Revealing hidden secrets of paraffin Polwax

REVEALING HIDDEN SECRETS OF PARAFFIN

Polwax, a company based in Jaslo, Poland, is a leader in the European paraffin market. The company is a producer and distributor of refined, deodorised paraffins, waxes and special industrial paraffin compositions.

Through consistently high product quality, the use of modern technological processes, adapting to customers’ individual needs, as well as top-notch research and development facilities; Polwax has established and cemented its market position. The company focuses on the production of liquid paraffin masses, emulsions, pastilles, slabs, and paraffin granules. They are used in many different industrial sectors, such as: fertilisers, precision casting, wood processing, production of varnishes and paints, rubber, paper and packaging, production of building materials, and candle production.

Experts in industrial paraffin

Polwax has been operating since 1999. In 2004-2012, it was within the structures of Grupa LOTOS, a vertically integrated oil company based in Gdansk, Poland. The Group’s main activities are crude oil production, refining and marketing of oil products. It is the leader in the lubricants market.

At the beginning of 2012, the Leveraged Management Buyout (LMBO) took place, which was attended by the Polwax’s managers, passive investors and a private equity fund.

Polwax has systematically changed its assortment portfolio, putting more and more emphasis on the development of products for industries, including fertilisers, emulsions and waxes for the wood and furniture industry, as well as plant protection and specific agents for the rubber industry and other industrial applications. The production is carried out in two facilities located in Jaslo and Czechowice-Dziedzice.

For more than ten years, Polwax has been producing and selling anti-caking agents for mineral fertilisers, which protect fertiliser granules against caking and dusting during storage and transport. The company offers anti-caking agents designed to protect the most popular types of mineral fertilisers. It is systematically expanding the range of paraffin emulsions. The emulsions are produced on various raw material bases, which affects their performance parameters and allows them to be better adapted to the specific needs of customers, related to the impregnation of MDF and OSB boards. The company also offers emulsions for the hydrophobisation of concrete materials.

Polwax manufactures its products mainly using refined and deodorised paraffins. The technology of adsorption refining with the use of organic (active carbon) and inorganic (bleaching earth) adsor-

bents is based on the removal of undesirable compounds, such as asphaltenes, resins, diolefins or hydrocarbon oxidation products that are harmful to humans and the environment. Along with vacuum deodorisation technology - the removal of volatile sulphur and nitrogen compounds – all this gives the company’s paraffin products the appropriate purity class.

Thanks to this, it meets the necessary standards for products that are used in food production or food packaging. Large production and tank capacities enable the selection of ingredients and their composition taking into account even the smallest differences. This has an impact on the high product quality and repeatability of production, which for customers is an extremely valuable element of cooperation.

Leader of Polish candle market

Polwax also notes the importance of the candle market. Poland is the largest producer and exporter of candles in the EU. According to the Eurostat data, in 2019 Poland produced candles worth €617 million – 41% of total candle production, followed by Italy (€149 million or 10% of candles) and Germany (€143 million or 9% of candles).

The company produces both machine-made and tailor-made candles, made to the customer’s specifications. For more than 20 years Polwax has been producing freestanding and grave candles in containers of various shapes, sizes and colours.

Development despite the problems

Due to the Covid-19, the specialist chemistry industry, like others, has focused on managing safety, operational risk and the consequences of disruptions to the supply chain. As a paraffin producer, Polwax also struggled with a decline in demand for its products.

Polwax’s sales revenue in 2020 is approx. PLN 216.5 million (more than €48 million), whereas its net profit reached more than PLN 3 million (approx. €678,000).

Today, the company’s production and sales are carried out in three basic segments: paraffins and paraffin masses used in candle manufacture, products for industry for specialised applications and in ready-made candles. The sales are concentrated on the domestic market, which is responsible for more than 70% of total sales. Outside of Poland, the company is present mainly in the EU and East European markets. West and South European countries have been for a long time Polwax’s dominant foreign markets.

The overriding strategic goal of the company’s operations is the systematic development of its product portfolio and on increasing revenues from the sale of added-value products, in particular for specialised industrial applications. Observing the events of the last year, Polwax is convinced that Covid-19 would increase the interest in products for industrial applications. From this perspective, the company’s experience and technological know-how as well as its laboratory facilities are invaluable. n

Visit: www.polwax.pl