The International Group, Inc. (IGI) is a Canadian corporation specializing in wax technology and product development and in the manufacturing of petroleum wax and specialty wax blends. It is a privately held company and currently maintains operations in both the United States and Canada. Industries served by IGI include the corrugated box, flexible packaging, candles, tire and rubber products, adhesives, personal care, oil field production, and others.
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History
FYI - Ken Reucassel passed away at age 51 on Thursday Nov 5 2015 of Pancreatic Cancer.
The organization was founded in 1943 by William Reucassel as International Waxes, Ltd. and was incorporated in 1945, in Toronto, Ontario. Dr. David Aziz, a young engineer at the time, was brought on board shortly thereafter to develop technical aspects of the refinery. William Reucassel died in 1955 and in 1966 his son Ross became president. Ross Reucassel is the current Chairman and CEO for International Waxes.
During the 1970s and 1980s International Waxes, Ltd. acquired several US-based blending and sales operations. The acquisitions resulted in International Waxes, Ltd. becoming the International Group, Inc. to encompass the full range of operations.
The 1990s saw the addition of Ross's son, Ken, to the Organization. Ken Reucassel is now the President and COO of IGI.
In 2003 IGI acquired the BP Global Special Product US wax business. The sale included BP’s wax operations throughout North and Central America. Under the terms of the sale, IGI acquired wax formulation data, local trademarks, supplier and customer information, manufacturing knowledge, and inventory.
In 2005 IGI acquired the US-based industrial wax business from Honeywell Specialty Materials. This sale included not only product and customer data but refining and blending facilities as well. The acquisition increased IGI's total refining capacity and strengthened positions in such areas as candles and tire and rubber industries.
At that time, the BP and Honeywell transactions caused some concern among large purchasers of wax-based products. Previously, companies such as Shell, Amoco, Conoco, and Chevron had already exited the wax business. The additional consolidation of the wax business by IGI meant a less diverse choice of domestic wax suppliers. This trend has continued.
Production locations
IGI currently operates four refineries, one in Toronto and the other two in Farmers Valley, Pennsylvania, Woods Cross, Utah, and Evanston, Wyoming. Four blending plants exist as well: Baytown, Texas, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Titusville, Pennsylvania, and Toronto.
Wax supply
Most petroleum waxes are derived from the by-products of lubricant oils. Specifically, Group I motor oils result in a waxy distillate formed during the separation and refining of crude oils. This by-product will typically have a 5-20% oil content. IGI maintains "de-oiling" refining facilities that are able to remove the oil and be left with a finished wax product. Trends in industries such as automotive have put increased demand on lubrication oils and thus a trend towards using Group II and III has been seen in recent years. These types of oils do not contain a waxy by-product and also are not as crude oil dependent as Group I oils. This has resulted in an overall decrease in the diversity of North American feedstocks suitable for the manufacture of petroleum waxes.
IGI and its competitors have compensated by attempting to diversify its supply base, including the use of completely refined wax feed stocks from international sources such as China. Typically, these supply challenges have been discussed by the National Petroleum Refiners Association. It is generally thought that with the inclusion of international sources and the use of alternatives to wax (such as vegetable-based waxes) major industries using wax should have sufficient supply of product in the years to come.