Albemarle Expands Production Capabilities for Finished Polyolefin Catalysts at Its Baton Rouge Facility

BATON ROUGE, La., Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) successfully completed the latest expansion of its Process Development Center (PDC) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by installing a new production train for finished polyolefin catalysts and a number of supporting auxiliaries. 

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"This new train will add to the capacity in our existing facilities at the PDC," explains Amy Motto, vice president of Albemarle's Performance Catalyst Solutions (PCS) division. "The increased capacity is needed to meet the growing demand for finished single site catalysts used in the polyolefin industry including Albemarle's ActivCat® technology."

"The project team deserves a lot of credit for completing this project on a highly expedited schedule," said Jay Roberg, technical director for Albemarle's PCS and Fine Chemicals divisions. "Not only did the team deliver the project safely, but we were able to produce high performance finished catalysts on specification from the very first batch."

This expansion is the latest in a series of projects that Albemarle is undertaking to meet the growing demand for its metallocene/single site finished catalyst business.  A separate production facility is also being constructed in Yeosu, Korea to help meet this demand. 

About Performance Catalyst Solutions
In November 2011, Albemarle's Polyolefin and Chemical Catalyst division, a segment of its Catalyst global business unit, was officially renamed Performance Catalyst Solutions to reinforce the division's transition from supplying components, such as organometallics, to delivering high performance catalyst solutions through a finished catalyst product portfolio.  The division is comprised of three business units: Polymer Catalysts, Chemical Catalyst, and Electronic Materials.  Collectively, these businesses provide performance-based products and services that are used in the plastics, agricultural, and electronics industries.

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