ORLEN Asfalt is a part of the ORLEN multi-utility concern and one of the major suppliers of bituminous binders used for road construction in Central Europe. Every year, their products are exported to over 40 countries around the world. In line with the strategy adopted by ORLEN Asfalt its commercial activity is focused mostly on the Polish market, with over 80 percent of the sales volume.
Interview with Małgorzata Kowalska, President of the Management Board on ORLEN Asfalt.
A brief description of the company and its activities.
Małgorzata Kowalska: ORLEN Asfalt belongs to the ORLEN Group and is the company responsible for the sale and distribution of bitumens produced at refineries in Poland and the Czech Republic. We focus our business activity on domestic markets, but we also deliver our products to foreign market, which account for about 20 percent of our total sales. Our main export destinations include Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.
What’s the news about new products/services?
M.K: There are growing expectations in our part of Europe for the implementation and development of technologies aimed at decarbonizing construction, including the road sector. That’s why our ambition is to develop technologies to extend the life cycle of road surfaces, reduce CO2 emissions in the production and building of asphalt pavements, or to support the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement derived from the milling of old pavements.
What are the ranges of products/services?
M.K: Our product range includes traditional road pavement bitumens, polymer-modified bitumens and HiMA higly-modified bitumens. We also offer our customers WMA bitumens (warm-mix asphalt), or RC bitumens, dedicated to asphalts pavements with a high content of reclaimed asphalt pavement.
What is the state of the market where you are currently active?
M.K: We focus our activities on the Polish market. In terms of bitumen supply, it is a balanced market. Of course, there are flows of bitumen, mainly between countries in our geographic region, but these are aimed at improving sales efficiency. One of the more important foreign markets for us is Romania. We cooperate with customers from this region on an ongoing basis.
What can you tell us about market trends?
M.K: We observe that the supply of bitumen in Europe is decreasing, mainly due to the recent closure of smaller refineries in western Europe. Meanwhile, we are seeing an increase in demand for polymer-modified bitumens to improve the quality and durability of road pavements. At the same time, in Western Europe we are seeing a significant increase in demand for technologies that allow road construction companies to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. The use of WMA technology is becoming increasingly popular, as well as the use of recycled material. We see that major bitumen producers in Europe are striving to improve the properties of their products through the use of various bio-additives, or bio-rejuvenators. At the same time, it should be emphasized that such a pro-environmental approach on the part of contractors in Western Europe, or Scandinavia, is required by the local road administration. In Central and Eastern Europe, this trend is at a very preliminary stage, but it seems that such an approach is inevitable in the next 2-3 years.
What are the most innovative products/services marketed?
M.K: ORBITON HiMA high-modified bitumens are a group of products that significantly improve the quality and durability of road pavements. They allow the construction of so-called perpetual pavements, i.e. roads whose durability is calculated for up to 50 years without the need for deep repairs. As I mentioned, this year ORBITON WMA and ORBITON RC bitumens appeared in our offer. The main benefit of their use is precisely the ecological aspects, which I mentioned earlier, although they also have a positive impact on the quality of roads built using them. All of these information can be found in the Bitumen Handbook published by our company, available to download at www.poradnikasfaltowy.pl.
What estimations do you have for the rest of 2024?
M.K: The Polish bitumen market is beginning to stabilize after the merger of ORLEN Group and LOTOS Group in 2022. We expect that our current position, or market situation in general, will not change significantly again by the end of the year. We are fulfilling current orders for bitumens and we are also planning activities for the coming years. Demand for bitumen, as always, depends on funding for road infrastructure construction, and we expect it to remain at a similar level in Poland in 2025 as this year.
As part of ORLEN Group’s bitumen production segment, we supply products from six production centres located in Poland (Płock, Gdańsk, Trzebinia), the Czech Republic (Pardubice, Litvinov) and Lithuania (Mažeikiai). Such factors as process development and sales consolidation have enabled us to meet the ongoing bitumen market demand.
In 2017 − 2022 (before merging with the LOTOS Group), the ORLEN Group supplied, on average, approx. 1.5 million tonnes of bitumen annually.
Since 2003, ORLEN Asfalt has also been a leader in bitumen technology development:
- completed over 100 research projects
- implemented 16 new products
- cooperates with local governments and academic institutions in developing environmentally friendly bituminous technologies
- authors of 17 editions of Bitumen Handbook in four language versions
ORLEN Asfalt sp. z o.o.
seated in Płock, Poland
zip 09-400, ul. Łukasiewicza 39