $60.4 million adjusted net profit in 2014s fourth quarter. Special items included four charges, adverse impacts or losses amounting to $86.3 million, including inventory-related items and unrealized loss on derivative instruments.

Indianapolis-based Calumets fourth quarter sales reached $898 million, down 33 percent from more than $1.3 billion in the year earlier period. Full year 2015 sales reached $4.2 billion, down 27.6 percent from $5.8 billion in 2014.

Fourth quarter sales volumes for special products were down slightly in 2015s fourth quarter, to 25,500 barrels per day, compared to 25,648 b/d in the year-earlier quarter. Lubricating oils amounted to 14,420 b/d in the quarter, up from 11,438 b/d a year earlier. Packaged and synthetic specialty products totaled 1,644 b/d in the fourth quarter, down from 1,665 b/d. Other fourth quarter totals included 6,661 b/d solvents and 1,360 b/d waxes, each down from fourth quarter 2014 figures.

In its earnings news release, the company noted overall demand for specialty products was essentially flat in the fourth quarter, compared to the prior year period. Demand for lubricating oils, white oils and packaged and synthetic products remained stable, while solvents demand remains soft due primarily to less activity in the oilfield services industry, Calumet stated. Sales of packaged and synthetic specialty products, which include proprietary product lines such as TruFuel and Royal Purple, achieved a new record in 2015.

In its strategic update, Calumet said its acquisition focus will narrow versus prior years to include specialty businesses where the partnership has an existing core competency, and that have a sustainable competitive advantage. The company added it regularly evaluates its portfolio to identify potential asset divestiture candidates that do not fit its core asset portfolio criteria.

Chemtura

Philadelphia-based specialty chemicals company Chemturas industrial performance products segment reported net sales of $198 million in the fourth quarter, down 15.4 percent from $234 million a year earlier. For full year 2015, the segments net sales totaled $886 million, down 10.2 percent from $987 million.

Net sales for the fourth quarter compared to both the same quarter last year and the third quarter of 2015 reflected unfavorable product mix and moderate volume declines, an issue we have seen throughout 2015 for both our petroleum additives and urethane product lines, Chemtura stated in its earnings news release. The industrial performance products segment also experienced lower selling prices, primarily in petroleum additives as we passed along the benefit of lower raw material costs to certain customers under formula based pricing contracts, although the reduction in selling prices sequentially was less pronounced since raw material prices flattened in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter of 2015.

In the fourth quarter, the segments operating income reached $30 million, up 20 percent from $25 million. Full year 2015 operating income amounted to $141 million, up 33 percent from $106 million.

The improvement in operating income year-over-year was due to lower raw material and manufacturing costs, Chemtura noted, which more than offset lower selling prices and unfavorable product mix. We were able to offset a portion of the impact of the decline in sales on operating income by the successful implementation of the cost savings initiatives that we had announced in the fourth quarter of 2014, the company added.

Net sales for Chemturas petroleum additives segment hit $141 million in the fourth quarter, down 14 percent from $164 million in 2014s fourth quarter.

Cosan

Cosan Lubrificantes net revenue from the sale of lubricants and other goods and services and the resale of base oils increased 16 percent to 463.8 million Brazilian reais (U.S. $115.3 million) in 2015s fourth quarter, up from 400 million reais a year earlier.

For full year 2015, the net revenue reached almost 1.8 billion Brazilian reais, up 12.5 percent.

Sales volumes reached 76,300 cubic meters for the fourth quarter, up 1 percent. The company noted weaker sales in the quarter were partially offset by international performance. Full-year sales volumes totaled 316,900 cubic meters, down 6.4 percent.

Sao Paulo, Brazil-based Cosan, a producer of sugar and ethanol products since 1936, expanded through acquisitions beginning in 2008 to become a distributor of fuels and lubricants.

Novvi, a joint venture between Cosan and U.S. research firm Amyris, develops renewable synthetic base oil from sugarcane.