The significant increase in crude oil prices and continued weakness in product demand resulted in a sector quarter that was very challenging for all refiners, including Calumet, said Bill Grube, CEO and president of Indianapolis-based Calumet. This has caused us to focus even more on placing specialty products in higher value applications and markets, developing additional specialty products, and controlling operating costs.

Calumets production of specialty products – base oils, waxes, solvents and asphalts – was down for the second quarter, compared to the year-earlier period. In the second quarter, base oil output declined 25.4 percent to 9,659 barrels per day, solvents decreased 15.8 percent to 7,417 b/d, and wax production fell 56 percent to 870 b/d, all compared to 2008s second quarter.

Fuchs
Fuchs Petrolub AG last week announced net profits of 43.1 million (U.S. $61.9 million) for the first six months of 2009, down 33.8 percent from 65.1 million during the first six months of 2008. The Mannheim, Germany-based lubricant supplier reports cumulative financial data over the course of its fiscal year, rather than by individual quarter.

Sales revenue for 2009s first two quarters totaled 569.6 million ($817.4 million), down 20.7 percent from 718.7 million in the year earlier period. The company attributed the decline to a significant drop in global demand for lubricants in the first half of the year. Fuchs did note its sales revenues for the second quarter were 4.5 percent higher than in the first quarter.

In light of the global recession, Fuchs also expects to see sales revenues below those of the previous year in the second half of the year, the company noted. The group strives to achieve similar earnings in the second half of the year as in the first half of 2009. To what extent general economic developments will permit that remains to be seen.

Sales revenues for Fuchs in the first half of 2009 fell 27.5 percent in Europe, and by 2.3 percent in the Asia-Pacific and Africa region, compared to 2008s first two quarters. In North and South America, revenue declined 13.2 percent in the first two quarters of this year, compared to the year-earlier period.

Quaker Chemical
Lubricant supplier Quaker Chemical posted net income of $3.2 million in the second quarter, down 25.6 percent from $4.3 million in the year-ago period.

Conshohocken, Pa.-based Quakers net sales reached $102.3 million, down 35 percent compared to $158.2 million in 2008s second quarter. The company attributed the decrease in net sales primarily to volume declines in all of its regions and market segments, as the global economic downturn continued to impact the business.

Volumes were down approximately 36 percent, which were partially offset by a favorable 6 percent increase in selling price and mix, Quaker said. Foreign exchange rate translation also decreased net sales by approximately 5 percent.

Michael Barry, Quaker president and CEO, said the company was pleased with its second quarter results – compared to the first quarter, and the last quarter of 2008 – especially in light of substantial decline in volumes from last year due to the global economic crisis.

The significant improvement in our earnings from the previous two quarters is primarily driven by our aggressive cost reduction actions and margin improvement, Barry explained. While we are encouraged by emerging signs of stability in our end markets, we believe the rebound in our end markets will be gradual, with only very modest volume increases occurring during the second half of the year.