Albemarle Corporation To Raise Prices Of Brominated Fine Chemicals

LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE, Belgium, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Albemarle Corporation , a world leader in bromine and derivative chemicals, will increase prices on its entire line of brominated fine chemicals that are produced at its site in Port-de-Bouc, France by an average of 20 percent on a global basis. This increase will become effective November 15, 2006, or as contracts allow.

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Following are the new, minimum delivered prices (on a full-container basis -- approximately 20 metric tons) for some of the more common bromine derivative products, effective November 15:

* Isopropyl bromide 3.80 EUR/kg * Monobromoacetic Acid 5.00 EUR/kg * Bromo esters 8.20 EUR/kg * Bromoform 10.00 EUR/kg * Bromobenzene 9.20 EUR/kg * 1,3 Bromo chloro propane 4.50 EUR/kg * n-Amylbromide 6.50 EUR/kg * n-Decylbromide 6.00 EUR/kg * n-Dodecylbromide 7.20 EUR/kg

Albemarle has invested at Port-de-Bouc to boost the site's capability to produce brominated fine chemicals in the wake of the company's Thann, France plant divestiture earlier this year.

"In addition to this needed investment, the market value for the bromine contained in these products continues to rise," said Jan De Tavernier, Albemarle's business manager for Fine Chemistry Services in Europe. "These price increases are required in part to realize an acceptable return on our investment and in part to cover the higher value of bromine."

Brominated fine chemicals are used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, photographic chemicals, biocides, paper chemicals, perfumes, dyes and other products.

New list prices for other products will be communicated separately to affected customers.

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; construction and packaging materials. The Company operates in three business segments -- Polymer Chemicals, Catalysts and Fine Chemicals, and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Learn more about Albemarle at http://www.albemarle.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business which 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.

CONTACT: Mr. Rene Milligan, Corporate Communications, of AlbemarleCorporation, +1-225-388-7106, rene_milligan@albemarle.com

Web site: http://www.albemarle.com/