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ALBEMARLE CORPORATION was incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia on November 24, 1993, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ethyl Corporation. Ethyl thereafter transferred to Albemarle, Ethyl's olefins and derivatives, bromine chemicals and specialty chemicals businesses. As of the close of business on February 28, 1994, Ethyl distributed to its common shareholders all of the outstanding shares of Albemarle. Since February 28, 1994, the Company has been a publicly held operating company. Albemarle manufactures a broad range of chemicals, most of which are additives to or intermediates for plastics, polymers and elastomers, cleaning products, agricultural compounds, pharmaceuticals, photographic chemicals, drilling compounds and biocides. The Company's worldwide chemicals operations are reported
as two separate and distinct operating segments Polymer Chemicals and Fine
Chemicals. The Polymer Chemicals' operating segment produces a broad
range of chemicals, including flame retardants, catalysts, polymer curatives and
antioxidants. Aluminum alkyls are used as co-catalysts in the production of polyolefins, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, elastomers, alpha olefins such as hexene, octene and decene, and organotin heat stabilizers and in the preparation of organic intermediates. The Company is expanding its efforts in polymer curatives,
products used to control polyurethane and epoxy system polymerization. Also
produced are antioxidants and alkylated hindered phenolics that are used to
maintain the performance integrity of thermoplastic resins. Products of the Fine Chemicals' operating segment include pharmaceutical, agricultural intermediates, elemental bromine, alkyl bromides, inorganic bromides, and a number of bromine fine chemicals. Applications for these products primarily exist in chemical synthesis, oil and gas well drilling, water purification, glass making, cleaning products, soil fumigation and chemical intermediates for pharmaceutical, photographic and agricultural chemicals. Other Fine Chemicals' products include tertiary amines for surfactants and biocides, disinfectants and sanitizers; zeolite A (sodium alumina silicate) used as a phosphate replacement in laundry detergent builders; and alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) used in paper-sizing formulations. These products have many varied customers. They are sold to suppliers for use in household, institutional and industrial cleaners, personal care products and industrial products. Agricultural intermediates are sold to chemical companies that supply finished products to farmers, governments and others. These products include orthoalkylated anilines for the acetanilide family of pre-emergent herbicides used on corn, soybeans and other crops and organophosphorus products for insecticide use. The Company operates on a worldwide basis with
The Company's Common Stock is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol "ALB" |
