Sales for Indianapolis-based Calumet reached nearly $1.2 billion for the third quarter, up 51.7 percent from $777.8 million in the year earlier period.

Our third quarter results were driven by strength in our fuel products segment and the addition of Royal Purple to our specialty products segment, said Calumet CEO Bill Grube.

Third quarter specialty products sales volumes totaled 40,392 barrels per day, up 32.6 percent from 2011s third quarter. Calumets third quarter specialty products segment sales volumes included 14,966 b/d of lubricating oils, 9,066 b/d of solvents and 1,294 b/d of waxes.

Valvoline
Parent company Ashland said its Consumer Markets (Valvoline) segment had $74 million operating income for the three months ending Sept. 30 (the fourth quarter of Ashlands fiscal year), up 155.2 percent from $29 million in the year-earlier quarter. Valvolines sales for the current quarter totaled $522 million, up 1 percent from the year-ago quarter.

For its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, Valvoline had operating income of $236 million, up 10.8 percent from $213 million for fiscal year 2011. Valvolines sales revenue for its fiscal year 2012 edged up 3.2 percent to more than $2 billion, compared to the previous fiscal year. Earnings rose on the strength of higher margins, which benefitted primarily from reduced base oil costs, Ashland stated in its earnings release.

Covington, Ky.-based Ashland as a whole reported an operating loss of $284 million, on revenues of $2.1 billion. The company said the operating loss included charges for five items that together reduced income from continuing operations by $422 million.

For the full fiscal year, Ashland reported an operating income of $302 million.

Fuchs
Fuchs Petrolub AG posted operating income of 55 million (U.S. $70.4 million) for the third quarter, up 21.4 percent from 45.3 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue for Mannheim, Germany-headquartered Fuchs regions grew during the third quarter, compared to 2011s third quarter. During 2012s third quarter, revenue rose 10.4 percent to 283.3 million in Europe, grew 18.8 percent to 123.5 million in Asia-Pacific and Africa, and increased 13.4 percent to 83.1 million in North and South America.

Fuchs reported that the primary contributors to sales revenue growth in Europe were Germany, Great Britain and Russia. In Asia-Pacific, Africa, our companies in China and South Africa recorded significant absolute and relative gains, the company said. The dynamic development observed in North America was offset by poorer performance in South America.

According to Fuchs, the companys earnings position benefited from a slightly improved gross margin, and demand remained consistent at a high level.

S-Oil
For S-Oils lubricants business segment, operating income for the quarter ending Sept. 30 dropped to 75.2 billion won (U.S. $69 million) from 216.9 billion won in the year-ago quarter, down 65.3 percent. Revenue was down to 537.4 billion won from 694.7 billion won, a decrease of 22.6 percent.

S-Oils Onsan, South Korea, refinery has 15,000 b/d API Group III, 20,000 b/d of Group II and 500 b/d of Group I base oil capacity.

In its quarterly earnings presentation, S-Oil noted the spread in the lube market declined due to an increase of supply amid a slowdown in demand growth. The companys analysis suggested there was a margin to move around the current level due to sluggish demand growth, despite no additional capacity expansion.

Quaker Chemical
Lubricant supplier Quaker Chemical reported a decrease in net income and a slight increase in net sales for 2012s third quarter ending Sept. 30, compared to results in the year-earlier period.

Conshohocken, Pa.-based Quaker Chemical posted net income of $11.2 million, down 19 percent from 2011s third quarter. The companys net sales totaled $180.9 million, up 0.8 percent from $182.3 million in the year-ago-quarter.

The global markets remain challenging for us, and we are being negatively impacted by a stronger dollar and weaker demand in several geographical areas such as Europe, China, Brazil and India, said Michael Barry, chairman, CEO and president of Quaker Chemical. Despite these headwinds, we delivered record product volumes this quarter by continuing to grow through additional new business and our recent acquisitions.