INEOS NOVA announces plans to shut down

Mo, 3 December 2007

INEOS NOVA announced today that it plans to permanently shut down its Belpre, Ohio, polystyrene facility by January 31, 2008. The site has production capacity of 220 million pounds of crystal polystyrene per year. INEOS NOVA previously announced the shutdown of polystyrene production at the Montreal, Quebec, facility.

"Shutting down the Belpre site removes additional high-cost capacity and will enable us to further consolidate production at the Company’s most efficient manufacturing sites,” said Kevin McQuade, CEO of INEOS NOVA. "We expect the shutdown to have minimal impact on our ability to deliver quality products to our customers and we expect to provide our customers with an effective transition during the coming months.”

The shutdown will remove approximately 12 percent of INEOS NOVA’s North American polystyrene production capacity. This action represents another step toward achieving the $80 million synergies target for the new joint venture.

In addition, the Company will transfer all production of NAS® and ZYLAR® specialty resins to its Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, site. “INEOS NOVA remains committed to growing its NAS and ZYLAR business,” said McQuade. “We believe returning this business to its original manufacturing facility will be seamless and will allow us to more efficiently utilize our manufacturing assets.”

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.