December 19, 2007 – Basell has begun construction of its second polypropylene compounding facility in China at Guangzhou Nansha.

“As the leading global supplier of polypropylene compounds to the automotive, appliance, electrical and electronics sectors, Basell is strongly committed to further growing our presence in China to address the continuous increase in demand,” said Frank Noeltgen, Basell’s vice president for automotive in Asia Pacific.

The new facility, to be operated by Guangzhou Basell Advanced Polyolefins Co. Ltd., will have an initial annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes and will supply polypropylene composites and alloy materials to the South China automotive and appliances industry. “This initial capacity can be easily expanded to more than 50,000 tonnes based on future demand growth,” said Noeltgen.

“In addition to our first Chinese PP compounding facility in Suzhou, our second plant will help us to better serve our customers in the south of China with high quality products and services that meet their increased expectations,” he added.

The Nansha facility is scheduled to come on-stream in September 2008.

Basell is the global leader in polyolefins technology, production and marketing. It is the largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products; a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and the industry leader in licensing polypropylene and polyethylene processes, including providing technical services for its proprietary technologies. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities in 19 countries and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com.

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For more information contact Kathy Chan, Basell Corporate Communications, at +852 2585 0103 or kathy.chan@basell.com or please visit our newscentre at http://www.basell.com/portal/site/basell/News