BATON ROUGE, La. (Map) - BATON ROUGE, La., May 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) and Weifang Sinobrom Import and Export Company, Ltd. (Sinobrom) have reached an agreement in principle to form a new joint venture that will combine the existing business of Sinobrom, a leading marketer of bromine derivatives in China, with Albemarle's global bromine expertise in the specialty chemical industry. The new joint venture, Sinobrom Albemarle Bromine Chemicals (Shandong) Company Ltd., will be 75-percent owned by Albemarle's subsidiary, Albemarle Holdings Limited, with the remaining 25 percent to be held by Sinobrom. The launch of the joint venture is subject to final approval by the Chinese authorities, which is expected within 60 to 90 days.

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Concurrently with its launch, the joint venture will enter into an exclusive agreement with Shandong Weitai Fine Chemical Company, Ltd. (Weitai), a producer of bromine derivatives located in Xinhe Town, Pingdu, China. Under this agreement, all Weitai products will be exclusively marketed by the joint venture.

"Sinobrom is a leader in the Chinese bromine derivatives industry, with strong market positions and impressive global reach. The combination of Sinobrom's strengths and Albemarle's leadership position in the bromine industry will create a new growth platform for Albemarle in Shandong province, the heart of the Chinese bromine and derivatives market," said

"We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Albemarle," said Li Chun, general manager of Sinobrom. "Albemarle brings commercial, technical, and environmental leadership in the bromine industry. We expect to accelerate our growth both in China and around the world through this new partnership."

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; petroleum and petrochemical processing; transportation and industrial products; pharmaceuticals; agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials. The Company operates in three business segments-Polymer Additives, Catalysts and Fine Chemicals-and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Learn more about Albemarle at www.albemarle.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Portions of this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Albemarle Corporation believes its expectations reflected in the release are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations; there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include, without limitation, the inability to pass through increases in costs and expenses for raw materials and energy; competition from other manufacturers; changes in demand for our products; the gain or loss of significant customers; fluctuations in foreign currencies and increased government regulation of our operations or our products. Additional factors that could cause Albemarle's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found under "Risk Factors" in item 1A of our Annual Report for the period ended December 31, 2007.