Albemarle to Launch New Generation of Fine Precipitated ATH

BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Albemarle Corporation , the world leader in flame retardants, has developed a new generation of its MARTINAL(R) finely precipitated aluminum trihydrate (ATH) flame retardants to meet customer demand for improved processability in compounding operations. The newly developed product will be called MARTINAL LEO flame retardant and will benefit wire and cable compounders and other plastics manufacturers through its improved thermal stability, better electrical properties, lower compound viscosity and higher bulk density. Combined with improved flow after conveying, the new, optimized MARTINAL LEO ATH yields better performance than previous ATH flame retardants.

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"As a leader in providing value-added solutions to our clients, we continually seek ways to enhance the technical performance of our products. We are pleased to continue this tradition of excellence by introducing the next generation optimization of MARTINAL(R) fine precipitated ATH, which will help increase the throughput of wire and cable manufacturing operations worldwide," said Wolfgang Hardtke, Albemarle's global business manager for wire and cable.

For more information on new MARTINAL LEO flame retardant, visit Albemarle at K 2007, the International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber, in Dusseldorf, Germany, October 24-31. Technical, business management and sales representatives from the company will be on hand throughout the show to help customers discover improvements and efficiencies in plastics compounding, manufacturing, and application using new and unique flame retardants, antioxidants, curing agents and polymer catalysts from Albemarle. Albemarle will exhibit in hall 6, stand D61.

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for petroleum and petrochemical processing; transportation and industrial products; consumer electronics; pharmaceuticals; agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials. The Company operates in three business segments, Polymer Additives, Catalysts and Fine Chemicals, and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. For more information about K 2007, please visit http://www.k-online.de/. For more information about Albemarle and its businesses and products that will be on display at K 2007, please visit http://www.albemarle.com/ and http://www.martinswerk.com/.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ALBEMARLE and MARTINAL are registered trademarks of Albemarle Corporation.