Forchem

What Forchem does

Forchem is a Finnish specialty chemicals company that refines Crude Tall Oil (CTO), a renewable byproduct of Nordic pine pulp production, into a portfolio of industrial chemical intermediates. The company operates a single integrated production facility in Rauma, Finland, anchored by what it describes as the world's largest dry distillation unit for crude tall oil, with annual capacity of 175,000 tonnes — approximately 10% of world CTO production and a target 30-33% European market share. Its product portfolio includes Tall Oil Fatty Acid (TOFA) in grades FOR2, FOR2X, and FOR5; Distilled Tall Oil (DTO) in grades FOR10 through FOR30/40; Tall Oil Rosin (TOR) grades FOR85 and FOR90; Fortop600, a low-sulfur pitch-based biofuel for industrial boilers; Progres, a trademarked resin-acid animal feed innovation co-developed with Hankkija; and phytosterols for functional food applications such as Benecol. Differentiated process technology includes a Delta V digital control system and a proprietary real-time online production analysis system (patent application filed).

The business operates a B2B industrial chemicals model, selling directly to enterprise customers in paints and coatings, adhesives, chemical processing, bioenergy, food, and animal nutrition verticals. Approximately 90% of production is exported, with direct sales subsidiaries in Germany (Forchem GmbH), France (Forchem S.a.r.l), and the United Kingdom (Forchem Ltd), supplemented by a sales representative network in other regions. Pricing is contract-based and not publicly disclosed. The company is privately held, having been acquired by Finnish private equity firm MB Rahastot (MB Funds) in January 2007, and was originally founded in 2000 as Rauma Forest Chemical Oy. Headcount stands at approximately 40 direct employees at the Rauma facility with an estimated 100 indirect jobs supported. The company holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 certifications, REACH pre-registration, an Annex V exemption for TOFA, and EcoVadis Gold (2026, top 5% globally).

The company's revenue model is fundamentally a hardware/commodity chemical sales model supplemented by specialty product premiums. The underlying business model rests on a co-located, capital-intensive refinery anchored to a single raw material source (adjacent Metsä-Botnia pulp mill), with multi-year B2B contracts, integrated direct sales in core European markets, and ongoing reinvestment in grade differentiation (multiple TOFA/DTO/TOR grades) and downstream specialty products (sterols, Progres). Disclosed revenue anchors include €33.6 million in 2003 (first full operating year) and an estimated ~€77 million in 2006, with later expansion-era revenue referenced at ~€65 million; current revenue figures are not disclosed in the input data.

Name

Forchem

Legal name

Forchem Oyj

Website

https://forchem.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Forchem is a Finnish specialty chemicals company that refines crude tall oil from Nordic pine pulp into fatty acids, rosins, distilled tall oils, biofuels, sterols, and animal feed ingredients for B2B industrial customers across paints, coatings, adhesives, chemical processing, bioenergy, food, and animal nutrition verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Chemicals

NAICS

Fats and Oils Refining and Blending (311225)

SIC

Fats & Oils (2070)

akta.pro primary industry

Commodity Edible Vegetable Oils (Refined/Bleached/Deodorized) (AFAJALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Edible Animal Fats Rendering & Refining (Tallow, Lard) (AFAKAEAF), Inedible/Industrial Rendering (Greases for Oleochemicals, Biodiesel Feedstock) (AFANAGAB)

Keywords

• Tall oil refining
• Crude tall oil
• Pine chemicals
• Bio-based chemicals
• Specialty fatty acids

Headquarters

HQ city

Rauma

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tall Oil Fatty Acid (TOFA) sales: Sale of distilled tall oil fatty acid products for use in paints, coatings, biolubricants, fuel additives, and performance polymers. Represents approximately 30-36% of production.
2. Tall Oil Rosin (TOR) sales: Sale of rosin acid products for adhesives, printing ink binders, paper sizes, rubber production, and road making. Represents approximately 20-26% of production.
3. Distilled Tall Oil (DTO) sales: Sale of distilled tall oil products for metal working fluids, oil field chemicals, soaps, cleaners, and alkyd resins.
4. Fortop600 pitch fuel sales: Sale of pitch fuel blended from tall oil pitch for use in communal and industrial boilers, mainly power plants. Low-sulfur biofuel alternative to fossil fuels.
5. Sterol product sales: Sales of phytosterols extracted from tall oil pitch for food industry applications. Product used in functional foods like Benecol for cholesterol reduction.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Forchem refines Crude Tall Oil (CTO), a renewable byproduct of Nordic pine pulp production, into multiple commercial fractions at its integrated Rauma, Finland facility. The company produces Tall Oil Fatty Acid (TOFA), Distilled Tall Oil (DTO), Tall Oil Rosin (TOR), Fortop600 low-sulfur biofuel, phytosterols for functional foods, and the Progres animal feed innovation, serving industrial B2B customers in coatings, adhesives, chemical processing, energy, food, and animal nutrition markets.

