From the oil mill to a globally operating manufacturer:
Alberdingk Boley is 250 years young - and we are proud of it. Our history bears witness to a steady, solid growth based on technological innovation and entrepreneurial vision.
As recent research in cooperation with a descendant of our company founder has shown, the story of Alberdingk Boley goes back much further than originally thought. Today, we know that the founding year 1772 is historically documented:
In 1772, Hendrik Alberdingk bought a company building and warehouse at Amsterdam. Originally, he was cooper and made barrels for whalers. This lead to a lively trade in oils and fats.
In 1798, Frederik Alberdingk, the founder's son, used the exemption from the guild obligation and bought mills in the Netherlands, among other things for the processing of seeds and spices.
In 1828, Franz Heinrich Boley started to operate an oil mill in St. Tönis, near Krefeld, Germany. Not far away, in Leeuwarden, Holland, the "T.I. Alberdingk & Sons" linseed oil varnish factory was founded in 1879. Seven years later the company moved to the Rhine harbour in the Krefeld suburb of Uerdingen. Shortly thereafter Boley also moved his oil mill to the strategically important waterway. The two companies merged in 1921 to form "Alberdingk-Firnis und Ölwerke AG". Three years later the company merged with the Emil Boley oil mill located in the Krefeld suburb of Linn.
Quality Linseed Oil Used in the Manufacture of Paint
Linseed oil varnish from Alberdingk has always enjoyed an excellent reputation in the paint industry as well as with professional painters. Alberdingk did not restart linseed processing after the war, instead he set his sights on the future: Imported linseed oil was refined and processed with new equipment and modern techniques. As a renewable raw material, today linseed oil is experiencing a renaissance in the printing ink industry.
The Seed of the Amazing Castor Tree Holds So Much Potential
Alberdingk founded the "Deutsche Rizinus-Oelfabrik GmbH" in 1933. Until recently, we have pressed castor seeds in our own factory - Europe's only oil mill. Today we focus on refining castor oil for technical and pharmaceutical purposes and on research in this promising field. In 1994 we were able to register our technology of using castor oil as polyester or polyol for water-based coatings as a European wide patent.
Aqueous Technology for Coatings and Adhesives
In the seventies of the last century already, research and development of water-based binders started at Alberdingk Boley. Initially, we focussed on the production and distribution of emulsion polymers for architectural coatings and the construction industry. Our continuous investment in laboratory and production capacities paid off, so that in 1985 we also started developing and producing polyurethane dispersions. This product group, which was highly innovative at the time, helped us to expand our business into new areas of application. Today, the production of polyurethane dispersions for coatings of all kinds has developed into our strongest business area in terms of turnover.
Parallel to the positive business development of polyurethane dispersions, massive investments were made in the development of high-quality acrylate dispersions for coatings of all types. In addition, the product range today also includes adhesive dispersions, radiation-curing dispersions and bio-based binders. This combination makes us a full-range supplier in the field of water-based binders.
Global Expansion - Proximity to Customers Worldwide
As an internationally active medium-sized company, we recognised the need to directly serve our customers around the world directly in their home markets.
In 2000, we founded the production and development centre Alberdingk Boley, Inc. in Greensboro, USA.
In 2007, we expanded into Asia with the establishment of Alberdingk Resins Co Ltd in China.
After a successful and promising market entry, the construction of a local production facility in Zhuhai commenced in 2022 in order to be able to supply the Asian markets from a production facility close to future customers.
Alberdingk Boley in the USA
The US headquarters of Alberdingk Boley Inc. is strategically located in the Piedmont area of North Carolina to serve our customers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. With a total building space of approximately 150,000 sq. ft and with a total site acreage of approximately 27 acres, the location offers room for further growth. On site, we manufacture a full range of water-based polyurethane and acrylic resins utilizing our state-of-the-art multi-purpose reactor trains.
