HUNT VALLEY, MD, USA (May 16, 2005) - Millennium Chemicals, a Lyondell Company (NYSE:LYO), is launching a new titanium dioxide pigment for the European masterbatch industry. The new product, Tiona? 125, is the culmination of three years of development work and extensive market testing. This new pigment is designed to meet the demands of today's masterbatch producers and end users in the plastics processing industries.

Tiona? 125 offers a successful combination of improved dispersion, low volatiles for easier processing at today's higher machine temperatures and optimum particle size for greater optical efficiency. This performance has been achieved by the use of a patented surface treatment technology and improvements in the manufacturing process.

The patented surface treatment raises the bar for dispersion performance, enabling a step-change reduction in filter screen blockage and film defects as well as exceptionally low "bound" moisture content.

Tiona? 125 has been developed to meet the demands of today's masterbatch producer who is looking for ease of dispersion and faster cycle times with optimum opacity levels.

For technical information on Tiona? 125, visit www.millenniumchem.com

Lyondell Chemical Company, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is North America's third-largest independent, publicly traded chemical company. Lyondell is a major global manufacturer of basic chemicals and derivatives including ethylene, propylene, titanium dioxide, styrene, polyethylene, propylene oxide and acetyls. It also is a significant producer of gasoline blending components. The company has a 58.75 percent interest in LYONDELL-CITGO Refining LP, a refiner of heavy, high- sulfur crude oil. Lyondell is a global company operating on five continents and employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide. Millennium Chemicals is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lyondell.

Tiona? is a registered trademark of Millennium Chemicals.

SOURCE: LYONDELL

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