Mauá, Brazil, March 10, 2003 - President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil headed a list of government officials who participated in the inauguration ceremony today for Polibrasil’s new 300 KT Spheripol process polypropylene plant near São Paulo. Polibrasil is a joint venture owned by Basell and Suzano.

In remarks at the inauguration ceremony, Volker Trautz, President and CEO of Basell, said, "I appreciate this opportunity to be here today, and I look forward to many more years of our cordial relationship with Suzano and even greater successes for Polibrasil in the future. Latin America - and especially Brazil - is a strategically important growing market for Basell."

Trautz said the state-of-the-art plant, which is benefiting from the newest generation of the Spheripol process as well as latest developments in Ziegler-Natta catalyst systems, "will enable Polibrasil to serve valued customers even better now and into the future."

For two decades, the Spheripol process has been revolutionizing the way polypropylene is produced. With 79 Spheripol process plants operating all over the world -- plus another eight under construction -- installed Spheripol capacity is about 12 million tonnes per year. This represents more than half of the PP capacity worldwide.

The Spheripol process creates materials for a vast range of applications -- from textiles and food packaging to furniture and car components. It is characterised by high efficiency and environmental acceptability, and is available under license from Basell.

Basell develops, produces and markets polypropylene, polyethylene, advanced polyolefin materials, and polyolefin catalysts and also develops and licenses polyolefin processes. With research and development activities in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region, Basell is committed to continuously extending the property profile of its polyolefins portfolio and to developing with its customers a shared agenda for bringing new products to market as quickly as possible. Basell, including its joint ventures, serves customers in more than 120 countries with materials produced in 18 countries. Basell’s Internet address is www.basell.com.

Suzano is a Brazilian company that is focused on petrochemicals and the pulp and paper business.

Spheripol is a trademark owned by Basell.