Owens Corning and RheTech Sign Agreement for Making Proprietary Long-Fiber Thermoplastic in North America

Parts consolidation, lower weight and reduced system costs have made LFTP the fastest-growing segment in the worldwide composites market

NOVI, Mich., Feb. 9 -- To meet demand in the fastest growing segment of the worldwide composites market, Owens Corning and RheTech, Inc., today announced a licensing agreement under which RheTech will manufacture and sell in North America a proprietary long-fiber glass/polyolefin thermoplastic (LFTP) developed by Owens Corning. RheTech intends to market these new products under the RHEMAX trade name.

To date, the Owens Corning product has only been available in North America as an import from production in Europe by licensee SABIC EuroPetrochemicals BV. RheTech will begin production of RHEMAX products in the third quarter of 2005 at a facility in Michigan using PerforMax(R) roving developed specifically by Owens Corning for LFTP compounding.

First introduced in the 1990s, LFTP has become the solution of choice for many semi-structural automotive applications in Europe, with international demand growing 15 percent in the last year alone. Applications in the automotive industry include front-end modules, dashboard carriers, door modules and under-body shielding.

  Products using LFTP offer:
  *  Improved impact performance and creep resistance
  *  Long- and short-term heat resistance
  *  Lower weight and part consolidation

"We're thrilled to align with RheTech for the production of our proprietary LFTP product in North America," says Gary Nieman, vice president and general manager of OC(TM) Automotive. "The agreement allows Owens Corning to continue to drive the transformation of the North American composites market and deliver significant value to the automotive industry."

Richard Gall, president of RheTech, says, "We are pleased to be furthering a 20-year plus relationship with Owens Corning in manufacturing and selling this product in North America for the automotive and other end-use industries. This agreement will serve to grow both RheTech's and Owens Corning's businesses, while creating real value for our customers by both broadening our product line and providing a solution which truly offers superior performance. Additionally, we are extremely bullish about the benefits to be reaped through cooperation with both Owens Corning and SABIC. This will enable a timely and ultimately seamless access to these unique products for customers who operate on a global scale. Customers will enjoy the benefits of consistent, standardized product quality and performance, and also the innovations made possible through these companies' cooperative efforts."

Owens Corning is a world leader in building materials systems and composite systems. Founded in 1938, the company had sales of $5 billion in 2003. Additional information is available on Owens Corning's Web site at http://www.owenscorning.com/ or by calling the company's toll-free general information line at 1.800.GETPINK.

RheTech, Inc. is a leader in innovative thermoplastic alloys, compounds and concentrates. Founded more than two decades ago, the privately held business now has annual manufacturing capacity exceeding 180 million pounds. Additional information is available at the company Website at http://www.rhetech.com/ .

SABIC EuroPetrochemicals BV is a SABIC subsidiary which includes all SABIC activities in Europe and employs around 2,300 people. The head office is in Sittard, The Netherlands, and integrated world-scale production facilities are based in Geleen, The Netherlands, and Gelsenkirchen, Germany, with a total yearly production of 2.5 million tons.