Sarnia, Ontario, June 10, 2003 – Basell Canada Inc.’s Sarnia manufacturing site, which produces polypropylene and isopropyl alcohol, will celebrate its 25th anniversary on June 12 with a special ceremony that will include dedicating a plaque and planting a tree to mark the occasion. Representatives of local, county and federal government have been invited.

"We’re proud to reach this milestone, and it is a credit to the skill, knowledge and experience of our workforce," said Paul Molleur. "We take great pride in having a safe and efficient facility that produces high quality polypropylene and isopropyl alcohol." The focus on workplace safety is reflected in the fact that the site has now gone 3,263 days without a lost time injury. The site consists of two world-scale facilities, a polypropylene plant and an isopropyl alcohol plant that is owned by Shell Chemicals and operated by Basell.

A part of Shell Canada Limited when operations were started in 1978, the Sarnia site was transferred to Montell Polyolefins in 1995 when Shell’s polyolefins interests were merged with Montedison’s. In 2000 the site became a Basell operation when Montell was merged with two European companies, Elenac and Targor.

With operations in 18 countries and sales in more than 120 countries, Basell develops, produces and markets polypropylene, polyethylene, advanced polyolefin materials and polyolefin catalysts, and also develops and licenses polyolefin processes. Basell’s corporate centre is located in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands; the company’s North American regional office is in Elkton, Maryland, USA. Basell’s web site address is www.basell.com

For more information, contact Paul Molleur, Site Leader at (519) 481-1382 or Michelle Talmo, External Communications at (410) 996-1366.