AGRU Kunststofftechnik

AGRU Kunststofftechnik GmbH

Type	Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Industry	plastics
Founded	1948 in Bad Hall Austria
Founder	Alois Gruber sen.
Headquarters	Bad Hall, Austria
Revenue	272 mio. (2016)
Owner	Mag. Alois Gruber
Number of employees	770 (2016)
Website	www.agru.at/en/

AGRU Kunststofftechnik GmbH is a company with global operations in engineering plastics based in Bad Hall, Austria, and was founded in 1948 by Alois Gruber senior. AGRU manufactures and supplies pipeline systems, semi-finished products, concrete protection liners, and geomembranes made of engineered plastics. As one of the 150 largest industrial companies in Austria, AGRU employs 770 staff and has global sales of EUR 272 million (2016). In addition to the five factories at the global headquarters in Bad Hall, the company operates production sites in the United States, Germany, Poland and China. The export share is over 90%. Sales partners in more than 150 countries distribute products from AGRU, for which approximately 100,000 tons of plastic are processed annually.

In 1948, Alois Gruber senior founded a locksmith business in Bad Hall and an anodizing plant in Grünburg. In the 1950s, the locksmith business was dissolved to focus on anodizing, which was expanded by a powder coating and a wet paint shop. This knowledge is summarized today in AGRU Oberflächentechnik GmbH, in Grünburg, Upper Austria. AGRU Oberflächentechnik GmbH operates independently from AGRU Kunststofftechnik GmbH, but is under the same management.

In 1961, Alois Gruber senior laid the foundations of AGRU’s future in engineered plastics with the decision to begin production of plastic pipes. In the following years, production was expanded. First, with the introduction of polypropylene and polyethylene pipes, and later with the production of fittings, plates, bars, and welding rods made of different engineered plastics. Pipes with different diameters are the main part of production. The pipes can also be installed trenchless. For a project in Germany, AGRULINE large diameter pipes with OD 1400 mm were installed for the first time with the horizontal directional drilling method.