Supercritical fluid fractionation of paraffin wax is compared with current state of the art processes i.e. short path distillation (SPD) and static crystallisation. Detailed cost analyses of the different processes are made and compared. From these cost analyses it appears that SPD is the cheaper fractionation process for light paraffin wax. However, supercritical fluid fractionation appears to be the more attractive option for the fractionation of medium to heavy paraffin waxes. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.