INEOS NOVA and SEEA Polymers announce plans for new EPS plant

Fribourg, Switzerland and Bucharest, Romania - INEOS NOVA and SEEA Polymers today announced they have signed a letter of intent to form a 50/50 joint venture to build and operate a new expandable polystyrene (EPS) plant in Romania. The proposed facility will have production capacity of 100 KT per year and is expected to start operations by late 2009.

“This new plant will be located in the heart of one of the highest growth areas for EPS in the world,” said Martin Pugh, Managing Director Europe for INEOS NOVA. “We expect this plant to manufacture a full range of products and be the lowest cost producer of EPS in Europe.”

Florin Andrei, CEO of SEEA Polymers said, “We are pleased to bring the plastics industry expertise of our fast growing Romanian based company to this joint venture with INEOS NOVA, the European EPS market leader. We believe the combination will enable the new joint venture to quickly establish leadership in the region.”

Growth rates for EPS consumption in the region are projected to continue to be more than 10 percent per year. The proposed plant will be located on a site owned by SEEA Polymers in Medgidia, Romania, near the Black Sea. The location will enable the new plant to enjoy reliable, low-cost logistics.

Following completion of final market and capital plans the two companies expect to negotiate and finalise a binding agreement by the end of the first quarter of 2008.

INEOS NOVA is committed to being recognized as the global leader in styrenics. Our employees manufacture and market styrene and styrenic polymers with a dedicated focus on health, safety, security and environmental stewardship. INEOS NOVA is a joint venture of INEOS and NOVA Chemicals.

Visit INEOS NOVA on the internet at www.ineos-nova.com.

SEEA Polymers is an entrepreneurial plastics manufacturing and processing company created by a group of Romanian investors led by Mr Florin Andrei. Mr Andrei has extensive experience in the domestic and regional petrochemical market in his previous position as Chief Executive Officer of Rompetrol Petrochemicals. Before joining Rompetrol he held a number of positions over 10 years at Dow Corning and The Dow Chemical Company.



INEOS NOVA media inquiries, please contact:
North America
Ross Wonnick, Vice President and General Counsel
Tel: +1 412.490.4341

Europe
Carole Beatty, Public Affairs
Tel: +41 26 4265632


Forward Looking Information: The information in this news release contains forward-looking statements concerning INEOS NOVA’s and SEEA Polymers’ proposed 50/50 joint venture to build and operate a new EPS plant in Romania, including statements regarding the plant’s expected production capacity, start-up date, product offerings and costs of production, the projected growth rate for EPS consumption in the plant’s region and the intention of the parties to finalize a binding agreement. By their nature, forward-looking statements require INEOS NOVA to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that predictions, forecasts, conclusions and projections will not prove to be accurate, that INEOS NOVA’s assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections. INEOS NOVA’s forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. In addition, the forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this news release, and INEOS NOVA undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise.