Marietta, November 10, 2006 - Eka Chemicals, Inc. and OCI Chemical Corporation, announce the joint venture of the two companies, forming EkO Peroxide LLC.
EkO Peroxide LLC is structured as a 50-50 joint venture, with the new company headquartered in Columbus, MS. It will operate the 70,000th hydrogen peroxide facility in Columbus and distribute products throughout North America.
Byron Smith, President of Eka Chemicals, Inc. comments, “This joint venture with OCI Chemical Corporation allows Eka to strengthen its hydrogen peroxide customer base while maintaining existing supply commitments and focusing on our pulp and paper customers.”
Tim Cunningham, General Manager of Sodium Percarbonate at OCI Chemical Corporation adds, “We are excited about entering into the joint venture with Eka. The partnership brings a wealth of manufacturing know-how to OCI and opens up new business opportunities for both companies.”
EkO Peroxide LLC will own and administer Eka’s existing hydrogen peroxide production plant, utilizing the existing knowledge of its manpower in manufacturing and logistics. The two companies, Eka and OCI, will continue to manage sales and customer service for their respective markets.
For further information, please contact:
Steve Main
Communications Manager
+1 770 321 5821
Eka Chemicals, Inc.
Tim Cunningham
General Manager
+1 203 225 3115
OCI Chemical Corporation.
Eka Chemicals, with its 2,900 employees in 30 countries, is a business unit within Akzo Nobel. Turnover in 2005 amounted to EUR 889 million. Eka Chemicals is a leading supplier of bleaching chemicals, paper chemicals and systems to the pulp and paper industry throughout the world, and supplies specialty chemicals to, among others, the pharmaceuticals industry, water treatment and electronics industry. www.eka.com
An Akzo Nobel company
Akzo Nobel is a Global Fortune 500 company and is listed on both the Euronext Amsterdam and NASDAQ stock exchanges. It is also included on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and FTSE4Good Index.
Based in the Netherlands, we are a multi-cultural organization serving customers throughout the world with human and animal healthcare products, coatings and chemicals. We employ more than 62,000 people and conduct our activities in four segments − human and animal health, coatings and chemicals − subdivided into 13 business units, with operating subsidiaries in more than 80 countries. Consolidated revenues for 2005 totaled EUR 13 billion. The financial results for the full year will be published on February 15, 2007.
www.akzonobel.com
OCI Chemical Corporation is a subsidiary of DC Chemical, a leading global chemical company, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with approximately US 2.5 billion in annual revenue. The DC Group is a global producer of organic and inorganic chemical products, including carbon black, soda ash, hydrogen peroxide and derivatives, and is publicly traded on the Korean Stock Exchange.