US re-refiner and lube blender Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions (SKSS) saw profit fall to a two-year low in the first three months of the year amid lower-than-usual demand that added to downward price-pressure.
SKSS’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to $41.46mn in the first three months of the year, Clean Harbors said in an earnings statement.
SKSS is the re-refining and lube blending unit of Clean Harbors.
Profit fell from $54.28mn in the fourth quarter of last year and by 20pc from year-earlier levels.
The unit’s EBITDA margin of 17.5pc in the first quarter fell from 23.5pc during the previous three months to the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2020.
Base oil and blending pricing is more challenging than we anticipated, including an unexpected price decline in April.Clean Harbors Co-Chief Executive Officer Mike Battles
“We are going to continue to drive additional SKSS profitability to offset the spread compression through greater base oil production from a year ago, cost reduction initiatives, accelerating blended sales and cultivating interest in our environmentally friendly solutions,” Battles said in a statement.