Japanese specialty lubricant maker Moresco Corp. reported higher sales for its fiscal year that ended in February for specialty lubricants, driven by recovery in automobile production, and in synthetic oils sales, driven by recovery in demand both domestically and in China. In its fourth fiscal quarter, specialty lubricants sales were up, while synthetics were flat.
The company’s fiscal year runs from March through February.
Specialty lubricants sales rose 23% to ¥13 billion (U.S. $82.4 million) for the company’s full fiscal year, improving from ¥10.6 billion in the prior fiscal year and up 4% from ¥12.5 billion in the same period in 2020. In the fourth fiscal quarter, specialty lube sales reached ¥3.3 billion, a 13% increase from ¥2.9 billion in the year-earlier period.
For the fiscal year in the specialty lubricants segment, cutting oil sales were up 34% at ¥2.6 billion, hydraulic oils increased 24% to ¥1.6 billion, vacuum oil sales jumped 42% to ¥925 million and forging oil sales rose 18% to ¥731 million.
Sales of specialty lubricants for the full-year period increased mainly due to a recovery trend in automobile production in each country and region where Moresco sells its products, the company said. It also noted the expansion of its sales of cutting fluids was progressing.
Revenue for the 12-month period from synthetic oils increased 6% to ¥2 billion, compared with ¥1.9 billion, though it remained 7% behind the ¥2.1 billion pace for the same period in the prior fiscal year. Synthetic oil sales for the fiscal quarter ending in February were ¥445 million, up slightly from ¥444 million.
For the 12-month period, sales of synthetic lubricants for high-temperature applications were up 29% at ¥1.2 billion. The company attributed the uptick to a backdrop of recovery in domestic demand and strong demand in China. Hard-drive synthetic lubricant sales declined 22% to ¥678 million. Hard-disk surface lubricant sales declined due to the impact of replacement solid state drives in personal computers.