Borealis appoints James McCummiskey as Senior Vice President Operations

Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, announces the appointment of James McCummiskey as Senior Vice President Operations, effective October 1, 2010. He succeeds Philippe Roodhooft who has taken over the role of Senior Vice President Product Management & Supply Chain.

James McCummiskey joins Borealis from Ciba Inc. where he was most recently a member of Ciba’s Group Executive Committee until the company’s takeover by BASF. He began his career in 1973 at Ciba Inc. in Paisley, Scotland where he held several key positions within the manufacturing and engineering discipline, before becoming Head of the Global Business Unit Classical Pigments in 1996. Five years later, he took over the role of Managing Director at Ciba’s largest single site chemical plant in Bradford as well as Grimsby, UK, where he later assumed the global business responsibility as Head Business Line Water. During this period he also successfully completed a number of special assignments to turn round difficult operational issues on other Ciba sites as well as fulfilling board memberships of JV's in Korea, China and India. In 2007, he was appointed Executive Vice President Ciba Inc. as Head of the Water and Paper Treatment Segment, based in Basle, Switzerland. James McCummiskey is a Scottish citizen and has Full Technical, Ordinary National and Higher National Certificates in Engineering from the City and Guilds of London Institute.

“James has learned the chemicals business from the bottom up with his many and diversified roles in manufacturing, engineering, industrial relations, sales and marketing,“ says Borealis Deputy CEO Herbert Willerth. “I am pleased he will be joining Borealis and bring his wealth of experience ranging from a hands-on understanding of operations to the most senior level of leading an integrated business to the challenging role of Senior Vice President Operations.”

Philippe Roodhooft has a long history in the polyolefins industry beginning in 1990 with Neste Chemicals in Belgium. When Neste Chemicals was integrated into the newly formed Borealis in 1994, he became a member of the Borealis Belgium management team. Philippe Roodhooft’s previous experience in Belgium includes Engineering Manager, Plant Manager, Location Leader, as well as Group Planning Manager. When he assumed the role of General Manager Borealis Central Europe in 2007, he moved to Austria. Since 2008, Philippe Roodhooft has held the position of Senior Vice President Operations based at the head office in Vienna. He was born in Belgium in 1963 and holds a degree in Applied Sciences from the University of Leuven, Belgium.

“I am glad that Philippe now brings the wealth of experiences he gained in various key positions at Borealis into his new role in product management and supply chain,” says Gerd Löbbert, Borealis Executive Vice President for Polyolefins, effective October 1, 2010. “With his know-how in operations locally and from a group perspective he we will make a significant contribution to building a solid bridge between operations and the requirements of the business and operations.”

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For further information, please contact:

Kerstin Meckler, Director Communications, 
Tel. +43 122 400 389
Email: kerstin.meckler@borealisgroup.com