Albemarle to Raise Prices of Brominated Flame Retardants

BATON ROUGE, La., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Albemarle Corporation , the world's leading manufacturer of flame retardants, will increase the global prices for most of its brominated flame retardants effective April 1, 2008, or as contracts allow.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050801/ALBEMARLELOGO )

The price increase is needed in part to help offset rapidly escalating raw material and energy costs and increased investment in testing and innovative environmental management programs.

Specific price increases for flame retardants follow: -- $0.20/kg price increase for SAYTEX(R) 102E flame retardant -- $0.35/kg price increase for SAYTEX CP-2000 flame retardant -- $0.40/kg price increase for SAYTEX 8010 flame retardant -- $0.40/kg price increase for SAYTEX 4010 flame retardant -- $0.50/kg price increase for SAYTEX HP-7010 flame retardant -- $0.50/kg price increase for SAYTEX HP-3010 flame retardant -- $0.20/kg price increase for SAYTEX RB-49 flame retardant -- $0.60/kg price increase for SAYTEX BT-93 flame retardant

SAYTEX flame retardants add life-saving properties to materials used in rigid foam insulation and roofing; circuit boards, connectors and enclosures for consumer electronics and electrical devices; industrial and automotive wire & cable; and coatings, adhesives, sealants and other building materials.

Albemarle's flame retardants division, part of the company's Polymer Additives business segment, enhances the lives of millions of people every day by helping provide protection from fire, encouraging environmentally responsible and sustainable manufacturing practices, and driving technological and economic development worldwide.

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; petroleum and petrochemical processing; transportation and industrial products; 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. Learn more about Albemarle at http://www.albemarle.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.