Moving forward in the 21st century

The greatest success related to the development of ZA Puławy's production potential in the recent years is the expansion of the Melamine Plant. The decision to carry out the project was taken following an observation of the rapidly growing melamine market both domestically and abroad. The construction of Melamine Plant II started in May 1999. It was one of the largest investment projects in the Polish chemical sector at that time. The first production batch was released on April 5th 2001. The investment enabled the Company to produce 62 thousand tonnes of melamine annually and made it the third largest melamine producer globally.

The success of Melamine Plant II and the still receptive market led to the decision to increase the production capacity by 30 thousand tonnes annually. The decision was related to another important investment project. October 24th 2002 saw the ground-breaking ceremony marking the launch of construction of Melamine Plant III. The plant was commissioned in June 2004. The investment increased the total production capacity to 92 thousand tonnes annually and gave ZA Puławy a 10% share in the global and a 20% share in the European melamine market.

1990s – Modernisation, innovation, growth

In the early 1990s, we began working on extending our product mix by adding hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). On December 13th 1993, we signed a contract with the licencor – Chematur Engineering AB of Sweden, and less than two years after that we manufactured the first volumes of the product.

The 1990s was also the time of modernisation, with most extensive work performed in 1992–1997. In 1994, we placed in operation a new granulation tower with a daily processing capacity of 2,200 tonnes. The end of December 1997 saw the start-up of a modern urea synthesis unit (with a daily processing capacity of 1,700 tonnes), which replaced three previously operated lines. Already in the same year, the construction of a sodium perborate tetrahydrate unit was launched. In November 1998, we performed a mechanical start-up, with the first volumes of perborate produced on December 15th 1998.

In the 1990s, ZA Puławy saw a significant growth of its business. Almost all production lines were upgraded and new products were launched. Furthermore, the Company implemented organisational changes allowing it to adjust to the conditions imposed by market economy. One of the landmarks in the Company's history was its transformation on September 1st 1992 into a state-owned stock company operating under the name of Zakłady Azotowe PUŁAWY Spółka Akcyjna.

1980s – Care for the environment

The 1980s marked the beginning of positive changes at PUŁAWY in terms of its environmental impact. At that time, we developed a plan of necessary environmental protection measures, then a pioneering initiative of such type in the fertiliser and chemical industry. The plan was formulated in 1985 and subsequently extended to include new objectives. In effect, following approval by the provincial and municipal authorities, as soon as one year later we developed the Comprehensive Environmental Protection Programme for the Years 1985–2000 and Beyond.

Considering the operations of caprolactam plants at ZA Puławy, we also decided to implement a major environmental protection project, involving the construction of a biological wastewater treatment plant, launched in the mid-1980s.

The 1980s was the time of further growth of our product mix. A new product launched at the end of the decade was another type of fertiliser – urea-ammonium nitrate solution (UAN), developed in 1989 by our engineers. UAN was marketed already in the following year, which was also when the first UAN unit was launched. 

1970s – Focus of chemicals

In the following years, we faced new challenges. In 1971, we received a permit for the construction of a caprolactam plant as part of the Polyamid Fibre complex. The new plant was designed to produce 50 thousand tonnes of caprolactam per year. However, we aspired for further development. In view of the assumed growth of melamine resin and lacquer production, in the early 1970s we planned to build a large state-of-the-art melamine plant, where melamine was to be derived from urea. With an 80% share in total domestic production of melamine, we were best prepared to launch the construction of such facility, which commenced in 1975. The first batch of the product was received as soon as two years later.

Melamine and caprolactam production is considered one of the most technologically advanced production processes in the chemical industry, hence the 1970s may be perceived as breakthrough years in the history of the Company's development.

1960s – Great construction

The history of ZA Puławy dates back to December 19th 1960. On that date, the Council of Ministers resolved to locate a fertiliser production plant in the town of Puławy.

The plant's management was appointed to office in 1961. Mieczysław Kołodziej was appointed as general manager, and the technical deputy manager (chief engineer) position was entrusted with Jan Zdebik.

The project pre-implementation stage proved a smooth process. The key assumptions for the project were developed in just four months. An general plan and a preliminary engineering design were prepared and presented to the project owner in November 1961. Less than a year later, in October 1962, the project had already gone through the entire permitting process and was approved by the Planning Committee. According to the Committee's guidelines, the ammonia and urea line 1 and the CHP plant were to come on stream in late 1965.

The project was a highly advanced one in terms of technology. The ammonia synthesis license was purchased from Haldor Topsoe of Denmark, while urea was produced under a license from Toyo Koatsu of Japan. The applied technical solutions and technologies were provided by global leaders in the field.

Demand for fertilisers from the domestic agriculture sector was growing by the year, hence in January 1964 a decision was made to extend the project and build another fertiliser plant within Zakłady Azotowe Puławy's borders.  It was to produce ammonium nitrate. The construction of the PUŁAWY II project commenced in July 1965.

A milestone in the Company's history was marked by successful ammonia synthesis achieved during the start-up of the first production unit on June 4th 1966.  The date is considered to be the start date of ZA Puławy's manufacturing operations.

A ceremonial opening of ZA Puławy took place 43 days later, on July 16th 1966.