Saflex(R) Trenton Plant to Focus Exclusively on Resin Production

ST. LOUIS, Nov 18, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Solutia Inc. today announced that effective March 31, 2009, its Saflex plant in Trenton, Mich., will be focusing solely on the production of Butvar(R) PVB resin and therefore will be exiting production of Saflex(R) polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayers at that time. Approximately 115 of the 187 employees at the Trenton plant will be impacted by this action.

"As the world leader in PVB interlayers, Saflex continues to invest in new technologies, capabilities and capacity in order to provide our customers with the products they need within their respective world areas," said Luc De Temmerman, senior vice president of Solutia Inc. and president of Saflex. "Demand in Europe and Asia has grown faster than the rest of the world, resulting in excess North American capacity and necessitating this action. In the coming weeks, we will work to ensure our employees impacted by this event are treated fairly and to ensure our customers continue to receive the quality products they need."

De Temmerman added, "Although this action will remove 30 million square meters of PVB interlayers from the North American market, Saflex will maintain sufficient capacity to serve the market from our two other North American plants."
The Trenton plant will continue to supply other Saflex operations with Butvar PVB resin, which is the key raw material used to make Saflex.

Saflex is the global leader in PVB production, innovation, quality and reliability. When laminated between layers of glass, PVB interlayers greatly enhance the performance characteristics of glass, providing benefits such as security, solar protection, sound attenuation and safety. Laminated glass made with Saflex PVB is used extensively in both the automotive and architectural markets, and is now used to encapsulate the world's largest thin film photovoltaic modules. For more information, please visit: