Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ROC) today announced that the U.S.
Department of Energy has awarded its Chemetall Foote Corp. subsidiary
$28.4 million in Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to expand and
upgrade the production of lithium materials for advanced transportation
batteries.
The funds will be used by Rockwood to expand and upgrade the production
of lithium carbonate at the company’s Silver Peak, Nevada, site and add
the production of very high purity lithium hydroxide to the company’s
Kings Mountain, North Carolina, facility. Rockwood and its Chemetall
business are the only U.S. domestic source of lithium raw material and
the largest global producer of lithium and lithium compounds used in
batteries, pharmaceuticals and many other industries.
Commenting on the award, Seifi Ghasemi, chairman and chief executive
officer, said, “The current dependence of the US and Western Europe on
imported oil is a major national security issue. The practical and
environmentally beneficial way to reduce this unsustainable dependence
is the electrification of the transportation system. The key enabling
technology to achieve this worthwhile goal is further development of
lithium ion batteries as the most effective means of storing energy in
all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. We are very pleased to see the
U.S. government taking the initiative and providing major support toward
the commercialization of these technologies.
“Rockwood and its subsidiary Chemetall are proud to be among the
awardees from this highly competitive process, and to be an important
part of this national program. We are committed to use our global
leadership position to support the eventual electrification of the
transport system in the US and across the globe.”
The Department of Energy’s $2.4 billion program under the Recovery and
Reinvestment Act is the single largest investment in advanced battery
technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles ever made, and the
award to Rockwood’s business ranks, in dollar amount, as third highest
among advanced material grants. Together, the awarded projects are
expected to accelerate the development of manufacturing capacity for
batteries in the U.S. and electric drive components as well as the
deployment of electric vehicles.
Rockwood Holdings, Inc. is a leading global specialty chemicals and
advanced materials company. Rockwood has a worldwide employee base of
approximately 10,000 people and annual net sales of approximately $3.0
billion. Rockwood focuses on global niche segments of the specialty
chemicals, pigments and additives and advanced materials markets. For
more information on Rockwood, please visit www.rocksp.com.
The information set forth in this press release contains certain
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning the business,
operations and financial condition of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. and its
subsidiaries and affiliates ("Rockwood"). Words such as "anticipates,"
"believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "predicts" and
variations of such words or expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Although Rockwood believes the expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable
assumptions, there can be no assurance that its expectations will be
realized. "Forward-looking statements" consist of all non-historical
information, including any statements referring to the prospects and
future performance of Rockwood. Actual results could differ materially
from those projected in Rockwood's forward-looking statements due to
numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, among
other things, the "Risk Factors" described in Rockwood's 2008 Form 10-K
on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rockwood does not
undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which any
such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.
Rockwood Holdings, Inc.
Timothy McKenna, 609-734-6430
tmckenna@rocksp.com
