Albemarle to refocus mineral flame retardant portfolio, increase ATH production capacity

BATON ROUGE, La., March 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation ALB announced today that it is streamlining its portfolio of mineral flame retardant products and refocusing its efforts and resources on further development and growth of key product grades.  The changes support the evolution of the global mineral flame retardant market and allow the company to place greater emphasis on innovation for technologies designed to meet the future needs of customers. 

Through its streamlined portfolio, Albemarle will continue to manufacture and market the following key Martinal® product grades:

The company will also increase production capacity for the fine precipitated hydrate ATH product line at its Bergheim, Germany facility, with expected completion by the end of 2015.

"These changes position Albemarle for sustained success in the marketplace," said Troy DeSoto, Albemarle's vice president, Fire Safety Solutions. "This streamlined portfolio enables Albemarle to more quickly respond to the needs of our customers and respond to growing demand with our scale-up production capacity."

The company will immediately discontinue the manufacturing of the following products, but will continue to sell the products until the end of 2015 or until all inventory has been depleted.

About Albemarle 
Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a premier specialty chemicals company with leading positions in attractive end markets around the world. With a broad customer reach and diverse end markets, Albemarle develops, manufactures and markets technologically advanced and high value added products, including lithium and lithium compounds, bromine and bromine derivatives, catalysts and surface treatment chemistries used in a wide range of applications including consumer electronics, flame retardants, metal processing, plastics, contemporary and alternative transportation vehicles, refining,  pharmaceuticals, agriculture, construction and custom chemistry services. Albemarle is focused on delivering differentiated, performance-based technologies that deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to its customers. The Company employs approximately 6,900 people and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Albemarle regularly posts information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, Regulation G reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding the Company, its businesses and the markets it serves.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business that 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 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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SOURCE Albemarle Corporation