Calumet Specialty Product Partners L.P. reported net income of more than $16 million for the first quarter, much improved from a net loss in the year-earlier period. Moove – Cosans lubricants production and distribution arm – posted large increases in net revenue and net income for the quarter.
Calumet
Calumet reported a net income of $16.4 million for the companys first quarter, a significant improvement from a net loss of $4.8 million during the year-earlier period.
The Indianapolis-based companys first quarter sales also increased 13.4 percent to $851.3 million.
“Calumet delivered another strong quarter to start the year, as good execution against our strategy drove the best first-quarter results for our core specialty business that we’ve had in three years,” Calumet CEO Tim Go said in the companys earnings news release.
“Our core business profitability continues to grow, our operational execution is improving, and our operating cash flows and liquidity are strengthening,” Go continued. First-quarter specialty product sales volumes grew to 109,022 barrels per day, up from 88,033 b/d during the first quarter of 2018. Lubricating oils jumped to 12,357 b/d from 10,031 b/d a year earlier. Packaged and synthetic specialty products – including production at the company’s Royal Purple,Bel-Ray,Calumet Packaging and Missouri facilities – fell to 2,438 b/d, down from 1,874 b/d. The company also reported a slight uptick in wax sales volumes to 1,379 b/d from 1,239 b/d, and a slight decline in solvents to 7,935 b/d.
Cosan
Moove posted net revenue of 1 billion Brazilian reais (U.S. $260.1 million) during its first quarter, up almost 43 percent from 724 million Brazilian reais during the same period last year. The company attributed the increase to an expansion of international operations, higher sales volume and a better sales mix.
Net income for the segment reached 42 million Brazilian reais, up 223 percent from 13 million reais in the year-earlier period.
The Sao Paulo, Brazil-based company’s combined lubricant and base oil sales volume increased almost 9 percent to nearly 82,000 metric tons. Cosan said the expansion of its finished lubes business in Brazil and abroad was a key factor in Moove’s increased performance during the first quarter.
The beginning of 2019 was marked by volatility in foreign exchange and international oil and sugar prices. Improved economic activity in the period contributed to the increase in natural gas, fuels and lubricants demand, the company said in its earnings report.
Cosan, a producer of sugar and ethanol products since 1936, expanded through acquisitions, becoming a distributor of fuels and lubricants beginning in 2008.