For the third quarter of 2020, our combined adjusted EBITDA was $218.5 million as our Global Ingredients platform continues to be resilient.
The food segment, led by Rousselot, the Number 1 collagen provider in the world, is poised to provide meaningful earnings growth in 2021.
Diamond Green Diesel achieved a $2.41 per gallon EBITDA margin on record sales of 80 million gallons for the quarter.
We recorded $96.4 million of EBITDA, which is Darling's share of the joint venture.
Although oil and diesel prices remained significantly lower than the same time a year ago, diesel is currently trading $0.80 a gallon under Q4 of 2019.
And we expect that Diamond Green will sell between 55 million and 60 million gallons of renewable diesel in the fourth quarter and should average between $2.30 and $2.40 a gallon for those gallons sold.
On a year-to-date basis, Darling has generated $627 million of combined adjusted EBITDA for the Company, putting us on pace to finish what most everyone considers to be a challenging year with record results.
We currently believe that we can finish 2020 with combined adjusted EBITDA between $800 million and $810 million.
We certainly believe this gives us a solid platform as we move into 2021 for what we believe will be a transformative year as the 400 million gallon expansion, or what's known as DGD 2, comes online in late 2021.
Net income for the third quarter of 2020 totaled $101.1 million or $0.61 per diluted share compared to a net income of $25.7 million or $0.15 per diluted share for the 2019 third quarter.
For the first nine months of 2020, net income was $252.1 million or $1.51 per diluted share compared to $70 million or $0.42 per diluted share for the same period of 2019.
As Randy mentioned earlier, our gross margin continues to show improvement as we reported 24.9% for the third quarter of 2020 compared to 22.5% for the same period in 2019 as net sales increased $8.5 million and cost of sales and operating expenses decreased $14.6 million.
Operating income improved $67.7 million in the third quarter 2020 as compared to the prior year, reaching $127.5 million for the third quarter and totaled $356.6 million year-to-date 2020 compared to $182.5 million for the 2019 period.
In addition to the improved gross margin, the improvement in operating income benefited from a $59.1 million increase in Darling's equity and net income from Diamond Green Diesel.
SG&A expense was higher by $6.4 million in the quarter, partially attributable to the higher cost related to COVID-19, certain insurance increases as we recently renewed our coverages across the business, and higher benefits more than offsetting lower travel cost.
Interest expense was $18.8 million for the third quarter of 2020 compared to $19.4 million for the prior-year period.
We currently project quarterly interest expense to be approximately $15 million per quarter over the next several quarters.
The Company reported income tax expense of $4.8 million for the three months ended September 26, 2020.
The effective tax rate is 4.5%, which differs from the federal statutory rate of 21% due primarily to the biofuel tax incentives; the relative mix of earnings among jurisdictions with different tax rates and discrete items, including the recognition of a previously unrecognized tax benefit; and the favorable impact of certain US Treasury regulations issued during the quarter.
For the nine months ended September 26, 2020, the Company recorded income tax expense of $43.1 million with an effective tax rate of 14.5%.
Excluding discrete items, the year-to-date effective tax rate is 18.2%.
The Company also paid $24.9 million of income taxes as of the end of the third quarter.
For the remainder of the year, we project the effective tax rate to be about 20% with cash taxes for the year totaling approximately $35 million.
For the three and nine months 2020, Darling's share of Diamond Green Diesel's earnings was $91.1 million and $252.4 million as compared to $32 million and $94.4 million for the same period of 2019.
Capital expenditures of $184.9 million were made for the nine months of 2020 as we continue to take a disciplined approach during the pandemic prioritizing compliance and safety needs of the business and our reduced capex spend.
Now, turning to the balance sheet, in the third quarter, we were successful in amending and extending our $1 billion revolving credit facility with favorable terms.
In addition, we paid down our term loan balance by $145 million to a new balance of $350 million outstanding at the end of the quarter.
With our improved financial results and the paydown of the term loan B, our bank covenant leverage ratio for Q3 was 1.93 to 1.00.
Our liquidity remains very strong with approximately $934 million available under our revolving credit facility at the end of Q3, providing strategic flexibility, while at the same time, maintaining a very solid capital structure.
As I mentioned earlier, our share of the 2020 DGD earnings should be approximately $330 million based on the ranges I laid out for you.
With the strong performance of Q3 and prices for our products improving as we work through the fourth quarter, we believe we can produce EBITDA of approximately $470 million to $480 million in 2020 in our Global Ingredients business.
Once approved, construction should begin immediately, putting DGD 3 in a position to be operational in early 2024.

Summary:
Net income for the third quarter of 2020 totaled $101.1 million or $0.61 per diluted share compared to a net income of $25.7 million or $0.15 per diluted share for the 2019 third quarter.