NewMarket Corp.s Afton Chemical petroleum additives segment reported operating profit of $102.5 million, up 8.9 percent from $94.1 million a year earlier.

The increase was primarily due to lower raw material and conversion costs, partially offset by decreases in selling prices and shipments, NewMarket stated in its earnings news release.

Sales for the petroleum additives segment reached $516 million, down 7.4 percent from $557.4 million. NewMarket attributed the decline mainly to changes in selling prices, mix and lower shipments.

Shipments between the quarterly periods were down 1.5 percent from the same period last year, the company said, as the decrease in lubricant additive shipments was only partially offset by an increase in fuel additives shipments. North America and Latin America were the main regions contributing to lower lubricant additives shipments, the company noted.

Fuchs

Fuchs Petrolub Group reported earnings after tax of 126.6 million (U.S. $141.4 million) during the first half of this year, up 6.6 percent from 118.8 million in the first half of 2015.

Mannheim, Germany-headquartered Fuchs sales revenue topped 1.1 billion for the first half of this year, up 12.8 percent.

Compared to a year earlier, second-half revenue increased 26.2 percent in Europe to 720.9 million, attributed largely to acquisitions such as Pentosin and Statoil Fuel and Retail Lubricants; fell slightly to 298.4 million in Asia-Pacific and Africa due to effects of weaker currencies in the region, particularly the South African rand; and declined 2.4 percent to 171.9 million in North and South America, also due to currency effects. Another factor cited in North America was demand from the mining, oil, gas and steel industries in the United States remaining below expected during 2015s first half.

Heritage-Crystal Clean

Rerefiner Heritage-Crystal Cleans oil business, including oil collection and rerefining, reported $28.1 million in sales for the quarter ending June 18, down 6.3 percent from $30 million a year earlier.

The revenue decrease was mainly due to lower selling prices for our base oil and [residual fuel oil] products, which was partially offset by higher base oil volume sales, the company said in its earnings news release. The decline in revenue was further offset by increased revenue from used oil collection charges and stop fees of approximately $8.3 million during the first half of 2016.

The company was able to generate a positive operating margin in its oil business segment despite challenging commodity conditions at the beginning of the quarter, HCC President and CEO Joe Chalhoub said in the companys earnings news release.

This was the result of increased used oil collection charges and improved oil product pricing compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2016, as well as record base oil production at our rerefinery, Chalhoub stated. While the level of profitability during the second quarter was modest, if current conditions in our oil business segment continue, we expect to have an increase in profitability in this segment during the remainder of fiscal 2016.

Chemtura

Philadelphia-based Chemturas petroleum additives segment experienced a 2.6 percent decline in net sales to $154 million, down from $158 million in 2015s second quarter.

Chemturas Industrial Performance Products net sales fell 6.1 percent to $216 million, down from $230 million a year earlier. Products under the Industrial Performance Products segment include petroleum additives, and refrigeration and turbine lubricants, as well as synthetic lubricant base stocks and greases.

The year-over-year reduction in net sales primarily reflected lower sales prices in the current period that are the result of passing along the benefit of lower raw material costs to certain of our customers, the company stated in its earnings news release.

The segments second quarter operating income slid 7.9 percent to $35 million, down from $38 million a year earlier.

Operating income year-over-year benefited from the net change in sales prices compared to the change in raw material costs and lower distribution costs and inventory adjustments, the company stated.

Milacron

Cincinnati-based Milacron Holding Corp.s industrial fluids segment, which supplies metalworking and industrial fluids, reported operating earnings of $5 million, up 31.6 percent from 2015s second quarter.

The segment posted sales of $28.6 million for the second quarter, down 3.4 percent from $29.6 million a year earlier. Excluding $1.7 million of unfavorable effects attributed to currency movements, sales increased 0.9 percent over the prior year period.

Quaker Chemical

Quaker Chemical of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, reported $15.4 million in net income for the second quarter, unchanged from 2015s second quarter. The company posted net sales of $186.9 million, up 1.7 percent from $183.7 million a year earlier.

The performance was achieved despite foreign exchange headwinds, the company said. In the second half of the year, we expect to see some decline in gross margin due to timing differences between raw material price changes and our product pricing adjustments, Quaker Chairman, CEO and President Michael Barry said in the companys earnings news release.