The company said in its earnings release that Ashland Consumer Markets reported a strong third quarter driven by improved results across all business units. The international business reported continued growth, as improvements in Asia and Latin America contributed a 6 percent gain in volume, Ashland stated. The do-it-yourself business unit reported modest growth, with several promotions helping to drive higher volumes for premium lubricants.

From April through June, the business unit sold 41.3 million gallons of lubricants – 1 percent more than the same months in 2012 — and enjoyed gross profits of 32.4 percent. Premium lubricants represented 33.6 percent of its U.S. branded lubricant sales for the period just ended, the company reported.

Covington, Ky.-headquartered Ashland as a whole posted operating income of $210 million for the quarter, on revenues of $2.1 billion.

SK Lubricants
Operating profit for SK Lubricants for the quarter ending June 30 zoomed to 29.2 billion South Korean won (U.S. $26.3 million), up 279.3 percent from 7.7 billion won a year earlier. Sales declined to 681.8 billion won from 788 billion won, a decrease of 17.1 percent.

Lubricant product demand improved in line with the summer peak season, the company noted in its quarterly earnings presentation.

SK operates a 40,000 barrel per day API Group II/III base oil plant at its refinery complex in Ulsan, South Korea, which includes a 26,000 b/d joint venture base oil plant built by SK Innovation and JX Nippon Oil & Energy and launched in May 2012.

Elsewhere, SK Lubricants has a joint venture plant with Pertamina in Dumai, Indonesia, with 10,000 b/d of Group III capacity, and its partnering with Repsol on a new 12,000 b/d Group II/III base oil plant in Cartagena, Spain. It is scheduled to begin production in 2014.

S-Oil
Second-quarter operating income for S-Oils lubricants business segment fell to 49.5 billion won from 121.7 billion won in the year-ago quarter, down 59.3 percent. Revenue declined to 401 billion won from 607.9 billion won a year earlier, a decrease of 34 percent.

S-Oil, headquartered in Seoul, said in its earnings presentation that its base oil spreads have recovered somewhat from the nadir of $227/ton seen in the first quarter of the year. In the second quarter, the spread improved to $319/ton, a level it expects is likely to be maintained because the growth in automotive sales and increasing demand for high performance lubricants will compensate for the supply increase by the scheduled capacity additions during second-half 2013.

S-Oils Onsan, South Korea, refinery has 16,200 b/d Group III, 21,800 b/d of Group II and 500 b/d of Group I capacity.

Heritage-Crystal Clean
Heritage-Crystal Cleans oil business, including oil collection and rerefining, posted $26.1 million in sales for the quarter ending June 15, down 13.6 percent from $30.2 million in sales in the year-earlier quarter.

As a whole, Elgin, Ill.-based Heritage-Crystal Clean reported $1.1 million in net income for its second fiscal quarter, on $63.6 million in sales or 6 cents per diluted share. That compares to $1.2 million in net income, on sales of $62.3 million, or 7 cents per diluted share, in 2012s second quarter. The company doesnt break out net income for its oil business segment.

In the oil business segment, the average price for the type of base oil we sell increased moderately from the first quarter to the second quarter, said Chief Financial Officer Mark DeVita. Our results continue to be negatively impacted by the prevailing market prices which have affected this segment beginning in the third quarter of 2012.

The oil business figures reflect sales of base oil, intermediate products and byproducts from its Indianapolis rerefinery, which has 2,000 b/d of Group II capacity.

During the second quarter, we achieved record base oil production at 93 percent of our rerefinerys current nameplate capacity, said Heritage-Crystal Clean founder, President and CEO Joe Chalhoub.

Quaker Chemical
Conshohocken, Pa.-headquartered Quaker Chemical posted $184.8 million in net sales for 2013s second quarter, up 5 percent from $176.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

The maker of industrial lubricants and metalworking fluids saw its net income reach $16.7 million, up 42.7 percent from $11.7 million in 2012s second quarter. Its gross margins widened to 36.4 percent in this latest quarter, a sign that product margins have returned to more acceptable levels, the company pronounced.

Our market share gains and acquisitions have helped us to grow despite weak conditions in numerous part of the world, especially in Europe, said Chairman, CEO and President Michael Berry. Going forward, we believe we will continue to face challenging market conditions around the world, with Europe continuing to be the most pronounced. In addition, we do expect some of our raw material prices to increase in the second half of the year.