Pindamonhangaba, Brazil, March 29, 2006 – Basell inaugurated its new polypropylene compounding plant today in Pindamonhangaba, in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The state-of-the art plant’s current capacity is 35 KT and will be expanded in several phases to achieve the name plate capacity of 80 KT.
 
”I am extremely delighted that we have established a Basell compounding operation in Brazil to meet our customers’ advanced polyolefins needs,” said Anton de Vries, President of Basell Advanced Polyolefins. ”With our global network and local presence we are well positioned to address the demands of the local automotive market.”
 
The plant produces advanced polyolefin compounds based on polypropylene. Combining the cost-competitiveness of polyolefins with the performance of engineering resins, Basell’s compounded resins enable customers to produce value-added applications with exceptional properties such as high impact strength, excellent scratch resistance, superior paint adhesion and low thermal expansion. In addition, Basell’s compounded resins can be easily tailored to meet a variety of demanding application needs, have outstanding processability and can be recycled.

“I am proud to welcome the “Pinda” plant to our growing international family,” said Ian Dunn, President of Basell International, to a gathering of local dignitaries and community members. “This facility will help address market growth in South America and bring more of Basell’s resin and technology innovation to a region with tremendous opportunities.”
Basell, together with its joint ventures, now has a global PP compounding network that includes 14 countries. In addition to Brazil, Basell has compounding plants in Argentina, Australia, China, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
 
“With its growing innovative portofolio of high-performance resins, Basell continues to expand the envelope of polyolefins, and proves time and again that the market uses for these materials are almost limitless,” said Corso Uzielli, Managing Director of Basell Brazil.

Basell is the world's largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products, a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and a global leader in the development and licensing of polypropylene and polyethylene processes. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities around the world and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com .
 
For more information, contact Chantal Sohm at +33 1 55 51 21 19 or chantal.sohm@basell.com of Basell Corporate Communications

Basell inaugurates new compounding plant in Brazil