Company Profile | Borealis AG: A Global Leader in High-End Polyolefins—Products and Technologies

Source: WeChat Official Account 【JLE Junling Polymers】 Borealis AG is an Austrian chemical company and a leading supplier of innovative, value-added plastic solutions. It ranks as the second-largest polyolefin producer in Europe and the sixth-largest globally, holding a significant position in the petrochemical markets of Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Borealis is renowned for its advanced Borstar® bimodal polyolefin polymerization technology, high-quality products, and continuous innovation. With over 40 years of expertise in polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), the company focuses on developing solutions for piping systems, energy and telecommunications cables, automotive applications, and advanced packaging. Company Development Timeline Although Borealis was formally established relatively recently, it has rapidly grown into a major international specialized polyolefin producer. 1994: Borealis was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, through the merger of the petrochemical businesses of Finnish oil company Neste and Norwegian oil company Statoil (now Equinor), with each holding a 50% stake. 1995: The first Borstar® polyethylene plant commenced operations in Finland. 1997: Neste sold its shares to Austrian oil & gas group OMV and the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC). 1998: Joint venture Borouge was established with ADNOC; Borealis acquired PCD Polymere from OMV, becoming the world’s fourth-largest polyolefin producer. 2000: The first Borstar® polypropylene plant commenced operations in Austria; Specialty Polymers Antwerp NV, a joint venture with DuPont, was established in Belgium. 2001: Borouge launched a €1.4 billion petrochemical project, including a 600,000-ton-per-year ethylene cracker and Borstar® polyethylene facilities with a combined capacity of 450,000 tons per year. 2005: OMV and IPIC acquired Statoil’s equity stake; Borealis’ ownership structure became 64% IPIC and 36% OMV; Borstar® PE 2G technology was launched. 2006: A new 350,000-ton-per-year Borstar® PE plant was commissioned in Austria; the Borstar® PP plant’s capacity was expanded to 300,000 tons per year. 2007: INEOS acquired Borealis’ Norwegian petrochemical business, including a 175,000-ton-per-year PP unit and a 140,000-ton-per-year LDPE unit. 2008: Borstar® PP technology was upgraded, enhancing product purity and processability. 2010: An LDPE plant was commissioned in Sweden at a cost exceeding €400 million to meet global demand for wire-and-cable products; Borouge expanded its PE and PP capacity to 2 million tons per year. 2012: Borlink™ technology was introduced. 2013: A catalyst manufacturing facility producing proprietary Borstar-Sirius catalysts commenced operations in Linz, Austria. 2014: Borlink™ extrusion-grade cable materials—specifically designed for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables—were launched for ultra-high-voltage DC transmission applications.

Wanhua Chemical Strengthens K-Resin Positioning! Borouge Launches 100,000-Ton XLPE Plant! Kingfa Science & Technology Achieves Strong Sales! The Plastic Battle of the AI Era Has Begun

On the capacity front, the company’s specialty plastic synthesis capacity stands at 39,000 tons/year: 21,000 tons/year of polyphthalamide (PPA), 11,000 tons/year of liquid crystal polymer (LCP), 6,000 tons/year of polyethersulfone/polyphenylsulfone (PES/PPSU), and kiloton-scale polyetherimide (PEI). An additional 10,000-ton LCP plant under construction is scheduled to commence operations in Q2 2027. In other words, for every three tons of specialty engineering plastics sold by this leading modified-plastics company, nearly one ton enters the AI industry supply chain. Borouge’s 100,000-ton XLPE Plant Comes Online, Targeting Data Center Cables AI’s material demands extend far beyond server internals. Real-world constraints on data center siting center on power supply—meaning half the infrastructure battlefield for computing power lies within the power grid. This creates a critical opportunity for XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene). Conventional polyethylene is a thermoplastic material with a maximum operating temperature of only ~70°C and limited long-term electrical field resistance. Cross-linking transforms linear molecular chains into a three-dimensional network structure, raising the operating temperature above 90°C and significantly improving dielectric breakdown strength and long-term insulation lifetime. Consequently, XLPE has become the dominant insulating material for medium- and high-voltage cables worldwide. Borouge’s September 10 commissioning of its new XLPE facility marks a landmark event along this trajectory. The Borouge 4 project’s new unit features a design capacity of 100,000 tons/year. Upon startup, Borouge’s annual XLPE production capacity across the Middle East and Asia will reach nearly 200,000 tons, primarily targeting medium- and high-voltage underground and submarine cables. The company explicitly stated that this expansion will serve the power infrastructure and data center construction needs of Asia and the Middle East. Domestically, Wanhua Chemical has also industrialized its XLPE production, entering the high-end cable-compound market driven by data center power-upgrade requirements. The near-simultaneous moves by a Middle Eastern giant and a domestic leader in power-related materials underscore—on the supply side—the authenticity of computing-power and electricity-demand growth. Wanhua Chemical Steps Up Its AI Strategy As the global leader in polyurethanes, Wanhua’s MDI core business exhibits pronounced cyclical characteristics. Identifying a second growth engine has thus been a consistent strategic priority in recent years: In 2026, the company plans to invest RMB 27.3 billion, with emerging materials receiving RMB 11.05 billion—the highest allocation among all business segments—surpassing both polyurethanes (RMB 3.46 billion) and petrochemicals (RMB 4.55 billion). In the first half of this year, the company’s net profit is projected to increase by over 60%, with breakthroughs across multiple new-material categories serving as a key driver. AI represents a newly placed, pivotal piece in Wanhua’s broader strategy to de-cyclicalize its business. Three concrete “hard actions” stand out: First, the company achieved independent R&D and industrialization of polysulfone—a specialty engineering plastic belonging to the polyarylether sulfone family. Known for its hydrolysis resistance and intrinsic flame retardancy, polysulfone serves as the upstream resin for applications such as quick-connectors in liquid-cooling systems, perfectly complementing Kingfa’s downstream modifications—forming a complete domestic substitution chain spanning upstream resin synthesis and downstream compounding. Second, the XLPE plant’s commissioning targets the high-end cable-compound market—a segment long dominated by overseas giants including Borealis, Dow, and Borouge. Now, Borouge is expanding capacity while Wanhua is ramping up production; Chinese and foreign leaders are directly competing on the same track. Third, a 50,000-ton-per-year optical-grade MS resin project has commenced operations, entering the high-end optical materials market. To simultaneously pursue three distinct specialty resin categories at the synthesis level is virtually unparalleled among domestic chemical enterprises. K-resin represents another strategic move. K-resin—transparent styrene-butadiene block copolymer—offers up to 90% light transmittance, excellent impact resistance, low density, and ease of processing and coloring. Its traditional applications include transparent packaging, medical devices, and PS toughening. It is now being repositioned as an electronic encapsulation material, specifically targeting protective encapsulation for MLCC capacitors, resistors, and PCBs.

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Borouge Group International commenced commercial operations at its €100 million specialty polypropylene compounding facility in Austria. The new line blends virgin and recycled PP to meet European demand driven by sustainability regulations.

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