Polwax SA, a company from Jaslo, Poland, is one of the European leaders in the paraffin market. It is a producer and distributor of refined, deodorised paraffins, waxes and industrial paraffin products. The company is currently on the brink of a technological breakthrough with a unique slack wax solvent de-oiling installation. Dariusz Balcerzyk reports.
December 31, 2019 will be a significant date in the history of Polwax. On that day, the most modern European slack wax solvent de-oiling installation located in Polwax’s plant in Czechowice-Dziedzice, Silesian region, southern Poland, is to be put into use.
“For our company it will be a big leap forward. As a result, we will enter a new phase of our development; frankly, launching this installation will drive Polwax to the industry’s top league. On the other side, the company would have no future without this investment,” says Dominik Tomczyk, Polwax CEO.
Source: Polwax SA
Experts in paraffin products
Polwax has been operating since 1999. In the years 2004–2012, it was a part of Capital Group Lotos SA, well-known for its crude oil production, refining and marketing of oil products.
At the beginning of 2012 the company was privatised in the process of a leveraged management buyout (LMBO), in which its managers, passive investors and a private equity fund took part. This was essential to Polwax’s future development. In 2014, the company made its debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, while in March 2015 it purchased two laboratories: in Czechowice-Dziedzice and Jaslo.
Owing to its many years of experience and innovation, and the continuous expansion of its product portfolio, Polwax is now one of the world’s leading producers and distributors of refined and deodorised paraffin, waxes and speciality industrial paraffin compositions. Its wide product offering includes solutions designed for the candle-making industry, products for special applications, anti-caking agents for fertilisers, pattern waxes, speciality products used in the manufacture of candles, products designed for the manufacture of grave-lights, anti-corrosion agents, wood impregnation products, HOT-MELT adhesives, and grave-lights and candles. They are used in a variety of industries, such as the fertiliser industry, precision moulding, wood processing, varnish and paint production, the rubber industry, paper and packaging, production of building materials, production of explosives, candle production, food and cosmetics. Polwax SA also runs its own analytical laboratory, which provides research in the field of oil products, water and wastewater.
The company’s annual sales in 2017 were estimated at PLN 283.5 million (more than €67.5 million). Around 75 to 80% of Polwax’s production output is sold on the domestic market, whereas the remaining part is marketed mainly in the European Union (Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Hungary) and in eastern Europe.
Source: Polwax SA
The future is underway
Construction of the slack wax solvent de-oiling installation, the most ambitious investment in the company’s history, started at the turn of 2017 and 2018. “Analysing the paraffin market, we concluded that our main product – candles and grave lights based on high-tech engineering, which accounts for 65% of our total production – is dying out and there is no future in it. We considered that the only solution for the company is to make the highly technologically processed products, for which a modern slack wax solvent de-oiling installation is a must,” explains Mr Tomczyk.
The total investment costs are estimated at PLN 160 million (more than €38 million). The installation is being built using ThyssenKrupp UHDE technology. This German company is also the creator of the base project and supplies nine key devices that have a fundamental impact on the quality of the installation products. ORLEN Projekt SA, a company specialised in the design and construction of new facilities in the petrochemical, chemical and environmental sectors, is the investment’s general contractor.
Source: Polwax SA
“We have chosen ORLEN Projekt SA from among many bidders due to its technological experience and understanding of chemical processes. Remember that it is a part of the ORLEN Group, which is the undisputed leader on the fuel market in central Europe. To imagine the technological leap that Polwax SA will perform, it is worth realising that currently our two plants make 27 using of products. Thanks to the new installation, we will increase our offer with another 28 using. Today, we obtain about 20–30% of the content from one tonne of raw material. The installation will allow us to go up to 55–60%. Currently, we are processing 55–60,000 tonnes of raw material, and from the year 2020 we will be processing about 70,000 tonnes. Moreover, the share of exports in our total sales will grow to 75–80%. The installation will allow de-oiling of light, medium and heavy slack wax, thus expanding the company’s range of products to include new products addressed to a wider group of industrial customers,” points out Mr Tomczyk.
Polwax’s slack wax solvent de-oiling installation will be ecologically friendly and will be the most modern plant of its kind in Europe from a technological point of view. Two other such installations were built in Europe in the early 1970s and demonstrate a 40-year-old technological standard. Proof that the new investment was a good strategic move is the fact that the company has already many customer orders for the year 2020 and onward.
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