Kraton Polymers Announces Plans to Showcase New Products Engineered for Higher Performance and Environmental Sustainability at The 18th International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber Worldwide (K 2010) October 27-November 3, 2010, Dusseldorf, Germany

HOUSTON, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. (NYSE: KRA), a leading global producer of styrenic block copolymers or "SBCs," announces plans to exhibit at The 18th International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber Worldwide (K 2010), from October 27-November 3, 2010 in Dusseldorf, Germany. The company plans to showcase six of its latest innovations including alternatives for PVC, TPU, and natural rubber in automotive slush molded interior soft skins, medical and personal care, wire and cable, and protective films; and NEXAR™ polymers for water transport, filtration and separation, and performance fabrics applications.

"K 2010 provides Kraton with the perfect venue for our scientists and market development managers to meet and exchange ideas with innovators from across the globe," said Lothar Freund, Vice President, Technology at Kraton Polymers. "These meetings often lead to collaborative efforts, which result in innovative and specialized product solutions designed to meet even the most rigorous industry demands for higher-performance, lower-cost and environmentally-friendly solutions. Kraton developed SBCs almost fifty years ago and continues to lead the market driving innovation and developing new families of these highly-engineered synthetic elastomers," he concluded.

Kraton scientists and executives will be at the company's showcase in Booth C80, Hall 6 to discuss the company's latest innovations in the following applications:

• Automotive Slush Molded Interior Soft Skins (PVC & TPU alternative): This innovative development, resulting from a strategic alliance with SO.F.TER (www.softerspa.com), provides a major technology and performance leap for the automotive industry. Our new innovation can be used to replace PVC, which has been the predominant material for interior soft skins using the slush molding process. PVC has many limitations including a high level of plasticizer (which tends to migrate) and flexible PVC becomes brittle and loses functionality over time. Our SBC product allows manufacturers to achieve significant improvements in low temperature performance, fogging, and recyclability while still using existing slush molding equipment and standard processing conditions.  The additional benefits realized also include lower manufacturing costs due to reduced service temperatures and decreased processing time;
• Medical (PVC alternative): Kraton G1645®, a polymer product, creates new opportunities to replace PVC in medical and other applications including IV bag film and medical tubing. Our polymers are phthalate-free and provide high-performance, non-allergenic, and proven alternatives to PVC;
• Cariflex™ IR (high end natural rubber alternative): Kraton's breakthrough Cariflex IR is a synthetic polyisoprene rubber that can be formulated to replace many solid natural rubber (NR) applications. Kraton Cariflex IR Latex is an ideal substitute for NR latex, particularly in medical applications with high purity requirements. These products offer outstanding elasticity, skin comfort and mechanical properties;
• Personal Care (Elastic Nonwovens): Kraton's innovative and award-winning bicomponent fiber technology has been proven ideal for high-speed processing in nonwoven manufacturing for performance fabrics. Our polymers offer increased comfort, flexibility and durability, as well as multi-directional elasticity and strength in soft, quiet, and breathable materials. These attributes can be delivered in light and heavy basis weights often required in personal care, medical and protective apparel, waistbands and cuffs, and wound dressings. Kraton Polymers was the recipient of the 2009 Frost & Sullivan North American Elastic Nonwovens Technology Leadership of the Year Award.  This technology was also recognized by peers in the field with the 2008 INTC Best Paper Award;  
• Wire & Cable (PVC alternative): Kraton polymers offer a variety of key attributes important in wire and cable applications. Superior electrical properties make them excellent candidates for insulation applications, and they are versatile enough to be used for jacketing and molded parts. Kraton ERS polymers provide low hardness and high flow for injection molded connectors and plugs. Kraton A polymers can achieve the best balance in strength, processability, and compatibility with various ingredients. Our polymers stand up to heat—they can be flame retarded to a V-0 rating and exhibit resistance to thermal aging. Kraton FG polymers can enhance compatibility between flame-retardant fillers and the polymer matrix. Our polymers are lightweight due to their low specific gravity, are halogen-free, recyclable and can be easily colored. Their excellent low temperature flexibility and UV and ozone-resistance make them suitable for outdoor applications as well;
• Protective Films: Kraton co-ex technology offers the latest technological advancements in adhesive polymers for surface protection films. This technology offers unique features that can be formulated into adhesive compounds covering a broad range of processing and performance properties. Compound properties can be tailored to achieve unique performance requirements specific to end user applications. Our technology prevents moisture permeation, preserves the integrity of finished surfaces and protects against marring and scratching. It also allows for customizable peel strength that sustains tack on curved and textured surfaces while resisting dimples and rigid wrinkles;
• NEXAR™ Polymers: Kraton's development using sulfonated block co-polymers, features unique nonporous membrane technology allowing for substantial moisture vapor and water transport rates. NEXAR polymers are ideal for a variety of applications including performance fabrics, capacitive deionization, humidity control, and energy recovery ventilation. NEXAR selectively permeable membranes for high performance breathable fabrics help the human body maintain its energy balance by quickly transporting large amounts of moisture outside and away from the skin. This helps maintain a comfortable microclimate for the body and allows optimum moisture management performance over time. NEXAR polymers offer selective permeability, which allows a tremendous amount of water to pass through while blocking potentially harmful chemicals. They can also be formed into nonporous membranes and can be processed using existing equipment.

