Borealis AG CEO Thomas Gangl is stepping down effective June 30, a decision the company says was by "mutual agreement."
Gangl has held the top post since April 2021.
The announcement comes after Borealis reported a 94 percent drop in operating profit in 2023. It was "definitely a challenging year, not just for us but for the entire industry," Gangl told Sustainable Plastics during an interview in February. Sustainable Plastics is a sister publication of Plastics News.
Borealis’ sales in 2023 were down by roughly 2 billion euros, largely attributed to lower prices for polyolefins.
“In times like these, when the prices are upside down, it is difficult to show that circularity is a viable business,” Gangl said in February. Nonetheless, he emphasized that circularity is still "the way to go."
Gangl has been instrumental in refining Borealis’ Strategy 2030 with sustainability at its core and accelerating the company’s transformation towards a circular economy.
Key milestones during his tenure included the sale of Borealis’ nitrogen business, the acquisition of Rialti SpA, a polypropylene (PP) compounder of recyclates in Italy, along with the signing of the acquisition of Integra Plastics AD, an advanced mechanical recycling player in Bulgaria.
In the U.S., Boralis is a partner in Baystar, which operates a polyethylene resin facility in Texas.
Gangl started his career at OMV in 1998 as a process engineer before holding various management positions in OMV's refining business. In 2019, he became a member of the OMV Executive Board as Chief Downstream Operations Officer.
Borealis circular economy executive vice president Lucrèce Foufopoulos-De Ridder also stepped down in December 2023.
Borealis said it would announce details about Gangl’s successor at a later stage.