Cargill Dow LLC and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. Announce Collaboration on PLA Business Development.

Business Editors

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 2001

Cargill Dow LLC and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. have announced a collaboration on the further business development of PLA - a polymer made from annually renewable resources. Cargill Dow, the global leader in commercialization of PLA, and Mitsui Chemicals, a leading Japanese chemical company have signed the agreement to accelerate the market development for PLA globally.

Under the terms of the agreement, both companies will exchange intellectual property and technical information relating to PLA application development. Customers of both parties will be in a position to proceed with business development without concerns of potential intellectual property restrictions from Cargill Dow or Mitsui Chemicals portfolios. Mitsui has the rights to sell PLA resin to all accounts in Japan, and Cargill Dow will continue to sell PLA resin to its marquee accounts worldwide including Japan.

"Japan is the most developed region in the world for PLA," said Randy Howard, president of Cargill Dow LLC. "The agreement with Mitsui Chemicals is ideal for both companies because it is a significant step in the development of the new industrial revolution where annually renewable resources replace petroleum-based materials."

PLA is a naturally based resin made from natural plant sugars, such as those found in corn grown in the United States. The development and manufacturing of PLA relies on basic fermentation and distillation as its core chemical process, followed by simple polymerization to make polylactide (PLA). A world-scale production facility for Cargill Dow's resin, NatureWorks(TM) PLA, is under construction in Blair, Neb. Construction will be completed in late 2001, and when at capacity, the facility will produce 300,000 pounds (140,000 metric tons) of PLA annually.

"We're very delighted to sign a collaboration agreement with Cargill Dow, a global leading company of PLA," said Dr. Hiroyuki Nakanishi, president of Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. "The synergy of Cargill Dow's and Mitsui Chemicals' expertise will greatly accelerate the PLA market expansion."

Mitsui Chemicals has developed PLA technology and market using LACEA(R) PLA resin produced in a pilot plant. It was confirmed that material, processing and application technologies for LACEA(R) PLA can be applied to NatureWorks PLA resin, produced by Cargill Dow. Mitsui Chemicals will use PLA resin from Cargill Dow for the marketing under the LACEA(R) name.

Currently, the Japanese market is leading the commercialization of PLA. Cargill Dow has worked with and will continue to supply NatureWorks PLA to pioneering Japanese companies, like Kanebo Gohsen, Kuraray, Mitsubishi Plastics  and Unitika. The applications of PLA in the Japanese market rang from packaging containers, agriculture and civil engineering, to fibers for use in sportswear, bedding and more.

In order to expand the market opportunity, Cargill Dow and Mitsui Chemicals will continue to study the life cycle of PLA, and work to obtain positive list status from Japan Hygienic Olefin and the Styrene Plastics Association for food contact applications. In addition, the companies will help promote GreenPla certification, a system and logo developed by Biodegradable Plastics Society in Japan, and advance the global certification system for biodegradable plastics.

Founded in 1997, Cargill Dow LLC is based in Minnetonka, Minn. It is the first company to offer its customers a family of polymers derived entirely from annually renewable resources with the cost and performance necessary to compete with packaging materials and traditional fibers. The company has achieved this breakthrough by applying its unique technology to the processing of natural plant sugars to create a proprietary polylactide polymer. Future applications of the technology could include use in injection blow molded bottles, foams, emulsions and chemical intermediates. It is estimated that the PLA global market will be 4,000,000 metric tons annually in 2010. For more company information, please visit the Cargill Dow web site at http://www.cargilldow.com.

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. is a diversified chemical company in Japan, headquartered in Tokyo. Mitsui Chemicals is engaged in various businesses such as petrochemicals, basic chemicals, functional polymeric materials, and functional chemicals & engineered materials. In 2000 consolidated sales were 939.8 billion yen, and consolidated operating income was 54.5 billion yen. The LACEA(R) PLA business development unit, one of Mitsui Chemicals' Strategic Business Development Units, has aggressively developed production, material, processing and application technologies and market for PLA.

For more company information, please visit the Mitsui Chemicals web site at http://www.mitsui-chem.co.jp/english/index.htm.

NatureWorks PLA is Trademark of Cargill Dow LLC. LACEA is Registered Trademark of Mitsui Chemicals. GreenPLA is the nickname of biodegradable plastics in Japan.