Lucite International’s Alpha Technology Starts Production Ahead of Schedule

11 Nov 2008 Southampton, UK

The Board of Lucite International Group Limited is delighted to announce that the world's first Alpha plant has begun producing methyl methacrylate (MMA).

The new 120,000 tes plant is located on Jurong Island in Singapore and will supply customers in Asia, where demand for MMA has grown most rapidly. Alpha technology offers 40% savings over existing technologies in both construction and production and has the potential to revolutionise the cost base of the MMA industry.

The process uses readily available commodity chemicals ethylene, carbon monoxide and methanol as raw materials instead of conventional materials such as hydrocyanic acid and isobutylene. The fact these are so readily available means that future Alpha plants can be sited anywhere in the world and are not subject to the scale limitations which impact the existing MMA processes.

Commenting on today's announcement, Ian Lambert, Chief Executive of Lucite, said:

"We've been developing this revolutionary technology for over a decade. Today's announcement is an exciting milestone and we are very excited about the opportunities Alpha presents for the future of our business. The combination of low-cost feedstock, increased scale, lower unit capital costs and much higher conversion rates than existing processes, means that an immediate step change in cost performance will be achieved by our plant in Singapore, which will be the lowest cost MMA plant in the world when it achieves full production later this year."

Lucite International's second Alpha plant, which is already in an advanced stage of planning, will be designed with a 250,000 tes capacity.

ENDS

Note to editors: About Lucite International Lucite International is the world leader in methacrylate materials and produces a range of high quality products comprising monomers, acrylic sheet, polymers and resins, marketed under their famous brand names including Lucite® and Perspex®. Customers convert these into a diverse range of consumer, architectural, high tech and medical products.

The Company has an annual turnover in excess of US$1.5billion and employs a workforce of over 2100 people serving customers in over 100 countries worldwide.

Lucite International strives for the highest standards in the operation of the business and places the highest priority on Safety, Health and Environmental performance with excellent results.

For more information about any of the points raised in the press release please contact:

George Farquhar, at FD in London on +44 (0) 20 7269 7123 or george.farquhar@fd.com

Hannah Sloane, at FD in New York on +1 212 850 5734 or hannah.sloane@fd.com

Asia

Laurel Teo, at FD in Singapore on +65 6224 2987 or laurel.teo@fd.com

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