Solvay Engineered Polymers, Inc., Announces Price Increase of Five Cents Per Pound on Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) and Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) Materials

Increase Will Take Effect on July 1, 2006

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 1 -- Solvay Engineered Polymers, Inc., announced today that it would raise prices on its thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) products. Prices of these engineered polyolefin materials will be raised by five cents (US$ 0.05) per pound. The new prices will take effect on July 1, 2006.

The increase will apply to orders of all sizes, whether truckload purchases or less-than-truckload (LTL) volumes. The new prices will apply to the company's complete portfolio of products: the TPO materials are marketed under the DEXFLEX(R), SEQUEL(R), DEXPRO(R), and INDURE(R) brand names; and the TPE materials are the company's NEXPRENE(R) and RESPOND(R) brands.

New realities of cost and supply

In announcing the price increase, Bob Gerlach, the company's vice president for automotive operations, cited "adverse trends in capacity and pricing for polymer feedstocks. The entire industry had anticipated an easing of prices for propylene, which has not materialized. Instead, supply is still severely constrained, with the effect that monomer and polymer prices remain up, and are projected to remain high -- about 35% and 20%, respectively, since the third quarter of 2005. In that same time, elastomer prices have also risen markedly."

"Over the past three years, in fact," emphasizes Gerlach, "the price of polypropylene has risen more than 80% and that of elastomer more than 40%. These increases to the two major components of our materials are not close to being reflected in our product prices. In addition, we can no longer absorb the significant boosts in both energy and transportation costs that we have experienced since our last effective price increase."

Company president Fred Young points out that "while we have made outstanding progress in optimizing our product and manufacturing costs, we remain committed to providing exceptional value to our customers in our materials and our services. We cannot compromise either the performance or the consistency of our products and remain the company on which those customers depend."

About Solvay Engineered Polymers

Solvay Engineered Polymers, Inc., is the leading supplier of thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) materials and technology to the North American automotive industry, with significant sales to European and Asian carmakers. The company is headquartered in Mansfield, Texas, with sales and marketing operations and an Automotive Applications Development Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Its manufacturing, distribution, and R&D facilities are located in Mansfield and Grand Prairie, Texas. Additional resources in Shirley, Massachusetts are dedicated to the development and manufacture of the company's line of vulcanized thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs).

The production and engineering operations of Solvay Engineered Polymers are certified to the standards of ISO/TS 16949:2002 for quality systems. More information about its products and capabilities can be found at http://www.solvayengineeredpolymers.com/.

Solvay Engineered Polymers is a member of the Solvay Group, an international chemical and pharmaceutical group headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The Solvay Group, whose companies employ about 30,000 people in 50 countries, recorded consolidated sales for 2005 of EUR 8.6 billion, generated by its three sectors: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay is listed on the Euronext 100 index of top European companies. Details are available at http://www.solvay.com/.