DISPLAYTITLE DISPLAYTITLE Borealis GmbH is an Austrian plastics manufacturer. As the second largest producer of polyolefins in Europe, it is one of the market leaders in the petrochemicals industry.

Overview

Borealis is an international provider of

polyolefins A polyolefin is a type of polymer with the general formula (CH2CHR)n where R is an alkyl group. They are usually derived from a small set of simple olefins ( alkenes). Dominant in a commercial sense are polyethylene and polypropylene. More specia ...

and base chemicals. The company has its head office in Vienna, Austria and currently employs about 6,000 people throughout over 120 countries. In 2024, Borealis generated revenue of EUR 7,85 billion and a net profit of about EUR 566 million. The company operates primarily in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, with manufacturing plants in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

(Austria and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It also operates

compounding In the field of pharmacy, compounding (performed in compounding pharmacies) is preparation of custom medications to fit unique needs of patients that cannot be met with mass-produced formulations. This may be done, for example, to provide medic ...

units in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and five recycling plants in Austria, Germany, Belgium and Bulgaria. Furthermore, Borealis runs its Global Innovation Headquarters, two "Innovation Centres", and customer service centres in several countries. At the beginning of 2017, the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi and

Mubadala Mubadala Investment Company PJSC (), or simply Mubadala, is a state-owned global investment firm that acts as one of the sovereign wealth funds of the government of Abu Dhabi. The company was established in 2017 when then-named Mubadala Developme ...

merged. Mubadala, through its holding company, owned 64% of Borealis, with the remaining 36% belonging to Austria-based OMV, an integrated, international oil and gas company. Since autumn 2020, OMV has held 75% of the shares, while Mubadala held 25%. In April 2022, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) took over Mubadala's 25 % share. Borealis provides services and products globally in collaboration with Borouge, a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

Innovation

Borealis employs over 500 people in research and development. There are two research centres in Sweden and Finland, as well as the International Innovation Headquarters in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

, Austria. In the latter, 300 experts from 30 different nations work on the implementation of new ideas. In 2023, Borealis filed 128 new priority patent applications, once again ranking as number one top filer in the European Patent Index 2023. In total, Borealis’ extensive patent portfolio consists of approximately 8,900 granted patents and approximately 3,200 patent applications through to the end of 2023.

History

Borealis was founded in 1994 by the merging of the petrochemical interests of Finnish Oil company

Neste Neste Oyj (international name: Neste Corporation; former names Neste Oil Corporation and Fortum Oil and Gas Oy; ) is an oil refining and marketing company located in Espoo, Finland. It produces, refines and markets oil products, provides eng ...

and the Norwegian oil company Statoil (now renamed

Equinor Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renew ...

). In 1998, the petrochemicals sector of OMV was included; OMV and IPIC took over the 50% business share of Neste. In 2005, Statoil gave up its share of Borealis and one year later, in June 2006, the headquarters was relocated from Copenhagen to Vienna. Since autumn 2020, OMV owns 75% of the shares and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) owns the remaining 25%. In July 2023, the nitrogen business of Borealis, including fertilisers, melamine and technical nitrogen products, was sold to Agrofert. In June 2025 - in preparation for the formation of Borouge Group International - the company's legal form was changed from an AG to a limited liability company
GmbH
.

Products

Polyolefins

The polyolefin products manufactured by Borealis form the basis of many plastics applications that are an intrinsic part of our daily lives. Borealis polyolefins have a role to play in saving energy along the value chain and promoting more efficient use of natural resources.

Consumer products

Borealis supplies superior polyolefin plastic materials used in consumer products, advanced packaging and fibre. More specifically, Borealis polyolefins are used to make applications possible in flexible packaging (including blown film, heat seal and extrusion coating), rigid packaging (caps and closures, bottles, thin wall packaging, thermoforming), non-woven and technical fibres, and appliances.

Automotive

Borealis supplies polyolefin plastic materials for engineering applications in the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...

. Plastic materials replace conventional materials such as metal, rubber and engineering polymers. In automotive vehicles, Borealis’ polyolefin plastic materials are used in a wide range of exterior, interior, and under-the-bonnet applications, including bumpers, body panels, trims, dashboards, door claddings, climate control and cooling systems, air intake manifolds and battery cases.

Energy

The company provides extra-high, high and medium voltage cable applications as well as semi-conductive products that are used for energy transmission and distribution, data and communication cables, and for building and automotive wires and cables.

Pipes and fittings

Borealis offers pipes used in water and gas supply, wastewater and sewage disposal, in-house plumbing and heating, and the oil and gas industry, including multi-layer coatings for onshore and offshore oil and gas pipelines.

New business development

The company develops products in the areas of healthcare, plastomers and foamable materials.

