Borealis and Borouge strengthen cooperation on global supply and service capability for global automotive customers

Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, announces the creation of a new Mobility business unit organisation which will, together with Borouge, its joint venture in the Middle East and Asia, provide global supply capability to support worldwide automotive Tier One and OEM customers in the global automotive industry.

The new organisation at Borealis will provide cost-effective material innovations, speed of responsiveness and hands-on technical and sales support assistance to help its customers in Europe and South and North America remain profitable despite on-going volatility in the automotive sector and increase their competiveness in the growing automotive markets of the East.

The Borealis Mobility business unit is structured into specific automotive OEM teams with cross-functional managers and marketing managers dedicated to a specific OEM or OEM group. For Tier One suppliers serving multiple OEMs across a variety of countries beyond Europe and North and South America, a designated sales and technical contact will co-ordinate all Borealis' activities with Borouge to ensure the best service for its OEM customers. Such an approach will encourage a closer working relationship and foster greater understanding between Borealis and Borouge and their shared customers with global reach.

Borouge's Mobility business unit itself is actively focused on enhancing its customer service and compounding facilities in the rapidly expanding markets of Asia and is gearing up its Mobility organisation to meet the demands of its customers locally.

The recent inauguration of Borouge's first compounding manufacturing plant in China on April 20, 2010 supports global supply capability. The plant in Shanghai provides innovative plastics solutions for bumpers, body panels, dashboards and door claddings to the rapidly growing local automotive industry in the region. Further to this, Borouge recently announced its intention to build a second compounding manufacturing plant in China. The plant is expected to be completed by the middle of 2012 and produce up to 105,000 tonnes of compounded resins annually.

Strong links between Borealis, with its operations in Europe and South and North America, and Borouge, with its expanding operations in the Middle East and Asia, will enable customers with a global presence to be supported with innovative developments steered at meeting worldwide requirements.

The new organisation within Borealis puts the company in a stronger position to boost the ability of its local Tier 1 suppliers to match stringent OEM global specifications at a competitive cost and will manage a streamlined high profile product offering to reduce complexity and ease the tendering process for global vehicle platforms, thereby delivering a fast response to companies' product development needs.

Borealis offers a range of application-specific Daplen™ thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) compounds for exterior and interior parts. They are designed to deliver productivity benefits and performance, safety and aesthetic advantages that address the current industry focus on lighter weight, more fuel-efficient vehicles with CO2 reduction potential. Borcom™ polypropylene (PP) resins and XMOD™ glass fibre reinforced PP compounds place Borealis at the cutting-edge of development in under-the-bonnet plastics solutions. Borealis offers low density, impact resistant alternatives to steel and polyamide (PA) with the mechanical, noise reduction and superior heat performance demanded by this challenging environment.

"The evolving situation in the automotive sector has brought the need for cost-competitive, innovative products that address key performance issues to the fore. It has also emphasised the importance of our already strong commitment to close co-operation with our OEM and Tier customers," comments Harald Hammer, Vice President of Borealis' Mobility Business Unit.