The year 2024 in review

Stefan Doboczky: you were appointed Borealis CEO at the beginning of July 2024. In the months since, what has stood out for you as you’ve settled into your new role?

SD: In touring our locations and getting to know Borealis employees all around the world, what strikes me most is how deeply embedded the “B-Safe” mentality is across all our operations. Putting safety first at all times is essential if we intend to reach our ultimate goal of “Zero Harm”: eliminating accidents and safety incidents altogether. We made significant progress toward this in 2024, for example by improving our overall Total Recordable Injuries (TRI) rate to 3.8.

I’m particularly impressed by our highly skilled and exceptionally motivated people.

Borealis continues to hold a top position in the European Patent Index, underlining our unwavering commitment to innovation. It is this innovation that provides our customers with cutting edge products that also enable them to meet their sustainability goals. The resilience of our people, which has been put to the test in recent years, will continue to be crucial as the petrochemical industry navigates a significantly changed market environment.

Daniel Turnheim, as Borealis CFO, how would you describe the company’s financial performance in 2024, especially given ongoing market and industry challenges?

DT: The improved results are due in part to stronger performance by the Borealis Polyolefins and Base Chemicals businesses. A higher contribution of net income from equity accounted investments also played a role. And the Strong Foundation – Performance Excellence (SFPE) program launched in 2022 to mitigate the negative effects of the industry downturn has been highly effective in delivering significant fixed-costs savings, with around EUR 240 million in sustained EBIDTA improvements in 2024 alone.

How has ongoing market uncertainty affected polyolefins sales in the various business areas?

DT: Even though polyolefins demand rose slightly during the first six months of 2024, the market continued to grapple with the oversupply of cheap plastics – mainly from China – and tepid demand in many business sectors. Despite this supply/demand imbalance, we increased our overall sales volumes by 11% in 2024, selling 3.87 million metric tons of polyolefins. Buoyant demand for select high voltage applications boosted sales in Borealis Energy and Mobility, and offset less robust demand in other business areas like Consumer Products and Healthcare.

SD: Together with Borouge, we are in fact expanding our high voltage direct current (HVDC) production capacity. Our Wire & Cable innovations, including our HVDC Borlink™ technology, are key to enabling the green energy transition.

From an industry perspective, is enough being done to ensure the green transition?

SD: I think I speak for the industry in stating that the EU’s Green Deal was a limited business model at best. The recently unveiled Clean Industrial Deal is a direct response to the industry’s Antwerp Declaration and appears to be a step in the right direction, toward a more business-friendly environment. European producers are disadvantaged by higher energy and production costs, direct and indirect import pressure, and lower operating rates. What the European petrochemical industry needs is a framework within which we can operate in a more cost-efficient way. A less cumbersome regulatory environment would also have a liberating effect. More substantial EU investment in connectivity for renewable power, and less regulatory red tape, would hasten the green transition and counteract deindustrialization.

DT: It’s encouraging that the Clean Industrial Deal contains measures to promote Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which have been crucial to our own decarbonization efforts. Thanks in part to the multiple long-term PPAs Borealis signed this and in previous years, we reached an Energy & Climate milestone earlier than anticipated. Since the end of 2024, we’ve now been able to use renewable energy to power up to 50% of our production operations in Europe.

How can European industry players best compete in global markets?

DT: Globalization as we know it appears to be in flux. Yet with cost-effective solutions – including those contained in the Clean Industrial Deal – heavy industry in Europe may even benefit from an increase in market regionalization, whether for hydrocarbons, polyolefins, or even in markets for recycled plastics.

SD: This is in fact a great example of how Borealis is ideally positioned to capitalize on new market opportunities for recycled and renewable-based polymers. Grades in our Borcycle™ and Bornewables™ portfolios are helping reposition plastics as low or lower carbon materials for an expanding range of applications. For example, as of 2024, select grades from our Borcycle™ M portfolio of mechanically recycled polyolefins have been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in food-grade packaging. The Borcycle™ M technology is also being used at a semi-commercial recyclate-based polyolefins compounding line in Belgium to turn mechanically recycled post-consumer waste into high quality rigid polypropylene and polyethylene.

DT: In 2024, we finalized our acquisition of an advanced mechanical recycling plant in Bulgaria. Integra Plastics AD will add an annual 20,000 metric tons capacity to meet growing demand for these kinds of sustainable solutions. It complements mechanical recycling acquisitions in recent years, such as Rialti in Italy, Ecoplast in Austria, and mtm in Germany.

The last word goes to you, Stefan Doboczky. What course is Borealis charting to navigate the geopolitical and market turbulence in 2025 and beyond?

SD: Borealis celebrated its thirtieth year of operations in 2024. We are proud to be a powerhouse of polymers innovation and an industry front-runner in plastics circularity. Over recent months we have drafted an important strategy update which builds on our strong foundation: our We4Customers (We4C) Strategy. This evolution of the Borealis Strategy 2030 accentuates our customer focus by putting customer centricity at the heart of all our efforts.

Geopolitics and markets are likely to remain turbulent in 2025 and beyond. Our owners, OMV and ADNOC, recently signed an agreement that foresees the strategic combination of Borealis and Borouge under the newly created company Borouge Group International, set to become world’s fourth largest polyolefins company. ADNOC and OMV have also agreed that upon completion of the combination, Borouge Group International will acquire Nova Chemicals further expanding its footprint in North America. Borouge Group International will be uniquely positioned to create value and generate superior through-cycle shareholder returns, supported by synergies and a strong pipeline of organic growth projects. 

We are confident that the new Borouge Group International, as a growth platform with access to the largest and most attractive markets, will generate significant and sustained value for our owners and shareholders.

This interview is also available in German language.