Product overview

Forchem is a tall oil refining company that processes Crude Tall Oil (CTO), a byproduct of pulp production from Nordic forests. The company operates a single integrated production facility in Rauma, Finland, producing a portfolio of refined tall oil products including Tall Oil Fatty Acid (TOFA), Distilled Tall Oil (DTO), Tall Oil Rosin (TOR), and Fortop600 pitch fuel. TOFA and DTO products are offered in multiple grades differentiated by fatty acid/rosin acid content and purity levels (FOR2, FOR2X, FOR5, FOR10, FOR15, FOR20, FOR20/25, FOR25/30, FOR30/40, FOR85, FOR90). The company also produces Progres, an innovative animal feed supplement derived from pine oil's antibacterial properties. All products are derived from renewable, nature-grown materials originating from northern pine.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Progres: Forchem's award-winning feed innovation for animals. A fatty acid-based product that prevents growth of gram-positive pathogenic intestinal bacteria (such as Streptococcus or Staphylococcus) and intestinal inflammation in animals. Reduces mortality of newborn piglets, promotes their growth and improves survival rates. World's first and only resin acid product for feed markets. Research ongoing since 2014.
• Fortop600

Products and services

• Tall Oil Fatty Acid (TOFA) Very pure distilled tall oil fatty acid with low rosin acid content and low unsaponifiables, produced by distillation of Crude Tall Oil. Sold to industrial manufacturers of paints, coatings, biolubricants, fuel additives, and performance polymers.
• Distilled Tall Oil (DTO) Distilled tall oil offering a unique combination of fatty acids and rosin acids with properties suitable for many chemical reactions. Product range defined by rosin acid content (10-40%) and used in metal working fluids, oil field chemicals, soaps, cleaners, and alkyd resins.
• Tall Oil Rosin (TOR) Rosin acid composition refined from Crude Tall Oil, offering unmodified products with various contents of abietic type rosin acids. Serves as a cost-effective and flexible starting point for inks, adhesives, paper sizing, rubber production, and road making.
• Fortop600 Pitch fuel blended from tall oil pitch and other monomer tall oil distillates, providing an environmentally sound, low-sulfur liquid biofuel alternative to fossil fuels for communal and industrial boilers, mainly power plants.
• Progres Award-winning, pine oil-based fatty acid feed supplement that prevents the growth of gram-positive pathogenic intestinal bacteria (Streptococcus, Staphylococcus) and intestinal inflammation in animals. Reduces piglet mortality, promotes growth, and improves survival rates. World's first and only resin acid product in feed markets.
• Phytosterols Phytosterols extracted from tall oil pitch for use in functional foods such as Benecol for cholesterol reduction, serving the food industry with plant-based cardiovascular health ingredients.
• Other Tall Oil Products Additional tall oil fractions and derivatives offered as specialty products beyond the core TOFA, DTO, TOR, and Fortop600 portfolio for industrial chemical customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Processes approximately 10% of world crude tall oil production
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Rintekno OycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 May 2001Rintekno Oy was contracted for the design and construction management of the tall oil fractionation plant. The contract included technology, total services, and delivery of equipment and systems. All planning work, permit applications, and construction/installation contract procurement and supervision were handled by Rintekno and its subsidiary Systecon Oy.
• HankkijacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Hankkija for the development and commercialization of Progres animal feed innovation. Progres is Forchem's award-winning feed innovation developed jointly with Hankkija, utilizing the antibacterial properties of tall oil fatty acids.
• Metsä-BotniacoreOthersMetsä-Botnia pulp mill operates adjacent to Forchem's Rauma facility, providing crude tall oil raw material. The proximity ensures Forchem has access to sufficient and high-quality raw material supply.
• Rauma PortminorOthersRauma Port provides logistics infrastructure for receiving crude tall oil deliveries and shipping finished products. One of Finland's busiest ports with daily connections to major European ports.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kraton Corporation: Kraton is the world's leading producer of pine chemicals (including tall oil fatty acids, rosins, and distilled tall oil) following its acquisition of Arizona Chemical, the very company Forchem was founded to compete against. Headquartered in the US with global operations, it is Forchem's clearest direct peer by product line and customer base.
• Ingevity Corporation: Ingevity's Performance Chemicals segment produces crude tall oil and tall oil fatty acids for use in adhesives, coatings, and rubber, making it a direct competitor to Forchem in the pine chemicals value chain. Its emphasis on specialty additives for industrial uses closely mirrors Forchem's TOFA, DTO, and TOR product positions.
• Florachem Corporation: Florachem is a US-based specialty chemicals company focused on citrus and tall oil fatty acid derivatives used in lubricants, metalworking fluids, and personal care, closely aligned with Forchem's TOFA and DTO product families and customer segments.
• Pinova Holdings: Pinova produces rosin resins and terpene-based specialty ingredients from pine feedstock for adhesives, coatings, and chewing gum, overlapping directly with Forchem's TOR and distilled tall oil lines. It is a North American specialist in the same pine chemicals niche.
• DRT (Dérivés Résiniques et Terpéniques): DRT is a French producer of rosin and terpene derivatives used in adhesives, inks, and coatings, making it a comparable European pine chemicals specialist competing with Forchem's TOR and DTO offerings in adjacent European markets.

Broad incumbents

• Eastman Chemical Company: Eastman is a large specialty chemicals producer whose additives and intermediates business overlaps with Forchem in performance polymers, coatings, and chemical intermediates. While Eastman is many times larger and broader, it competes with Forchem at the industrial fatty acid and resin additive interface.
• Oleon: Oleon is a European oleochemicals producer of fatty acids, glycerin, and esters used in personal care, lubricants, and industrial chemicals. Its fatty acid portfolio overlaps with Forchem's TOFA and DTO applications (e.g., metalworking fluids, cleaners, alkyd resins) even though its raw material base (palm, rapeseed) is broader than Forchem's pine CTO.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/forchem

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Forchem