First quarter sales for Indianapolis-headquartered Calumet reached $1.2 billion, compared to $605.2 million in 2011s first quarter.

Specialty products sales volumes in the first quarter totaled 41,515 barrels per day, up 23.4 percent from the year earlier period. The specialty products segment sales volumes in the first quarter included 14,680 b/d of lubricating oils, 9,126 b/d of solvents and 1,277 b/d of waxes. The company attributed the sales volume change in part to increased sales volume of lubricating oils. According to Calumet, the segment includes packaged product, bulk blended lubricants, white oils, naphthenic oils, paraffinic oils and synthetic polyolester oils.

Calumet Specialty Products Partners has begun pushing into the finished lubricants business. Early this year it completed acquisitions of blender and distributor TruSouth Oil and of Ashland subsidiary Hercules synthetic aviation and refrigerant lubricants business.

Net profit for independent lubricant blender Fuchs Petrolub Group reached 51.5 million (U.S. $67.7 million) for the first quarter, up 9.3 percent from 47.1 million in the same period last year.

Total sales revenue amounted to 448.4 million for the quarter, up 11 percent from 403.8 million in the year-earlier quarter.

The significant increases in raw material prices observed during the course of 2011 were a key contributor to the increases in sales revenues, stated Fuchs of Mannheim, Germany.

Each of Fuchs three regions saw revenues grow during the first quarter, compared to 2011s first quarter. In 2012s first quarter, revenue rose 6.7 percent to 263.5 million ($346.7 million) in Europe, grew 19.4 percent to 118.9 million in Asia-Pacific and Africa, and rose 15.8 percent to 79.8 million in North and South America, all compared to year-earlier totals.