AAK Annual Report 2018

27 27 Tefac – industrial applications AAK’s business for industrial applications, Tefac, has developed well over 2018, delivering strong growth. This is mainly due to a continued improved product mix within the fatty acids business. Solutions AAK offers fatty acids and glycerine that are produced by splitting the fat molecule and refining the outcome into value-adding solutions for various technical products. Trends Over 2018, we have seen an increase in demand for high-end products and sustainable products. New products To ensure we can offer a complete product portfolio, we have developed a new product range for candle wax applications, which is proving very popular among new and existing customers. Future growth AAK has historically provided a wide range of products for candle applications. With our newly expanded product portfolio for candle wax applications, we will focus on developing further opportunities in the European market. 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Volumes, thousand tons 268 263 274 278 301 Net sales, SEK million 1,324 1,243 1,233 1,417 1,513 Operating profit, SEK million 89 88 100 84 155 Operating profit per kilo, SEK 0.33 0.33 0.36 0.30 0.51 Volumes (13% of Group total) (Thousand tons) 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 301 278 274 263 268 Operating profit (7% of Group total) (SEK million) 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 160 120 80 40 0 155 84 100 88 89 Operating profit per kilo (SEK) 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 0.51 0.30 0.36 0.33 0.33