There are few enterprises in Poland having as rich a history dating back several dozen years as Ciech, in which the changes to the economy and the chemical industry of our country has been so explicitly reflected. The company was founded in 1945 as a government-owned corporation under the name "Centrala Importowo-Eksportowa Chemikalii i Aparatury Chemicznej" and, interestingly enough, it was in the form of a limited liability company. At the beginning it exported soda ash, carbide and zinc white. Its first registered office was located in Łódź, but in 1946 it moved to Warsaw and the same year saw the company implement its trademark written with the font called "ciecholica" by its employees. This trademark, after inconsiderable changes, remained until 2004. At the beginning of the 1960s a new name "Centrala Handlu Zagranicznego Ciech" was introduced where "Ciech" was an abbreviation of the full name "Centrala Importowo-Eksportowa Chemikaliów".
The sixties and seventies were successful for the company in the sulphur market, when the Polish “yellow gold” was second in terms of raw material exports, nitrogenous fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints and varnishes. In 1976 almost 95% of Polish chemical products were sold on foreign markets through CHZ Ciech. At the end of the eighties and at the beginning of the nineties, during the period of transformation it was the biggest foreign trade enterprise, holding a monopoly on oil supplies for the Polish refineries that was soon to be lost. This loss meant the necessity to carve out a new place in the marketplace. In the meantime, still in 1990 with Ciech having its 45th anniversary, it was in 97th position among the top hundred companies worldwide.
The nineties saw a process of establishing the capital group, gathering domestic manufacturing plants around Ciech, and then transforming itself in 1995 into a joint-stock company under the name "Ciech SA". By 2000 Ciech has gathered 8 well-known manufacturers of chemicals: Vitrosilicon (since 1991), Fosfory (1995-2011 within the Ciech Group), Soda Mątwy and Janikosoda (since 1996), Boruta Kolor (since 1999), Petrochemia Blachownia (1999-2006 within the Ciech Group) Agrochem Dobre Miasto (1999-2011 within the Ciech Group), Alwernia (since 2000). Furthermore it has also grouped 9 foreign companies (Daltrade/London, Polsin/Singapore, Polcommerce/Vienna, Polcommerce/Budapest, Nordiska Unipol/Stockholm, Danske Unipol/Copenhagen, Chemiepetrol/Hamburg, Suomen Unipol/Helsinki, Polfa Nigeria/Lagos) and 8 branches – representative offices in Moscow, Saint-Petersbourg, Minsk, Kiev, Sofia, Hanoi, Prague, Bratislava. In the following four years the company managed to integrate entities included in its group and implement the operational excellence scheme. In 2004, after almost fifty years of using the "ciecholica" font, Ciech decided to implement a new logotype. Changes to the image were a part of the preparations for privatisation and floatation on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2005, which turned out to be a great success for the company. 2006 ended with finalising the acquisition of two chemical synthesis companies, namely Organika-Sarzyna and Zachem, and of the first foreign manufacturing company within the Group, the Romanian soda plant US Govora. In 2007, Ciech also took over the German manufacturer of soda - Sodawerk Stassfurt. As a result, the potential of the Ciech Chemical Group almost doubled. In 2011 its core business consists of 8 production companies in which Ciech owns controlling stakes: Soda Polska Ciech (with two soda plants: Soda Mątwy and Janikosoda), Sodawerk Stassfurt, US Govora, Zachem, Organika-Sarzyna, Ciech Pianki (foams), Alwernia and Vitrosilicon.
In spite of the crisis which hit the Ciech Group in 2008-2010 as deeply as the chemical sector as a whole, the concern was out of the woods at the end of 2010. An annual sales revenue of the Ciech Group for this year achieved a record level in its history of about PLN 4 billion. Besides, simultaneously with preparation of the public offering, the company negotiated a new financial structure with banks and conducted restructuring. The successful implementation of three difficult processes at the same time was a great achievement.