Albemarle celebrates grand opening of shared services center in Dalian, China

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May 23, 2012, 04:30 ET

DALIAN, China, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of highly-engineered specialty chemicals, will celebrate the grand opening of its Asia-Pacific shared services center in Dalian, China today during a ceremony held at the facility.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111129/MM14279LOGO)

Known as Albemarle's Asia-Pacific Center of Excellence (CoE), the Dalian site was developed as part of the company's "One Albemarle" strategy and complements the regional CoEs currently operating in Budapest, Hungary and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The CoEs are designed to standardize and streamline the company's global processes, resulting in one automated, scalable global platform for Albemarle's business which will reduce costs, improve productivity and better support the company's growth.

Albemarle established specific criteria when selecting the location for the Asia-Pacific CoE. The company chose Dalian because of several factors, including:

The level of support and engagement that was received from the local community and government officials
Dalian's unique geographical location between the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea, making it an important international shipping hub and logistics center
The availability of a well-educated and experienced employee base to support strategic initiatives throughout the region.

"Albemarle is excited to celebrate the opening of our Asia-Pacific Center of Excellence, and we are pleased to be here in Dalian," said Scott Tozier, Albemarle's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "At Albemarle, our focus is on performance excellence in everything we do. This site will undoubtedly enable us to better serve our customers in the Asia-Pacific region. The exceptional local talent and the support of the local community and government made Dalian the ideal choice for this new CoE," he added.

About Albemarle
Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a leading global developer, manufacturer, and marketer of highly-engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, automotive/transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop protection, food-safety and custom chemistry services. The Company is committed to global sustainability and is advancing its eco-practices and solutions in its three business segments, Polymer Solutions, Catalysts and Fine Chemistry. Corporate Responsibility Magazine selected Albemarle to its prestigious "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list for 2010 and 2011. Albemarle employs approximately 4,000 people and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Albemarle regularly posts information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, Regulation G reconciliations, SEC filings, and other information regarding the Company, its businesses and the markets we serve.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.

SOURCE Albemarle Corporation