News Release

Tokyo, Japan, March 30th 2009 - SunAllomer Ltd., a joint venture of LyondellBasell Industries, Showa Denko K.K. and Nippon Oil Corporation, has introduced a new series of high value-added polypropylene: “QUALEAR™”* (based on a new technology from LyondellBasell) and “SUNALLOMER® V series” (based on a new generation of catalyst from LyondellBasell).

“QUALEAR™” stands for PP products combining Heterophasic Copolymer characteristics (high rigidity, high impact resistance, option for very high rubber content, and the possibility of weight and processing cost reduction of the molded products), and Random Copolymer characteristic (high transparency) together with additional new features (improved flowability, better aesthetics, and deep-freezing resistance). This allows us to respond to our customers’ diversified needs especially in food packaging and automotive applications. The upgrade of Oita plant’s third line, applying LyondellBasell Industries’ advanced technology, is scheduled for completion in April 2010. This enables Sunallomer to further differentiate into high end & niche applications. “QUALEAR™”’s outstanding properties can be seen in food packaging, where these new transparent containers can be put directly from the deep freezer into the microwave oven. Until April 2010, we will start premarketing-sales with material sourced from LyondellBasell.

Products from “SUNALLOMER® V series” are characterized by the improvement of appearance, processing cycles and the weight & cost reduction of the molded products. Therefore we will develop them for all applications.
“SUNALLOMER® V series” is based on new generation catalyst technology owned by one of our shareholders, LyondellBasell. By controlling the molecular weight of the polymer, it improves the rigidity, appearance and processability.
We have already started the sales for a few applications in January, and got a lot of positive feedback from the market in terms of processability and product down gauging. We will expand into more applications soon.

We revised the Vision of our company in January last year, adopting “Different(iated)”** as our new slogan and making it a key element of our strategy in order to become the preferred supplier to our customers by offering unique products and services. Concretely, we will accelerate the shift from general-use application and product areas to high value-added ones. These two above mentioned developments are essential part of our aggressive innovation program under which 25% of our sales volume in 2012 will be from new products and technologies that we are not producing today. In order to achieve this target we will collaborate closely with our shareholder LyondellBasell, the global leader in polyolefins technology, production and marketing.

* QUALEAR™: A trademark of SunAllomer applied to the Patent Office in Japan.
** Different(iated): A slogan containing the meaning of “SunAllomer; different from that in the past, and different from others".

SunAllomer, a joint venture of LyondellBasell Industries, Showa Denko K.K. and Nippon Oil Corporation, is one of Japan’s key polypropylene producers.

SunAllomer combines the global leadership of LyondellBasell with the local expertise of two of Japan’s leading industrial companies. By building on these strengths, SunAllomer delivers sustainable value to a variety of industries such as Automotives, Electronics, Food packaging, Housewares and others, by offering innovative polypropylene and compounds that address customers’ most challenging application requirements..

The company works closely with both customers and suppliers to generate value-adding business relationships. The company has a strong commitment to protecting the environment and carries out all its activities with a strong dedication to quality, health and safety.

Spheripol is a trademark of LyondellBasell Industries.

For further information, please contact:
GA, HR & Compliance Group, Corporate Service Division, SunAllomer Ltd.
(Tel: 03-5781-5608)

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