We invite you to visit Kraton at the K 2010 in Booth C80, Hall 6. To schedule a personal consultation, please contact Vaneese Bell at 281-504-4792 or [email protected]. For more information about Kraton products please visit our website at www.Kraton.com or e-mail [email protected]. You may also visit www.nexarpolymers.com or email [email protected] to learn more about NEXAR™ polymers.

About Kraton

Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc., through its operating subsidiary Kraton Polymers LLC and its subsidiaries, is a leading global producer of engineered polymers and, we believe, the world's largest producer of styrenic block copolymers ("SBCs"), a family of products whose chemistry was pioneered by us almost fifty years ago. SBCs are highly-engineered thermoplastic elastomers, which enhance the performance of numerous products by delivering a variety of attributes, including greater flexibility, resilience, strength, durability and processability. Our polymers are used in a wide range of applications, including adhesives, coatings, consumer and personal care products, sealants and lubricants, and medical, packaging, automotive, paving, roofing and footwear products. We currently offer approximately 800 products to more than 700 customers in over 60 countries worldwide, and are the only SBC producer with manufacturing and service capabilities on four continents. We manufacture products at five plants globally, including our flagship plant in Belpre, Ohio, as well as plants in Germany, France and Brazil, and a joint venture plant operated in Japan.

Kraton, the Kraton logo and design, Cariflex, Nexar and the "Giving Innovators their Edge" tagline are all trademarks of Kraton Polymers LLC.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements," which are statements other than statements of historical fact and are often characterized by the use of words such as "believes," "expects," "estimates," "projects," "may," "will," "intends," "plans" or "anticipates," or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made based on management's current expectations and estimates, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties are more fully described in "Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors" contained in our Annual Report on 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and as subsequently updated in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and include risks related to: conditions in the global economy and capital markets; our reliance on LyondellBasell Industries for the provision of significant operating and other services; the failure of our raw materials suppliers to perform their obligations under long-term supply agreements, or our inability to replace or renew these agreements when they expire; limitations in the availability of raw materials we need to produce our products in the amounts or at the prices necessary for us to effectively and profitably operate our business; competition in our end-use markets, by other producers of SBCs and by producers of products that can be substituted for our products; our ability to produce and commercialize technological innovations; our ability to protect our intellectual property, on which our business is substantially dependent; infringement of our products on the intellectual property rights of others; seasonality in our Paving and Roofing business; financial and operating constraints related to our substantial level of indebtedness; product liability claims and other lawsuits arising from environmental damage or personal injuries associated with chemical manufacturing; political and economic risks in the various countries in which we operate; the inherently hazardous nature of chemical manufacturing; health, safety and environmental laws, including laws that govern our employees' exposure to chemicals deemed harmful to humans; regulation of our customers, which could affect the demand for our products or result in increased compliance costs; international trade, export control, antitrust, zoning and occupancy and labor and employment laws that could require us to modify our current business practices and incur increased costs; our relationship with our employees; loss of key personnel or our inability to attract and retain new qualified personnel; fluctuations in currency exchange rates ; the fact that we do not enter into long-term contracts with our customers; a decrease in the fair value of our pension assets, which could require us to materially increase future funding of the pension plan; and concentration of ownership among our principal stockholder, which may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update such information.

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SOURCE Kraton Polymers LLC

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