Borregaard

Borregaard is a Norwegian industrial company headquartered in Sarpsborg, in the southeastern county historically known as Østfold. Established in 1889, it developed around the industrial use of the Sarpsfossen waterfall and initially concentrated on cellulose and paper. Over time, the company expanded from conventional pulp production into chemicals made from timber, ultimately building a business model around the integrated processing of wood. The company’s central asset is a biorefinery that separates wood into useful chemical components rather than treating it only as a source of paper fibre. Its portfolio includes speciality cellulose, lignin-based products known as lignosulphonates, bioethanol, yeast and yeast extracts, wood-based vanillin, ethyl vanillin, diphenols and fine-chemical intermediates. These materials are sold into diverse industrial and consumer-facing applications, including construction materials, agriculture, animal feed, ceramics, batteries, textiles, food, pharmaceuticals, medical imaging and paper-related markets. Borregaard’s speciality cellulose business supplies high-purity cellulose to manufacturers of cellulose derivatives, acetate cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, textile fibres, plastics and selected paper grades. Its lignin activities use a by-product of cellulose production to make binding and dispersing agents. These products can improve the performance of concrete, stabilize formulations, bind animal-feed materials and briquettes, and support applications involving dyes, agrochemicals, ceramics, batteries and oil drilling. This integrated use of wood is a defining feature of the company’s positioning and gives Borregaard a role in the bio-based materials and specialty chemicals sectors. The company also makes products from the sugar compounds released during wood processing. These include bioethanol, torula yeast and yeast extracts. Its ingredient activities have included specialty omega-3 oils, food-grade and feed-related yeast products, and vanillin. Borregaard has described its lignin-derived vanillin as a wood-based alternative to conventional vanillin, while also supplying other vanillin and ethyl vanillin grades. In chemicals and synthesis, the company has produced intermediates for non-ionic X-ray contrast media, active pharmaceutical ingredients and other advanced chemical applications. Diphenols have been associated with its Italian production operations. Borregaard’s corporate history includes several changes in ownership and structure. A Norwegian holding company using the Borregaard name was formed in 1918 to transfer the business into Norwegian hands. In 1986, Borregaard merged with Orkla Industries and became part of Orkla Borregaard. Following the 1992 merger of Orkla Borregaard and Nora Industries, the parent adopted the Orkla name while the chemicals operation continued using Borregaard. The company was separated from Orkla and introduced as an independently listed company on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 18 October 2012. Borregaard has operated internationally through production and commercial units in several countries. Its lignin operations have included facilities in Norway, the United States, Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom, together with joint-venture operations in South Africa, Spain and the United States. The company’s business remains centered on industrial biotechnology and the higher-value utilization of renewable wood raw material rather than on commodity pulp alone.

The Borregaard name is associated with Borgargjerdi, a royal residence connected with the reign of Olav the Holy in the early eleventh century. In 1312, the estate passed from royal ownership and became a country estate that changed hands several times. The modern industrial history began in 1889, when the British company The Kellner Partington Paper Pulp Co. Ltd. acquired the property and built a cellulose factory near the Sarpsfossen waterfall in Sarpsborg. For its early decades, Borregaard was primarily a pulp and paper enterprise. A Norwegian holding company named Borregaard was established in 1918 as part of an effort to place the business in Norwegian hands. The company remained focused on cellulose and paper until the period surrounding the Second World War, when it began adding chemical production and broadening its activities beyond traditional forest products. This transition from pulp manufacturer to chemicals producer became the foundation of Borregaard’s later identity. The company learned to use the different fractions of wood, including cellulose, lignin and sugar compounds, as feedstocks for products with distinct technical and commercial uses. Its activities came to include speciality cellulose, lignosulphonates, alcohols, yeast products, flavor and fragrance ingredients, pharmaceutical intermediates and other fine chemicals. In 1986, Borregaard merged with Orkla Industries and became part of Orkla Borregaard. When Orkla Borregaard merged with Nora Industries in 1992, the combined company adopted the name Orkla. The chemicals business retained the Borregaard identity even though it operated within the wider Orkla group. This arrangement continued until the company was separated from Orkla and listed as an independent business on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 18 October 2012. Borregaard’s international development included specialized production operations and commercial activities outside Norway. Borregaard ChemCell operated a speciality-cellulose plant in Sarpsborg and had an additional facility in Solothurn, Switzerland, acquired in 2002. The Swiss plant, whose industrial history extended back to the nineteenth century, was closed in 2008. Borregaard LignoTech developed production operations in Norway, the United States, Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as joint ventures in South Africa, Spain and the United States. Borregaard Synthesis used the Sarpsborg site for advanced intermediates and had diphenol production in Ravenna, Italy. Ingredient operations included wood-derived yeast products in Switzerland. The company also faced a serious environmental and public-health crisis. In 2005, an air scrubber at the Sarpsborg plant was identified as the source of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that affected at least 56 people and killed ten. A second outbreak occurred in 2008 and was linked to the biological treatment plant. That facility was shut down, and a replacement based on different technology opened in February 2014. Today, Borregaard is best understood as an integrated wood biorefinery and specialty chemicals company. Its strategy is based on extracting and upgrading several components of renewable wood into products for industrial, pharmaceutical, food, agricultural and construction applications.

