ICO Polymers maintains market leadership with new speciality polymers and technology

DÜSSELDORF, October 25, 2001 – ICO Polymers is a subsidiary of ICO Incorporated, (NASDAQ: ICOC) which was founded in 1970 as a small oilfield services company. Today, it is a leading provider of specialised processing and distribution services to the petrochemical industry worldwide, with facilities in North America, Europe and Australasia. ICO Polymers is Europe's leading supplier of speciality polymers for rotational moulding, metal coating, carpet backing, masterbatch production, lamination and many other applications.

ICO Polymers has grown to become the preferred specialist supplier of polymer powders to leading European companies through its unrivalled level of commitment to the industry. It has an ongoing policy of investing in technology to assist the growth and development of the industries it supplies. On a more individual basis, its skilled and committed staff offers extensive technical support to its customers for both process and materials.

ICO Polymers has three R&D facilities in Europe to support its polymer powders customers. Each of these facilities has rotational moulding equipment as well as dedicated equipment such as the Rotolog™ Diagnostic System. This system provides information from within the mould itself during the moulding process, allowing improvements to be made. In partnership with its customers, ICO Polymers can carry out product development and process improvement programmes, assist them with design and in the selection of raw materials. It can also evaluate the different properties of materials available on the market and analyse technical problems. In addition, ICO Polymers' R&D facilities develop new materials and test both them and established materials to see whether they conform to various industry or national specifications and regulations.

ICO Polymers' expertise enables it to offer its customer an extremely wide range of polymer powders for almost any type of application. It produces polymer powders for rotational moulding, masterbatch production, coating and lamination. It also has products designed specifically for textile applications. ICO Polymers' Speciality Products include one-shot foaming polymers, conductive PE powders and its latest, powders for rotational moulding based on HYTREL® ,Thermoplastic Polyester Elastomer, which opens new opportunities in automotive and non-automotive applications.

The full range of ICO Polymers products and services can be found at the K 2001 exhibition in the American Pavilion in Hall 3, Stand 3E79-5.

® HYTREL is a registered trademark of DuPont de Nemours.

 Rotolog is a trademark of Rotosystems Ltd.