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The group of waxes profiled in this report is a composite of ten of the more
significant wax types commercially available today. A generally accepted definition
of the term wax does not exist, primarily because of the large number
of products with waxlike properties and the chemical complexity of individual
wax types. Selection of the ten wax types surveyed is based largely on commercial
importance and volumes consumed.
The following pie charts show world consumption of waxes by major type and
world consumption of petroleum wax by region.
Waxes are used in a wide variety of applications and are important components
of many household and industrial products. Their many uses include paper coating,
candles, textile and leather products, polishes, adhesives, fruit and vegetable
coatings, cosmetics, medicinals, inks, lubricants, rubber compounding and plastics
compounding. These applications cover a broad marketing spectrum from commodity-type
markets, such as paper coating, to more specialty-type markets, such as cosmetics.
Waxes are typically processed and blended to meet specific performance requirements,
often by specialized companies in the distribution chain that also provide
considerable technical service. Examples of such companies include Koster Keunen
(United States), Paramelt (the Netherlands) and S. Kato & Company (Japan).
Petroleum waxes are usually classified as by-products of lubricating oil production
and clearly dominate the overall wax market. More than fifty companies produce
petroleum waxes worldwide and most are crude oil refiners. Some refiners sell
unfinished waxes to a small number of large consumers, while others elect to
move most of their wax output through specialist marketing companies that often
process the wax further before resale.
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