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- 1. Embargo: June 4, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. (Brussels time) SOLVAY INDUPA SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES UPGRADE AND EXPANSION OF ITS VINYL ACTIVITIES IN BRAZIL Solvay strengthens competitiveness of its PVC plant at Santo Andr辿, Brazil Solvay announces today that Solvay Indupa successfully concluded the three-year and 150 million USD investment program to upgrade and expand the operations at its Santo Andr辿 plant in Brazil by starting up a new membrane chlor-alkali unit (MCA) associated with the expansion of the downstream vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturing facility. The investment program was also used to change the layout of the plant into a more innovative, safer, modern and efficient layout by merging the MCA and VCM units into one integrated facility, resulting into a reduced investment, an energetically optimized process and a productivity increase on the site. The Santo Andre plant has now a total annual VCM and PVC production capacity of 300,000 metric tons, with world-class, state-of-the-art installations. PVC is used in indoor and outdoor construction, sheathing and insulating energy, automotive, telecommunications and special cables, electro-technical equipment, fluid transport systems at low or medium pressure and packaging. The investment also includes a new unit of chlorine and caustic soda production based on the most efficient membrane technology, with consequent deactivation of the old unit based on mercury. This results in a reduction by 30% of electric energy consumption. This new unit increases caustic soda production capacity to 170,000 tons per year. Solvay is implementing a consistent strategy of sustainable and profitable growth, feeding on constant improvements to stay at the leading edge of competitiveness and on geographical expansion, says Jacques van Rijckevorsel, Group General Manager of the Plastics Sector and member of the Executive Committee, Solvay. This sizeable investment in a very dynamic region with a structural deficit of PVC and caustic soda will support the development of the market, adds Jacques van Rijckevorsel. The Solvay group is one of the worlds leading vinyl producers, ranking second in Europe and third globally. In addition to SolVin, its joint venture with BASF in Europe, the Groups activities in PVC and other products of the vinyl chain span across Asia and Latin America, through the affiliates Vinythai in Thailand and Solvay Indupa in Argentina and Brazil. Solvay Indupa is a company from the Solvay Group and one of the most important petrochemical companies in the Mercosur. Its main products are PVC resins and Caustic Soda. Solvay Indupa has its main offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina and two industrial sites: one in Bah鱈a Blanca (Argentina) and the other in Santo Andr辿 (Brazil). Solvay holds 69.9% of Solvay Indupa, which is listed on the Buenos Aires stock market. SOLVAY is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. It employs more than 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2008, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.5 billion, generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR). Details are available at www.solvay.com. For further information please contact: ERIK DE LEYE PATRICK VERELST Corporate Press Officer Head of Investor Relations SOLVAY S.A. SOLVAY S.A. Tel: +32 2 509 7230 Tel. +32 2 509 7243 erik.deleye@solvay.com patrick.verelst@solvay.com www.solvaypress.com www.solvay-investors.com Ce communiqu辿 de presse est 辿galement disponible en fran巽ais - Dit persbericht is ook in het Nederlands beschikbaar