Eastman Announces New $300 Million Share Repurchase Program.

KINGSPORT, Tenn. -- During a presentation this morning at the Morgan Stanley Basic Materials Conference in New York, Richard A. Lorraine, senior vice president and chief financial officer, announced that the Board of Directors of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) has approved the repurchase of up to $300 million of Eastman common stock, effective immediately. During his remarks, Lorraine said, "Our plan to repurchase shares reflects both our strong financial profile and our confidence in future cash flows while also preserving flexibility as we continue to fund profitable growth initiatives. It also demonstrates our commitment to enhancing stockholder value."

Share repurchases will be funded with available cash. Eastman expects to implement the program through purchases made from time to time in either the open market or through private transactions. The timing, volume, and nature of share repurchases will be at the discretion of management, depending on market conditions, applicable securities laws, and other factors, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time. Eastman may also implement all or part of the repurchases under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which would allow repurchases under pre-set terms at times when Eastman might otherwise be prevented from doing so under insider trading laws or because of self-imposed trading blackout periods.

The share repurchase program announced today replaces Eastman's existing Board share repurchase authorization, under which $288 million remained available.

Forward Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements concerning current expectations for future cash flows and growth initiatives. Such expectations are based upon certain preliminary information, internal estimates, and management assumptions, expectations and plans, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties inherent in projecting future conditions, events, and results. Actual results could differ materially from expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements if one or more of the underlying assumptions or expectations prove to be inaccurate or are unrealized. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such expectations are and will be detailed in the "Risk Factors" section of the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 10-Q filed for third quarter 2006 and the Form 10-K to be filed for full-year 2006, available on the Eastman web site at www.eastman.com in the Investors, SEC filings section.

About Eastman Chemical Company

Eastman manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics worldwide. It provides key differentiated coatings, adhesives and specialty plastics products; is the world's largest producer of PET polymers for packaging; and is a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers. As a Responsible Care[R] company, Eastman is committed to achieving the highest standards of health, safety, environmental and security performance. Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Kingsport, Tenn., Eastman is a FORTUNE 500 company with 2006 sales of $7.5 billion and approximately 11,000 employees. For more information about Eastman and its products, visit www.eastman.com.