1. 2014New biological treatment plant opened

   A replacement plant using different technology began operating in February after the previous treatment facility was shut down.

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2. 2012Independent stock-market listing

   Borregaard was separated from Orkla and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 18 October.

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3. 2008Swiss ChemCell plant closed

   The Solothurn speciality-cellulose facility was closed.

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4. 2002Additional ChemCell facility acquired in Switzerland

   Borregaard added a speciality-cellulose plant in Solothurn, Switzerland.

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5. 1992Chemicals business retains the Borregaard name

   After Orkla Borregaard merged with Nora Industries, the new parent took the Orkla name while the chemicals operations continued as Borregaard.

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6. 1986Merger with Orkla Industries

   Borregaard merged with Orkla Industries and became part of Orkla Borregaard.

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7. 1918Norwegian holding company established

   A holding company named Borregaard was formed to transfer the business into Norwegian ownership.

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8. 1889Industrial cellulose production begins in Sarpsborg

   The Kellner Partington Paper Pulp Co. Ltd. acquired the Borregaard estate and built a cellulose factory near Sarpsfossen.

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A bio-based specialty chemicals and ingredients company built around the integrated biorefining of wood. Borregaard emphasizes converting multiple components of timber into higher-value materials, reducing reliance on fossil-based feedstocks in selected applications and serving technically demanding industrial markets.

• Speciality celluloseCellulose materials

  Borregaard produces high-purity, high-viscosity speciality cellulose from softwood, particularly spruce, at its Sarpsborg facility. Customers use it to manufacture cellulose ethers and esters, acetate cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, textile fibres, plastics and selected paper grades. The process uses calcium sulphite digestion and is designed to preserve properties required by demanding derivative and materials applications.

• Lignin-based productsLignin chemicals

  Borregaard extracts lignin during cellulose production and converts it into lignosulphonates and related binding and dispersing agents. These products are used in concrete, ceramics, batteries, textile dyes, agrochemicals, animal feed, briquettes and oil-drilling applications. They can act as binders, dispersants or formulation aids and represent a major example of the company’s effort to use more than one component of wood.

• BioethanolBiofuels and industrial alcohols

  Borregaard uses sugar compounds released from wood processing as feedstock for bioethanol. The product forms part of the company’s biorefinery model, in which carbohydrate fractions that might otherwise have limited value are converted into an industrial alcohol and related chemical products.

• Yeast and yeast extractsFood and feed ingredients

  The company produces protein-rich torula yeast from wood-derived sugar compounds and manufactures yeast extracts used as flavor and nutritional ingredients. Applications include sauces, soups, baby food, pizza, meat products and selected animal-feed products. These ingredients allow Borregaard to extend its wood-processing platform into food and nutrition markets.

• Vanillin and ethyl vanillinFlavor and fragrance ingredients

  Borregaard supplies vanillin made from lignin as well as vanillin and ethyl vanillin products made from other raw materials. Its wood-based vanillin is positioned as a specialty ingredient derived from renewable biomass and is used in flavor and fragrance applications.

• Synthesis intermediates and fine chemicalsFine chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates

  Borregaard Synthesis produces intermediates for non-ionic X-ray contrast media, advanced pharmaceutical intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Production is associated with the Sarpsborg site, while diphenol production has been conducted at the company’s Ravenna, Italy operation.

• 2014Replace biological treatment technologyStrategy

  The biological treatment plant at Sarpsborg was associated with the 2005 and 2008 Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks.

  What changed. Borregaard shut down the implicated facility and opened a replacement plant based on different technology in February 2014.

  Aftermath. The new facility became the replacement treatment system for the Sarpsborg operation.

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• 2012Separate from Orkla and become independently listedStrategy

  Borregaard had operated within the Orkla group since the 1986 merger with Orkla Industries, while retaining its own operating identity.

  What changed. The Borregaard business was separated from Orkla and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 18 October 2012.

  Aftermath. The transaction established Borregaard as an independent listed specialty chemicals and biorefinery company.

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• 2008Second Legionnaires’ disease outbreakControversy

  A second outbreak in the Fredrikstad–Sarpsborg area was connected to the biological treatment plant. The facility was shut down and ultimately replaced with a different treatment technology.

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• 2005Legionnaires’ disease outbreak linked to Sarpsborg plantControversy

  An air scrubber at Borregaard’s Sarpsborg facility was identified as the source of the worst Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Norway. At least 56 people were infected and ten died.

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• 2014Replacement biological treatment plant opened

  A replacement treatment facility using different technology opened at the Sarpsborg operation after the earlier plant was linked to Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks.

  OtherRegulation
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• 2012Borregaard separated from Orkla and listed independently

  Borregaard was separated from the Orkla group and admitted to trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 18 October 2012.

  M&ALeadership change
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1. Borregaard