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ExxonMobil Chemical Adds Specialty Film Capacity With Successful Upgrades at the LaGrange Oriented Polypropylene (OPP) Film Manufacturing Facility

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 December 2007, 09:00 CST

The Films Business of ExxonMobil Chemical today announced the successful start up of its upgraded specialty oriented polypropylene (OPP) film production line in LaGrange, Georgia.

The multimillion dollar investment in upgraded production processes at the LaGrange facility has significantly increased the company's North American capacity for multi-layer OPP films. The upgraded line is running at full design capacity in its first full week of production and will provide the company greater flexibility to meet customer expectations for a secure and undisrupted supply of specialty OPP films from its global manufacturing base.

"This was a significant rebuild of one of our most critical OPP film production lines," said Paul Payne, global manufacturing manager, ExxonMobil Chemical Films Business. "We are pleased that we were able to complete the work on schedule and safely, without injury to any of our employees or contractors. In addition, maintaining supply commitments to our customers throughout the construction period was a critical success factor."

The upgraded line helps position ExxonMobil Chemical to meet the rapid growth in demand for specialty multi-layer OPP films, including OPPalyte™ white opaque film for candy cold-seal applications, OPPalyte™ WOS-2 and STW white opaque films for ice cream novelty applications and Label-Lyte™ films for wet glue and pressure sensitive labeling.

ExxonMobil Chemical's white opaque OPP films, each specifically tailored for targeted applications, have earned a reputation for outstanding performance that continues to fuel growth in the confectionery and ice cream markets. OPPalyte HM film, which utilizes a proprietary multi-layer technology to achieve exceptional cold seal adhesion, will be produced at the upgraded LaGrange facility. The company's OPPalyte WOS-2 and STW films use proprietary multi-layer designs to provide optimal performance on multilane packaging machines commonly used for ice cream novelty.

This recent upgrade is a continuation of ExxonMobil Chemical's strategy to invest in specialty assets for its OPP films business. Since 2002, the company has added two new state-of-the-art orienters, a new coater and two new metallizers in its affiliated worldwide OPP film manufacturing facilities.

About the Films Business of ExxonMobil Chemical

The Films Business of ExxonMobil Chemical is a global leader in the development and manufacture of specialty oriented polypropylene (OPP) films, including multi-layer white opaque films, metallized films and acrylic and PVdC coated films, for flexible packaging and labeling applications. The Films Business has affiliated production plants in Europe (Virton, Belgium; Kerkrade, the Netherlands, and Brindisi, Italy), and North America (LaGrange, Georgia; Shawnee, Oklahoma and Belleville, Canada). The company and its affiliates have sales offices to support customer needs in countries around the world, including North America, Europe and Asia. Additional information regarding the Films Business can be found at: www.oppfilms.com.

About ExxonMobil Chemical

ExxonMobil Chemical is a global leader in technology, product quality and customer service with petrochemical manufacturing and/or marketing operations around the world. For more information visit: www.exxonmobilchemical.com.

Note to Editors:

Vistamaxx, Vistalon, Exxelor and Exact are trademarks of ExxonMobil Chemical. Santoprene is a trademark of an Exxon Mobil Corporation affiliate.

The term "ExxonMobil Chemical" refers collectively to some or all of the companies affiliated with Exxon Mobil Corporation which have chemical manufacturing and/or marketing operations around the world.

Source: Business Wire

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