Base chemicals

Borealis produces a wide range of base chemicals such as

phenol Phenol (also known as carbolic acid, phenolic acid, or benzenol) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile and can catch fire. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...

acetone Acetone (2-propanone or dimethyl ketone) is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula . It is the simplest and smallest ketone (). It is a colorless, highly Volatile organic compound, volatile, and flammable liquid with a charact ...

ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon–carbon bond, carbon–carbon doub ...

and

propylene Propylene, also known as propene, is an unsaturated organic compound with the chemical formula . It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. It is a colorless gas with a faint petroleum-like o ...

for use in numerous and diverse industries, as well as fertilizers and technical nitrogen products.

Hydrocarbons and energy

Borealis sources basic feedstock such as naphtha, butane, propane and ethane from the international oil and gas markets. They convert these into ethylene, propylene, and cracker co-products through their hydrocarbon units.

Technology

Borstar proprietary technology

Borstar is Borealis' proprietary technology for manufacturing polyethylene (PE) and

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...

(PP).

Joint ventures

Borouge

Borouge is Borealis’ joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ( ADNOC). Its facility is in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi (UAE) and consists of 3 facilities: Borouge 1 was founded in 2001 and has an ethane-based cracker for production of 600.000 tonnes

per year and two PE lines with a combined capacity of 580.000 tonnes/year and utilises Borealis' Borstar PE technology. Borouge 2 was a major expansion project complete in 2010 which tripled the annual capacity of polyolefin capacity in Ruwais to 2 million tonnes/year. Since its completion in 2016 the Borouge 3 plant expansion makes Borouge the world's largest integrated polyolefins complex. The additional 2.5 million tonnes of polyolefins capacity yield a total Borouge capacity of 4.5 million tonnes, and a combined Borealis and Borouge capacity of 8 million tonnes.Expansion moves forward at Borouge petrochemicals plant at Ruwais
thenational.ae (16 July 2017), retrieved 15 October 2018. ADNOC and Borealis moved to the pre-FEED phase for the construction of the Borouge 4 complex, which is slated to come on stream in the end of 2025. Borouge 4 encompasses a mixed feedstock cracker, using existing feedstock available in Abu Dhabi and downstream derivatives units for both polyolefin and non-polyolefin products.

Borealis Brasil

Borealis Brasil S.A. is a joint venture between Borealis (80%) and the Brazilian Braskem (20%). Located in

Itatiba Itatiba is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo in Brazil, approximately 80 km from the State Capital. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. The population in 2022 was 121 590 in ...

and Triunfo in

and formed in 1999. It serves the automotive industry in South America.

Baystar

Baystar is a joint venture between Borealis and TotalEnergies. The joint venture comprises an ethane-based steam cracker with an annual production capacity of one million tons of ethylene in Port Arthur, Texas, and a polyethylene plant in Pasadena, Texas, with a capacity of 625,000 metric tons per year. These production facilities enable Borealis to provide improved access to Borstar-based products directly manufactured in North America for local customers and partners.

Acquisition mtm

In July 2016, Borealis acquired one of Europe's largest manufacturers of post-consumer polyolefin recyclates – mtm Plastics GmbH and mtm Compact GmbH. mtm is able to process PO post-consumer

plastic waste Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are cate ...

(also mixed and inferior) and converts around 70,000 tonnes of this raw material annually into recyclates. mtm uses mixed packaging, bulky household and industrial waste as raw materials. mtm's recyclates are mainly used in injection moulding and extrusion processes. Typical applications: Containers and transport packaging, household goods, products for the building sector or lawn grids.

Acquisition Ecoplast

In August 2018, Borealis announced the acquisition of 100% of the shares in Ecoplast Kunststoffrecycling GmbH, an Austrian plastics recycler. Based in Wildon, Austria, Ecoplast processes around 35,000 tonnes of post-consumer plastic waste from households and industrial consumers every year, turning them into LDPE and HDPE recyclates.

Acquisition Rialti S.p.A.

In summer 2023, Borealis acquired Rialti S.p.A., a leading European producer of mechanically recycled polypropylene (PP) compounds for injection molding and extrusion, headquartered in Italy. Rialti supplies its products to various sectors, including automotive, household appliances, and construction industries. This acquisition adds 50,000 metric tons of recycled compounding capacity to Borealis' portfolio, aligning with the growing demand for sustainable solutions.

Acquisition Integra Plastics AD

In April 2024, Borealis acquired Integra Plastics AD, a notable player in advanced mechanical recycling based in Bulgaria. Integra Plastics specializes in converting post-consumer waste into high-quality polyolefin recyclates tailored for various demanding applications. This strategic investment by Borealis is intended to enhance its advanced mechanical recycling portfolio, augmenting its capacity by over 20,000 metric tons and meeting the increasing customer demand for sustainable solutions.

Resources

Borealis website: Executive Board
visited 1 June 2021 {{Authority control Chemical companies of Austria Manufacturing companies based in Vienna Austrian brands