Solvay America Inc. Consolidates U.S. Chemicals Operations as Solvay Chemicals Inc.

MORE MULTIMEDIA HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 2003--Solvay America Inc. has begun the process of consolidating its U.S. chemicals operations under the new name, Solvay Chemicals Inc. The consolidation will be completed by Jan. 1, 2004. Solvay Minerals Inc. and Solvay Interox Inc. have already been combined to form the new company, which is headquartered in Houston. Solvay Fluorides Inc., will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Solvay Chemicals as of Jan. 1, 2004, at which time its St. Louis office will close. "The combination of these businesses will create more efficient operations and simplify matters for our customers, making it easier for them to access our full chemicals product line," said David G. Birney, president of Solvay America Inc. Birney will also serve as president of Solvay Chemicals Inc. Dick Hogan has been named senior vice president of Commercial of Solvay Chemicals Inc. and Vance Erickson has been named senior vice president of Solvay Fluorides Inc. Ray Johnson and Steve Kovar have been appointed vice president of Human Resources and Logistics and vice president of Finance, respectively, of Solvay Chemicals. Product lines involved in the consolidation include soda-based products, peroxygens, fluorine-based products and other specialty products. Solvay Chemicals' sites are located in Deer Park, Texas; Longview, Wash., and Green River, Wyo., while a subsidiary operates a site in Monterey, Mexico. Solvay Fluorides' sites are located in Alorton, Ill., and Catoosa, Okla.; a subsidiary operates a plant in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Solvay America Inc. is the U.S. holding company for the North American operations of the Solvay Group, an international chemical and pharmaceutical group headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The Solvay Group, whose companies employ more than 30,000 people in 50 countries, recorded consolidated sales for 2002 of EUR7.9 billion, generated by activities in its four business sectors: Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Plastics and Processing. Solvay is listed on the Euronext 100 index of leading European companies. Details are available at www.solvay.com. Note: Photos available at URLs: http