Albemarle's Low Rare Earth Technology (LRT™) Catalysts Offer Increasing Value as Rare Earth Mineral Prices Continue to Soar
BATON ROUGE, La., May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The benefits of Albemarle Corporation's (NYSE: ALB) low rare earth technology (LRT) catalysts have been brought into sharp focus as the selling price of rare earth minerals continues to skyrocket. Over the past year, the price of lanthanum oxide has increased by nearly 1500%(1), and leading rare earth mineral companies predict that prices will continue to rise.(2)(3) Previously uneconomic mines are being reopened(4)(5) and plants for rare earth mineral recovery from consumer electronic waste are being planned.(6)
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By creating high-performance catalysts that use a lower proportion of rare earth minerals, Albemarle can help to protect its customers from these rising costs. LRT products have been developed in anticipation of sustained increases in rare earth mineral prices and to fulfill Albemarle's commitment to providing customers with comprehensive economic catalyst solutions. As rare earth mineral prices soar, the value provided by these innovative products continues to increase.
Although Albemarle's standard line of FCC catalysts already offer leading performance at some of the lowest rare earth contents in the industry, the LRT products take this a step further by reducing rare earth content by up to a factor of four. The technologies utilized in Albemarle's LRT products are fully commercialized and proven in refineries. They provide the activity and stability of catalysts with higher concentrations of rare earth minerals, and their yield selectivities can be tailored to meet refiners' objectives. A range of catalysts and additives is available, including GO™ LRT and AMBER™ LRT for the vacuum gas oil market; UPGRADER™ LRT and CORAL™ LRT for the residue market; and BCMT™-500 LRT additive for enhanced bottoms cracking and metals tolerance.
For more information on how Albemarle's LRT catalysts and additives can help to protect your refining operations from soaring rare-earth mineral prices, please contact your Albemarle representative.
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.
(1) Based on a June 2010 price of $8.21/kg FOB China and an April 2011 price of $130.32/kg FOB China
(2) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/09/molycorp-idUSN0926344220110309
(3) http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/242581
(4) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/09/molycorp-idUSN0926344220110309
(6) http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/242581
SOURCE Albemarle Corporation
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