Polimex Mostostal to build a rapeseed oil pressing plant for Orlen Południe

On Thursday, September 21, a contract was signed between the consortium that includes: Polimex Mostostal S.A. (as leader of the Consortium) and AB Industry S.A.  (as a partner in the Consortium) and Orlen Południe S.A. for the project of a modern rapeseed oil pressing plant in Kętrzyn, Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship.

The contract includes the design, provision of supplies and turnkey construction, commissioning, start-up and putting into operation of a 200,000-ton-per-year oil extraction pressing plant, as well as rapeseed, oil and meal storage facilities, along with associated facilities and the necessary rail and road infrastructure in Kętrzyn.

The plant will process 500,000 tons of rapeseed and produce 200,000 tons of oil annually for the production of low-carbon biofuels. The investment will create new jobs and provide Polish farmers with stable demand for the raw material they produce.

- The contract signed today for the construction of an oil pressing station in Kętrzyn is another important investment in the Orlen Group's portfolio of Polimex Mostostal projects. Thank you for the trust that Orlen S.A. has placed in us by entrusting us with such a crucial project. Before creating jobs here in the region, this investment will provide jobs to our people for the next three years. It will strengthen our competence in the implementation of biofuel projects and open doors for us to construct such facilities throughout Europe. We will do our best to ensure that you are not disappointed with us. - Krzysztof Figat, President of the Management Board of Polimex Mostostal S.A. said.

- We have an ambitious strategy for the development of biofuel production, which will ensure ORLEN Group's position as a regional leader in this segment. To this end, we are investing in refineries in Trzebinia, Jedlicze, Płock and Gdańsk and our latest venture is the construction of our own rapeseed oil pressing plant in Kętrzyn. The plant will process 500,000 tons of rapeseed a year, meaning it will be able to handle as much as 1/7th of the country's rapeseed production. In pursuing its business goals, ORLEN is creating seedbed for long-term cooperation with Polish farmers that will guarantee a steady receipt of the products they produce. The second-generation bioethanol plant already under construction in Jedlicze, which will use up 150,000 tons of straw from local agricultural producers each year, also fits into this premise, says Daniel Obajtek, ORLEN CEO.

The remuneration for the contract is a lump sum and amounts to PLN 547.2 million net and EUR 32.3 million net, of which the Company will receive PLN 386.2 million net and EUR 32.3 million net.

Construction of the plant will begin in the first half of 2024 and is expected to be completed by mid-2026. In addition to the oil pressing station itself, the complex will include process nodes related to raw material reception and product dispatch, raw material and product storage, pressing and extraction, process steam production and wastewater treatment.

The plant will produce 200,000 tons of oil per year and will provide ORLEN Południe with full control over the quality of the final product. In order to produce this amount of oil, the pressing plant will use about 500,000 tons of rapeseed sourced primarily from Polish agricultural producers. The domestic rapeseed crop in 2022 amounted to 3.6 million tons.