Huntsman Corporation pre-registers 1937 chemicals with REACH

19-Jan-09

As required by the European Community REACH legislation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals), Huntsman Corporation has successfully pre-registrated with the European Chemicals Agency ("ECHA"), 1,937 chemical substances that Huntsman manufactures or imports into the European Economic Area. The Huntsman teams are now focusing on the next phase of REACH, which requires full registration of the highest volume and highest risk substances. During this stage, Huntsman will join with other companies who manufacture or import the same or similar substances to participate in various Substance Information Exchange Forums, to share data and agree on any additional work required prior to submittal to ECHA for final registration. In 2008, Huntsman committed approximately €400,000 to the REACH effort and is forecasting significantly greater expenditures for 2009 and 2010. In a separate development, the company received US$1 billion in payments during December from affiliates of Apollo Management, L.P. pursuant to a settlement agreement with Huntsman. Net proceeds from the $1 billion in payments (excluding fees and expenses) will be used to reduce the company's indebtedness and to increase liquidity.