In the first six months of this year, Cognis Oleochemicals, a fifty-fifty joint venture between Cognis and Golden Hope that includes production of fatty alcohols, reported an increase in sales of 9.5 percent to 308 million (U.S. $426 million), compared to the first half of 2006. Sales of fatty acids/glycerin in Europe and Asia grew particularly strongly, the company said in its mid-year earnings report.

Its functional products business unit – including its synthetic lubricants, mining technology, AgroSolutions and polymers, coatings and inks business – reported sales of 448 million from January through June, up 3.9 percent from 431 million for the first half of 2006.

We expect to achieve further growth in sales and earnings in the second half of the year, said Cognis Chief Executive Officer Antonio Trius, adding that early results for the second half were promising. The good results achieved in July show that we could partly make up for the higher raw material costs and give us particular reason to look ahead to the rest of 2007 with confidence.

Dusseldorf, Germany-based Cognis as a whole reported operating income of 214 million in the first half of 2007, identical to the figure for the first half of 2006. Net sales for the company increased 6.2 percent to 1.8 billion, compared to the total for 2006s first half.

Cognis Synlubes Technology business markets Synative brand products that include oleochemical raw materials such as esters, fatty acids and fatty alcohols for lubricant production. Synlubes Technology has production and service sites in Canada, the United States, Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, U.K. and China.