Albemarle Acquires Full Ownership of Antioxidant Joint Ventures in China

BATON ROUGE, La. (Map) - BATON ROUGE, La., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Leading global specialty chemicals maker Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) has completed its acquisition of 100-percent ownership of two polymer additive joint ventures in China: Ningbo Jinhai Albemarle Chemical & Industry Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Jinhai Albemarle Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd.

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The agreement was completed on June 30, near the one-year anniversary of Albemarle's acquisition of a majority ownership stake in the "Jinhai Albemarle" JVs in July 2007. With the new, 100-percent ownership agreement, both facilities are now wholly owned subsidiaries of Albemarle Corporation.

"By taking full ownership of these two integrated production sites in China and doubling antioxidant production capacity at the Shanghai facility, announced earlier this year, Albemarle is now the leading manufacturer and supplier of polymer antioxidants in China and one of the top suppliers worldwide," said

"Our aim is to continue to provide even broader solutions for our customers in China and the growing regional and global marketplace," Sun said.

The acquisition of a complete stake in Jinhai Albemarle is the latest step forward on the path outlined in Vision 2010, the company's strategy to drive financial and operational excellence by using Albemarle's capacity for innovation to address societal challenges.

Albemarle President and CEO Mark Rohr said, "Over the next three years, we expect to make significant progress toward our strategic growth objectives, as well as to become the number one green solutions provider to our chosen markets, including polymer additives. Our growing workforce and productivity in China will play an important role in that strategy."

Albemarle's ETHANOX(R) and ETHAPHOS(TM) polymer antioxidants, part of the company's Polymer Additives business segment, help maintain the performance integrity and processing stability of polyolefin plastics, elastomers, adhesives and other materials. With a goal of being the "One Source for All Your Antioxidant Needs,"(TM) Albemarle has built a reputation for quality, reliability and exceptional customer technical service among its antioxidant customers worldwide.

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 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.