GREAT LAKES ADDS PRODUCTION AND SERVICE CENTER IN TEXAS TO MEET INCREASED U.S. DEMAND FOR POLYMER STABILIZER BLENDS

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA—Great Lakes Chemical Corporation (NYSE:GLK) today announced that it has boosted production capacity by 100 percent for its patented no dust blends (NDB™) line of polymer stabilizers with the opening of a production and service center in Arlington, Texas. The new production facility is strategically located near the Gulf of Mexico to offer enhanced services to major U.S. markets served by the company and positions Great Lakes to meet growing customer demand for no dust blends.

“The Arlington facility’s production flexibility and streamlined logistics significantly expands our ability to service our customers,” said Doug Excell, Global Business Manager, Polymer Stabilizer Blends. “Great Lakes will now offer additional physical form capabilities on a full commercial or pilot scale including blending, granulation and extrusion.”

Excell concluded, “This new facility increases extrusion capacity by 100 percent for our Anox™ NDB™ line of polymer stabilizers and provides for future expansion to meet the increasing global demand for these polymer stabilizer blends.”

Great Lakes’ polymer stabilizer blends are manufactured in several product forms using proprietary and patented technology. Anox NDB is a homogeneous, custom-made blend of additives incorporated into a free flowing, dust-free, mechanically resistant physical form. The Anox product line also includes

Anox™ TB and Anox™ BB blends incorporating hindered phenols and phosphite antioxidants.

Earlier in 2002, Great Lakes announced expansion of their polymer stabilizer blend capacity at sites in Pedrengo, Italy, and Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The company also manufactures polymer stabilizers and blends in Newport, TN; Pyongtaek, Korea; Ravenna, Italy; and Waldkraiburg, Germany.

Through its Polymer Additives division, Great Lakes offers an extensive line of UV stabilizers, antioxidants, polymer stabilizer blends and optical monomers, as well as a full line of bromine-, phosphorus-, and antimony-based flame retardants and other synergists. For more information about these product lines, please visit the Great Lakes Polymer Additives web site at www.pa.greatlakes.com.

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