Japanese specialty lubricant producer Moresco Corp. reported improved sales for its specialty lubricants for its first fiscal quarter ended in May, with strong increases in cutting oils and hydraulic oils revenue, while sales for synthetic lubricants were flat.
The company’s fiscal year goes from March through February. Moresco’s combined specialty and synthetic lubricant sales of ¥3.9 billion accounted for 55% of the company’s sales in the first fiscal quarter.
Specialty lubricant sales grew 11% to ¥3.4 billion (U.S. $24.7 million) in the first fiscal quarter, compared with ¥3.1 billion in the same period last year. Vacuum oils were up 24% at ¥266 million, cutting oils were up 16% at ¥670 million, hydraulic oils were 16% higher at ¥442 million and die-casting oils increased 2% to ¥1 billion. Sales of forging oils rose 2% to ¥186 million. Other types accounted for ¥829 million, a 14% increase.
The company noted that unit prices rose due to a sales price correction.
Looking forward, Moresco said it anticipated that the decrease in shipment of die-casting oil will be covered by the recovery of demand for high-vacuum pump oil and the expansion of new sales of cutting oil.
Revenue for the quarter from sales of synthetic oils were down slightly at ¥503 million, compared with ¥502 million.