Trexel Inc. and Rhodia Polyamide Announce Global Co-Marketing and Development Agreement; Rhodia Will Introduce New TECHNYL® XCell 6.6 and 6 Polyamide Grades Optimized for Trexel’s MuCell® Process

Chicago, Illinois, June 19, 2006 – Officials from Trexel Inc. and Rhodia Polyamide today announced that they are working in partnership through an arrangement that involves the establishment of an exclusive multi-year global co-marketing agreement, where Rhodia will actively develop and commercialize new material technology optimized for the MuCell® process, and where Trexel will work with Rhodia for polyamide applications.

At NPE 2006, Booth 5908, officials from Trexel Inc. and Rhodia Engineering Plastics displayed finished part samples and discussed new and innovative Rhodia polyamide Technyl® XCell grades for a variety of highperformance applications that take advantage of Trexel’s MuCell® process.

“Users in numerous industries have long enjoyed the quality, performance and cost-effectiveness advantages that accrue from manufacturing parts using the MuCell® process,” said Philippe Guinot, General Manager of Marketing for Rhodia’s Polyamide business. “Recent pre-production trials show that the new Technyl® XCell 6.6 and 6 grades developed by Rhodia and optimized for the MuCell® process result in outstanding mechanical property performance with no compromise in surface finish,” he added.

“This agreement involves actual material reformulation by Rhodia to overcome the natural tendency of gas to come to the interface between the mold and the material as it is being injected into the mold and to create splay,” said David Berstein, President and CEO of Trexel. “For our part, Trexel has refined the parameters of the MuCell injection molding process, including injection profiles, gates sizes, injection speeds, mold and melt temperatures) to get a no-compromises surface. The key point is that this breakthrough begins with materials formulation and continues through process optimization,” added Bernstein.

The Rhodia/Trexel strategy is to work together bring new value to applications in a variety of important polyamide markets. In automotive, for example, this new material/process combination brings new levels of value and performance to under-the-hood applications like rocker covers and air intake manifolds, and offers promise for the development of a new generation of thermoplastic polyamide front end modules.

Reader enquiries

Rhodia Polyamide
Avenue Ramboz
F-69192 Saint-Fons Cedex
France
+33 4 72 89 27 53
anne-elisabeth.mourey@​eu.rhodia.com
www.eu.rhodia.com

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Notes for editors

About the MuCell® Process

The MuCell® microcellular foam injection molding technology is a complete process and equipment technology which facilitates extremely high quality and greatly reduces production costs. The MuCell Process involves the controlled use of gas in its supercritical state to create a foamed part. For injection molding applications, the MuCell Technology is targeted at precision and engineered plastic components with maximum wall thicknesses of less than 3mm.

The quality advantages of the MuCell® Process are complemented by certain direct economic advantages, including the ability to produce 20-33% more parts per hour on a given molding machine, and the ability to mold parts on lower tonnage machines as a result of the viscosity reduction and the elimination of the packing requirement that accompanies the use of supercritical gas.

Trexel Inc., located in Woburn, Massachusetts is an investor and employee-owned company specializing in the development and commercialization of microcellular foam processes for the plastics industry. Trexel has Sales and Support Offices in key regions of the world, and also has many alliances with equipment companies, contract manufacturers, materials suppliers, and premier molding organizations, all dedicated to the optimal use of the MuCell Process to improve quality and reduce manufacturing costs.

Rhodia Polyamide is an upstream integrated company providing intermediates for polyamide and other applications, polyamide polymers, as well as a complete downstream range of added value products including engineering plastics polyamide 6.6 and 6 based, industrial polyamide yarns, technical and consumer polyamide fibers and textile yarns. With seventeen state-of-the art production facilities along with R&D and technical centers, Rhodia Polyamide serves customers on every continent, with the capability to develop products and technologies locally.

Rhodia is a global specialty chemicals company recognized for its strong technology positions in Performance Materials, Functional Chemicals and the Organics and Services clusters. Partnering with major players in the automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, consumer care, tires, and paints and coatings markets, Rhodia offers tailor-made solutions combining original molecules and technologies to respond to customers’ needs. Rhodia subscribes to the principles of Sustainable Development communicating its commitments and performance openly with stakeholders. Rhodia generated sales of €5 billion in 2005 and employs around 19,500 people worldwide. Rhodia is listed on the Paris and New York stock exchanges.

MuCell® and Trexel are registered trademarks of Trexel, Inc. Technyl® is a registered trademark of Rhodia.