Albemarle Corporation Names John M. Steitz as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

BATON ROUGE, La., April 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) announced today that its Board of Directors has named John M. Steitz as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company.

In this position, Mr. Steitz will oversee all aspects of Albemarle's marketing, sales, research and supply chain activities. He will maintain his focus on improving margins, increasing cost efficiencies, promoting innovation in new product development and ensuring premier service to Albemarle's clients around the globe. Along with the entire executive management team, Mr. Steitz will work to identify new market opportunities and strategic resources while further developing Albemarle's existing global business relationships. He will report to Mark C. Rohr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Albemarle.

"John is a dynamic business leader and a trusted part of our management team. His strategic vision and ability to positively influence execution and innovative thinking have played an integral role in our efforts to position Albemarle to capitalize on new global opportunities and fully leverage existing markets," said Mr. Rohr. "This is a well-deserved promotion that recognizes John's proven track record of success in driving accountability throughout the organization while improving profit margins and ensuring the needs of our clients and business partners are met. We congratulate John on his past successes and look forward to his continued positive influence on Albemarle's culture and global performance."

Mr. Steitz is an industry veteran with nearly thirty years of experience in business management and administration activities. He joined Albemarle in July 2000 and has served in various roles of increasing responsibility during his tenure with the Company. Most recently, Mr. Steitz served as Senior Vice President, Business Operations, a role he assumed in October 2002. From July 2000 until October 2002, Mr. Steitz was Vice President of the Company's Fine Chemicals segment. Prior to joining Albemarle, he served as Vice President and General Manager of Pharmaceutical Chemicals for Mallinckrodt, Incorporated, a global provider of specialty healthcare products and a business unit of Tyco Healthcare.

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; petroleum and petrochemical processing; transportation and industrial products; pharmaceuticals; agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials. The Company operates in three business segments-Polymer Additives, Catalysts and Fine Chemicals, and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Learn more about Albemarle at http://www.albemarle.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.

SOURCE Albemarle Corporation

CONTACT: Media, Stephanie Dixon, +1-225-388-7904, Stephanie_Dixon@albemarle.com,
or Rene Milligan, +1-225-388-7106, Rene_Milligan@albemarle.com;
or Investor Relations, Nicole Daniel, +1-804-788-6096, Nicole_Daniel@albemarle.com, all of Albemarle Corporation