The firm said its reported sales rose 15% to a record $3.5bn in the third quarter of 2013.
Q3 sales for the Global Industrial segment, when measured at fixed currency rates, rose 3% to $1.26bn and fixed currency operating income increased 10% to $181m compared with Q3 2012.
Third quarter 2013 acquisition adjusted fixed currency sales rose 3%, led by Global Food & Beverage and Global Paper.
Asia Pacific and Latin America enjoyed good growth, with modest growth in North America and a slight decline in EMEA.
When measured at public currency rates, Global Industrial segment sales were $1.24bn and operating income was $177m.
Sales increased 7% in the third quarter and 6% for the first nine months of 2013.
Industry sales growth
Sales growth continued to be led by gains in beverage and brewing, dairy, food and agri markets, offsetting weakness in the protein market.
All regions showed sales increases, led by strong growth in Latin America, with moderate growth in Asia Pacific and North America
Global Institutional sales increased 3% in the third quarter and 2% for the first nine months of 2013 but foodservice foot traffic remained soft.
In the Global Specialty segment, quick service and food retail businesses produced double digit growth, benefiting from new accounts and increased product penetration.
For Global Pest Elimination, food and beverage, healthcare and foodservice segments led the growth in sales of 5%.
Account gains
Douglas M. Baker, Jr., Ecolab's chairman and chief executive officer, said: "We continued to see solid sales progress in the third quarter as our new products, customer service execution, and our focus on delivering total cost solutions for customers once again led to further account gains and continued organic growth progress in spite of sluggish economies.
"We serve a large market with robust potential in each of our core businesses, and believe we have the right strategies and tactics to capitalize on them.”
The company acquired Econ Indústria e Comércio de Produtos de Higiene e Limpeza, a provider of cleaning and sanitizing products and services to the Brazilian foodservice industry in March 2012, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with annual sales of $9m.
The business operations have been integrated within the company’s existing Brazil Institutional business and its results are part of the Global Institutional reportable segment.