From a financial perspective, total sales in the quarter were $388 million, an increase of about 9% sequentially, but still at lower levels compared to last year.
We generated $52 million of operating income and earnings per share were $0.92.
In addition, we delivered $54 million in cash from operations, continuing our solid cash generation profile.
At the end of the third quarter, our Metalcasting facilities were operating at about 95% of last year's levels, a noticeable improvement from the reduced levels seen earlier.
In addition, penetration of our pre-blended products remains on a strong growth trajectory in China as sales increased 20% over last year and this momentum should continue moving forward.
Sales in our portfolio of consumer products which includes Pet Care, Personal Care, and Edible Oil Purification remained resilient, led by an 11% year-over-year growth in Pet Care.
As we indicated on our last call, July volumes were trending approximately 15% higher compared to June, and these dynamics continued through the third quarter.
Of note, Paper PCC sales in China continue to deliver a solid performance with 18% growth over last year.
And in our Refractories business, we see steel utilization rates increased in the U.S. from a low of 50% in the second quarter to 65% at the end of September.
The commissioning of two new PCC satellites scheduled for the fourth quarter continue to move ahead, currently ramping up production at our 45,000 ton facility in India, our 150,000 ton satellite in China should be operational by December.
In our Refractories business, we signed two new five-year contracts to supply our refractory and metallurgical wire products in the U.S. These contracts total approximately $50 million or about $10 million of incremental revenue on an annual basis.
We commercialized 36 value-added products so far in 2020 with contributions from each of our businesses.
12 of these products were introduced in the third quarter.
Third quarter sales were $388.3 million, 9% higher sequentially and 14% below the prior year.
Earnings per share, excluding special items was $0.92 and we incurred special charges of $3.2 million after-tax in the third quarter or $0.09 per share.
Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 19.8% versus 19.1% in the prior year and 16% in the prior quarter.
Going forward, we expect our effective tax rate to be approximately 20%.
Third quarter sales were 13% lower than the prior year on a constant currency basis.
On a sequential basis, we saw significant improvement in demand with sales up 7% adjusting for currency and up 9% overall.
On our last call, we told you that sales rates in July were trending approximately 5% higher than June, and this trend accelerated through the rest of the third quarter.
Daily sales rates in August were 6% higher than July and September was 7% higher than August.
Operating income increased 18% sequentially on a constant currency basis, primarily due to the improvement in our end markets and continued cost control.
Operating margin was 13.3% in the quarter versus 13.2% in the prior year, and 11.8% in the second quarter.
Starting with the prior year comparison, our pricing and cost actions contributed 190 basis points of improvement, which more than offset the unfavorable volume impact.
On a sequential basis, we leveraged additional volume into 60 basis points of margin improvement and our continued cost control contributed another 70 basis points of favorability.
Another margin related highlight for the third quarter was that EBITDA margin improved by 70 basis points versus both the prior year and the prior quarter.
Performance Materials sales increased 10% sequentially and were 8% lower than the prior year.
Metalcasting sales grew 26% sequentially as foundry production improved in North America and demand remained strong in China.
China Metalcasting sales grew 11% sequentially and 20% versus the prior year on continued strong demand from our customers and continued penetration of our specially formulated blended products.
Household, Personal Care and Specialty Product sales remained resilient, up 7% sequentially and flat with the prior year on continued strong demand for consumer-oriented products.
Operating income for the segment was $28.2 million, up 34% sequentially and up 5% versus the prior year.
Operating margin was 14.8% of sales, up 270 basis points from the second quarter and up 180 basis points from the prior year.
Specialty Minerals sales were $125.1 million in the third quarter, up 14% sequentially and 13% below the prior year.
PCC sales increased 14% sequentially as paper mill capacity came back online in the U.S. and India, following temporary COVID-19-related shutdowns.
Paper PCC sales in China grew 11% sequentially, and 18% over the prior year on continued penetration and strong customer demand.
Specialty PCC sales increased 16% sequentially as automotive and construction demand improved through the quarter and consumer-oriented products remained strong.
Processed Minerals sales increased 13% as end market steadily improved through the quarter.
Operating income excluding special items was $18 million, up 18% sequentially and 17% below the prior year and represented 14.4% of sales, which compared to 13.9% in the second quarter and 15.2% in the prior year.
Refractories segment sales were $59.3 million in the third quarter, up 6% sequentially as steel mill utilization rates gradually improved from second quarter levels in both North America and Europe.
Segment operating income was $7.3 million, up 24% from the prior quarter and represented 12.3% of sales.
As a result, sales were $13.3 million and operating income was breakeven for the third quarter.
As Doug noted, third quarter cash from operations totaled $54 million and free cash flow was $40 million.
We continued our balanced approach in deploying cash flow, paying down $30 million of debt and we resumed our share repurchases acquiring $3 million of shares in the quarter.
We continue to repurchase shares in October and completed the expiring program with $50 million of shares under the $75 million authorization.
As noted earlier, the Board of Directors has approved a new one-year $75 million repurchase program.
Our net leverage ratio is 2.1 times EBITDA and we have $682 million of liquidity including over $375 million of cash on hand.
Specifically, we're growing our portfolio of premium Pet Care products in both North America and Europe with the expansion of new online retail channels with larger customers, and the introduction of new products such as our 100% carbon-neutral Eco Care product in Europe, an example of how we're satisfying customer preferences, while also contributing to our sustainability efforts.
Noted earlier, we expanded our customer base in China through the continued penetration of our higher value blended products, which led to sales growth of 20% over last year.
Overall, we're bringing online 285,000 tons of new PCC capacity over the next three quarters.
For the Refractories segment, current steel utilization rates in North America and Europe are around 70% and 65%, respectively, and we expect these rates to gradually improve in the upcoming quarters.
As I mentioned earlier, we've recently signed two five-year contracts totaling $50 million to supply our broad portfolio of refractory and metallurgical wire products, which will start to accrue to revenue growth in 2021.

Summary:
From a financial perspective, total sales in the quarter were $388 million, an increase of about 9% sequentially, but still at lower levels compared to last year.
We generated $52 million of operating income and earnings per share were $0.92.
Earnings per share, excluding special items was $0.92 and we incurred special charges of $3.2 million after-tax in the third quarter or $0.09 per share.