Celanese Temporarily Ceases Acetic Acid Production at Clear Lake, Texas Facility; Company Reaffirms Full Year Guidance

Acetic Acid Plant in Nanjing, China Begins Commercial Production

elanese Corporation (NYSE:CE), a global hybrid chemical company, today announced that initial attempts to repair the acetic acid unit at its Clear Lake, Texas facility were unsuccessful upon restart, and a shutdown will be required for additional repair. The company has informed its acetic acid and derivatives customers that the force majeure previously announced on May 14 will be extended. Celanese will also expand the force majeure to additional acetyl derivatives products.

The company also announced that its 600,000 metric ton acetic acid facility in Nanjing, China has passed commercial qualification and is currently running at full production rates.

Based upon current expectations that sustainable operations at the Clear Lake facility resume by mid-July, the company continues to expect its full year adjusted earnings to be within its previously announced guidance range of between $2.85 and $3.15 per share. However, the company does expect the outage to have an impact on second quarter results. Adjusted earnings per share in the second quarter are expected to be modestly below the current second quarter 2007 First Call mean estimate.