We delivered strong results marked by another record quarter of earnings per share of $1.30.
Sales for the quarter were $473 million or 17% higher on an organic basis and up 22%, including sales from the recent Normerica acquisition.
For more perspective on our organic growth, the projects we've initiated and I've discussed with you over the past year contributed approximately 5% to our organic growth in the quarter.
Said another way, about 5% of our growth was delivered from new projects and technologies initiated over the past year, 12% from market growth and 5% from the acquisition of Normerica.
Strength of our operating capabilities is reflected in how we successfully managed through the external conditions we faced this quarter, which enabled us to generate $63 million of operating income, a 22% increase over last year.
Cash flow remains strong and, through the first nine months of the year, cash from operations is up 10% compared to 2020.
Last week, we initiated a new one-year $75 million program.
I'll start with our household and personal care and specialty product line, where our broad portfolio of consumer-oriented businesses continues to perform very well, resulting in organic sales growth of 13% year-to-date and 20%, including the recent addition of Normerica.
Our global Metalcasting business remains on its consistent growth track with sales up 30% year-to-date, driven by strong demand from both North America and Asia foundries, serving a diverse customer base in automotive, heavy truck and agriculture markets.
Specifically, penetration of our blended products continues to expand in Asia as sales increased 30% compared to last year with 29% growth in China alone.
In India, which is the second largest gray and ductile iron casting market globally, sales of our blended products are up 50% over 2020.
Sales were up 17% year-to-date as uncoated freesheet paper demand continues to improve in all regions.
We've also benefited from the ramp up of 200,000 tons of new capacity that we've brought online over the past year, which includes a 150,000-ton facility in China and another 50,000-ton satellite in India.
Production at our 40,000 ton expansion for a packaging application in Europe was also just commissioned in the third quarter.
For perspective, sales realized from these latest satellites were responsible for 5% of the 17% PCC growth so far this year.
In addition to the capacity I just mentioned, another 40,000 ton satellite in India will start up this quarter and we've begun building another 50,000 ton satellite in China, which should be operational in the first half of next year.
We've also just reached an agreement and expect to sign a contract over the next couple of weeks with a new customer in India for another 22,000 ton satellite.
It will be our ninth satellite in India after entering the market with our PCC technology 10 years ago.
In total, with the satellites just commissioned and ramping up, combined with these three new satellites, we see the 5% growth rate from new satellites continuing through next year.
It's been a very impressive year for this segment with growth of 22%, marked by steel utilization rates noticeably improving over last year.
Over the past six months, we've secured seven contracts worth $100 million over the next five years, two of which were signed during the third quarter.
Sales mix has evolved over the past few years with 30% of our revenue now coming from stable and growing consumer-oriented markets.
Specifically for next year, we see our sales growth moving north of 10% and this sales trajectory, along with our strong operating capabilities, provides a powerful combination for significant long-term value generation.
Sales in the third quarter were 22% higher than the prior year and 4% higher sequentially.
Organic growth for the company was 17% versus the prior year and the acquisition of Normerica contributed the remainder of the growth in the quarter.
Operating income excluding special items was $63.2 million, up 23% versus the prior year and was relatively flat versus the second quarter.
Operating margin was 13.4%.
It's worth noting that excluding Normerica, operating margin was 13.8% for the quarter.
The year-over-year operating income bridge on the top right of this slide shows volume and mix contributed $14.9 million, driven by our strategic growth initiatives and the broad-based volume growth we've seen across our end markets.
You can also see the significant inflationary cost we experienced, $18.4 million in the third quarter alone, driven by energy, freight and raw materials such as lime and packaging.
To give you some perspective, we saw energy pricing go up by anywhere from 50% to 400% depending on the location and power source with the most dramatic increases in the UK and Europe.
We offset $10.7 million of these inflationary costs with continued price increases, including contractual pass-through mechanisms in paper PCC and negotiated price actions in the rest of the business.
The sequential bridge on the bottom right shows how inflation accelerated from the second quarter to the third quarter by $10 million, more than half the total year-over-year impact.
However, this bridge also shows how quickly we acted to implement pricing, offsetting nearly 70% of the sequential increase.
Meanwhile, we continue to control overhead expenses with SG&A as a percent of sales at 10.6%, 150 basis points below the prior year and 70 basis points lower sequentially.
Earnings per share, excluding special items, was $1.30, the second consecutive record quarter for the company and represented 41% growth versus the prior year.
Third quarter sales for Performance Materials were $250.4 million, 23% higher than the prior year and 5% higher sequentially.
The acquisition of Normerica contributed 10% growth versus the prior year and organic sales contributed an additional 13%.
Household, Personal Care and Specialty Products sales were 30% above the prior year, driven by Normerica and continued strong demand for consumer-oriented products.
Sales were 19% higher sequentially, primarily driven by the acquisition.
Metalcasting sales were 10% higher than the prior year, driven by stronger demand globally and continued penetration of green sand bond technologies in Asia.
Sales were 9% lower sequentially, primarily due to typical seasonal foundry maintenance outages.
Environmental Products sales grew 32% versus the prior year on improved demand for environmental lining systems, remediation and wastewater treatment.
Building Materials sales grew 18% versus the prior year and 3% sequentially on higher levels of project activity.
Operating income for the segment was $32.6 million and operating margin was 13% of sales.
Operating margin, excluding Normerica, was 13.9%.
Specialty Minerals sales were $146.9 million in the third quarter, 17% higher than the prior year and 3% higher sequentially.
SPCC sales grew 17% versus the prior year and 3% sequentially on recovering Paper PCC demand, the continued ramp up of three new satellite plants and higher SPCC demand from automotive, construction and consumer end markets.
Process Minerals sales grew 18% versus the prior year and 2% sequentially on continued strength in residential construction and consumer end markets.
Process Minerals sales, as I just spoke about, did grow 18% and segment operating income was $18.4 million and operating margin was 12.5% of sales.
This segment has seen the most acute impact from energy and raw material cost increases with inflationary cost increases of $9 million, partially offset by $5 million pricing in the third quarter alone.
Refractory segment sales were $75.9 million in the third quarter, 28% higher than the prior year and 2% higher sequentially as demand remained strong for refractory and metallurgical products.
Segment operating income was $13.2 million, a quarterly record and 81% higher than the prior year and 13% higher sequentially.
Operating margin was strong at 17.4% of sales and was also a record performance.
However, we expect slightly lower sales and operating income to be down approximately $2 million.
Cash flow from operations was $163.1 million year-to-date compared to $148.4 million in the prior year, up 10%.
Capital expenditures were $63 million year-to-date versus $45.8 million in the prior year as we continue to invest in high return projects.
The company used a portion of free cash flow to repurchase $63 million of shares year-to-date and the share repurchase authorization from the prior year was completed in October.
The Board of Directors authorized a new $75 million one-year share repurchase program on October 20, 2021.
As of the end of the third quarter, total liquidity was over $500 million and our net leverage ratio was 2.2 times EBITDA.
We expect strong cash flow generation to continue in the fourth quarter with free cash flow in the $150 million range for the full year.
And overall for the company, we expect another strong performance with operating income around $60 million.

Summary:
We delivered strong results marked by another record quarter of earnings per share of $1.30.
Sales for the quarter were $473 million or 17% higher on an organic basis and up 22%, including sales from the recent Normerica acquisition.
Earnings per share, excluding special items, was $1.30, the second consecutive record quarter for the company and represented 41% growth versus the prior year.