July 29, 2008

Alexandra Boy
Corporate Press
Tel.:	+49 201 177-3167
Fax:	+49 201 177-3030
alexandra.boy@evonik.com
Evonik Daughter RohMax Opens New Oil Additives Plant in Singapore

Strengthens global supply chain and brings technical expertise closer to customers in Asia

Evonik daughter RohMax today opened its manufacturing facility on Jurong Island in Singapore. This is RohMax’s first manufacturing plant in Asia and underscores the company’s commitment to deliver innovative products and technical expertise to its customers’ doorstep. The facility will also house a technology center which will focus on the testing and development of new applications for oil additive products. The plant represents an investment of more than €10 million, and together with RohMax’s four production facilities in Europe and North America, will strengthen the company’s global supply chain capabilities to its worldwide customers.

This new state-of the art facility will manufacture the company’s high performance VISCOPLEX® lubricant additives for global markets, and in particular, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. VISCOPLEX® additives form a key component in finished lubricants used in automotive and other industrial applications, and help improve performance and fuel efficiency. 

“Asia is the fastest growing region for the automotive lubricant market. This region accounts for more than one third of the global lubricant demand. We believe that we are well positioned to take advantage of the potential of the automotive industry,” said Dr Klaus Engel, Member of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries and responsible for the Chemicals Business area. “By bringing world-class expertise and best practices closer to customers here, we can improve collaboration with customers and partners to deliver innovative solutions.” 

“This plant is designed to support the growing demand of our VISCOPLEX® products in Asia Pacific over the next 10 years. Following the opening of our technical center in Shanghai in 2005, this new production site will allow us to further deepen our presence in Asia Pacific region, and extend our leadership position in high performance lubricant additives” explained Dr. Dirk Reese, Managing Director of Evonik RohMax Additives GmbH.
“This new plant and its laboratories represent a key pillar of our expansion plan in Asia Pacific, and reflect our strong commitment to provide our customers locally with a full range of services” said Dr. Eric Fillod, Regional Manager, Evonik RohMax Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. “By setting up our regional headquarters in Singapore, we benefit from this country’s dedicated support to the chemical industry, an ideal infrastructure, and a highly skilled, multicultural workforce” he added.

"The EDB is committed to grow the specialty chemicals sector given its high value-added and knowledge and innovative-intensive nature," said Mr Ko Kheng Hwa, Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). "Evonik RohMax’s new lube additives manufacturing project is a significant boost to these efforts. It will further enhance integration on Jurong Island, and introduce a new leading specialty chemicals player into our industry landscape. We look forward to working with Evonik to uncover new opportunities in Singapore."

About RohMax Oil Additives 
RohMax Oil Additives is a leading global supplier of high performance VISCOPLEX® lubricant additives and VISCOBASE® synthetic base fluids for use in automotive and industrial lubricants. The company also produces dewaxing aids used in refinery processing and cold flow improvers for biodiesel and forms part of the chemicals business area of Evonik Industries AG. For additional information and a listing of worldwide locations, please visit www.rohmax.com 

Evonik Company information
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2007 about 43,000 employees generated sales of about €14.4 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of more than €1.3 billion. 

Disclaimer
In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.