The vaccination rates for the company as a whole currently track at 64% globally with 61% in North America and 81% across our international locations.
Overseas, Denmark lifted its COVID restrictions throughout the country now that more than 75% of its population is fully vaccinated.
In Australia, lockdowns are being lifted as vaccination rates there have exceeded 60%.
On slide eight, consolidated sales for the quarter were $425 million, which was a decrease from sales of $438 million in the prior year quarter.
Sales for RUPS were $187 million, down from $191 million.
PC sales fell to $115 million from $148 million, and CM&C sales rose to $123 million, up from $99 million.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $54 million or 12.7%, down from $67 million or 15.2% in the prior year.
Also compared to the prior year, adjusted EBITDA for RUPS was $11 million, down from $19 million.
PC EBITDA decreased to $20 million, down from $32 million, and CM&C EBITDA improved to $23 million, up from $17 million.
On slide 10, sales for RUPS were $187 million, a slight decrease from the prior year's results.
In fact, crosstie procurement is down 38% in the quarter over last year, while crosstie treatment has increased slightly by 3%.
On slide 11, adjusted EBITDA for RUPS was $11 million compared with $19 million in the prior year.
We saw reduced track time due to increased levels of rail traffic, along with inefficiencies caused by employee turnover, which led to an approximately $2 million decrease in EBITDA for our Maintenance-of-Way business.
Additionally, the costs incurred by converting from Penta to our CCA preservatives had a negative $2 million unfavorable impact.
PC achieved sales of $115 million compared to $148 million in the prior year.
On slide 13, adjusted EBITDA for PC was $20 million compared with $32 million in the prior year.
EBITDA from Europe and Australia was about $3 million lower due to European regulatory impacts on our product portfolio and rolling lockdowns in Australia and New Zealand.
Slide 14 shows CM&C sales at $200 -- $123 million compared to sales of $99 million in the prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA for CM&C was $23 million compared to $17 million in the prior year.
Compared with the second quarter, prices of major products this quarter increased 11%, while average coal tar cost increased 8%.
Compared with the prior year quarter, average pricing of major products rose 24%, while average coal tar costs went up by 39% in that particular quarter.
As seen on slide 17, at the end of September, we had $762 million of net debt with $326 million in available liquidity, and we also remain in compliance with all of our debt covenants.
Our net leverage ratio was 3.4 times at the end of September, down from 3.5 times at the end of December 2020 and 3.8 times in the prior year quarter.
In connection with our ongoing efforts to evaluate potential financing options, we are reviewing various refinancing alternatives for both our $500 million senior notes, which are due in 2025, as well as our existing bank credit facility.
On slide 19, you can see the remarkable accomplishment achieved by our entire Koppers Wood Products team at Longford, Australia, who have reached a 100% vaccination rate, our first location of 20 or more employees to reach that milestone, which is an incredible feat, and we are extremely appreciative of this achievement.
The 93 employees there have achieved a 95% vaccination rates which are passing even the national rate of 75%.
And finally, in our corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, where we have 177 employees, we have crossed the 90% vaccination threshold.
At our annual Zero Harm Truck Driving Championship 10 drivers were identified as finals for their overall performance and were appropriately recognized.
The fourth quarter looks to generate a sales volume improvement of about 8% over third quarter results, building on North American residential demand that began in the back half of October.
Year-over-year sales volumes are expected to finish about 14% lower than the record volumes in the prior year, which were driven by the strong demand during the pandemic in 2020.
Industrial demand in the U.S. should remain strong at a 5% year-over-year increase through September as the pent-up preservative is phased out for utility pole treatment.
So we will need to continue the acceleration of global price increases that began in early 2021 and that have totaled $15 million thus far through September.
Looking at the external data, some encouraging news came from a 7% rise in the sale of Existing-home with all four U.S. regions experiencing increases in sales and housing demand, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In October, the consumer confidence index was 114%, an increased from September and reversing a three month decline as concerns began to lessen regarding the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Now to keep up with rising costs, we are continuing to implement price increases that should add more than $20 million in 2022 and more than $60 million in 2023 based on current copper prices.
From an R&D standpoint, we are pleased to report that we have been issued a patent for our next-generation MicroPro product, which will remain in force through early 2038, and we will begin commercializing it in 2023.
As support for next year's volumes projection, is a leading indicator of Remodeling Activity estimates that spending on home renovation and repairs will reach 9% annual growth and surpassed $400 billion by the third quarter of 2022.
Year-to-date through September, those increases have totaled $8 million, and we will need to continue to cover the rising cost of labor, chemical, fuel and transportation.
Now as mentioned earlier, sales of CCA treated poles will increase as 65% of our UIP customers have selected CCA as their preservative of choice with 10% still undecided.
In 2022, we expect to implement $15 million to $20 million in annualized price increases to cover the increased costs we are experiencing and that I had outlined earlier.
At our current pace of 4.4 million ties purchased, this would represent a new low driven by customer reluctance to pay higher prices to meet their demand levels.
As announced in early October, we closed on the sale of the property where our former Denver facility was located, providing net proceeds of $24 million in the fourth quarter.
The American Association Railroads reports total year-over-year U.S. carload traffic increased 8%.
Intermodal units increased 10% and combined carloads and intermodal units increased by 9% as of September 30.
We expect a minimum of $20 million in price increases to flow through our top-line next year to account for higher material costs that we have been experiencing thus far this year.
While overall volumes are set to increase 3% to 4% in 2022, with share remaining flat, volumes are expected to grow by more than 10% in 2023.
Our yield optimization project would further improve pitch yields that we get from tar from 50% of production to up to 70%, meaning higher sales and profitability.
On slide 32, our sales forecast for 2021 has been revised to be approximately $1.7 billion compared with $1.67 billion in the prior year to reflect the lower than previously expected PC volumes on our third and fourth quarter.
On slide 33, we are adjusting our 2021 EBITDA projections to now be approximately $220 million, which is at the low end of our previously communicated range.
That compares favorably with the $211 million generated in the prior year and will be our seventh consecutive year of EBITDA growth looking at the company in its current formation.
On slide 34, our adjusted earnings per share guidance is now expected to be approximately $4.12, which is comparable to our all-time high 2020 adjusted earnings per share despite the negative impact of $0.40 per share from our higher estimated effective tax rate.
Our $4.12 estimate for 2021 is lower than our prior estimate range, primarily due to our effective tax rate increasing from prior projections.
Finally, on slide 35, our capital expenditures were $87.6 million year-to-date through September 30 or $78.7 million, net of the $8.9 million in cash proceeds.
We are on track to spend a net amount of $80 million to $85 million on capital expenditures with approximately $45 million dedicated to growth and productivity projects.
And through a combination of significant price actions and continued execution on our high-return internal projects, I am confident that we will take the next important step forward in 2022 toward meeting our 2025 goal of reaching $300 million in EBITDA.

Summary:
PC achieved sales of $115 million compared to $148 million in the prior year.
On slide 32, our sales forecast for 2021 has been revised to be approximately $1.7 billion compared with $1.67 billion in the prior year to reflect the lower than previously expected PC volumes on our third and fourth quarter.
On slide 33, we are adjusting our 2021 EBITDA projections to now be approximately $220 million, which is at the low end of our previously communicated range.
On slide 34, our adjusted earnings per share guidance is now expected to be approximately $4.12, which is comparable to our all-time high 2020 adjusted earnings per share despite the negative impact of $0.40 per share from our higher estimated effective tax rate.
Our $4.12 estimate for 2021 is lower than our prior estimate range, primarily due to our effective tax rate increasing from prior projections.