Some of India’s largest lubricant blenders saw their operating profit margins edge lower in the fourth quarter of last year as costs rose faster than sales.

Blenders like Gulf Oil Lubricants India and Savita Oil Technologies saw their profit margins edge down in the three months to end-December from the third quarter.

An outlier was Castrol India, whose profit margin edged up during the fourth quarter. Even that level was well below the profit margins that it reached in second-half 2020 and early 2021.

Blenders’ margins came under pressure as costs rose faster than sales. At the same time, raw material costs rose at a faster pace than total costs.

The trend partly reflected higher base oil prices compared with year-earlier levels, even as global base oil prices eased during the second half of last year.