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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Keith Sorrell
Huber Engineered Materials
(678) 247-2730
keith.sorrell@huber.com

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HUBER COMMERCIALIZES PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NEW, HIGH-PERFORMANCE PAPER COATING GRADES

ATLANTA, GA., January 28, 2005 — Huber Engineered Materials, part of the J.M. Huber Corporation, announced the recent start-up of processing equipment in Sandersville, Ga., dedicated to the manufacture of HuberPrime™ coating kaolins. 

Huber has invested in the specialized equipment needed to process unique primary crudes into new products that enhance the performance of paper coatings in a number of applications including light weight coated and matte coated papers.
 
“Now papermakers have at their disposal 90 plus brightness products possessing a very platy shape that lead to superior coverage, improved optics, superior printability and reduced costs,” says Steve Sullivan, Director, Marketing, for Huber’s global paper group.  “This was a significant investment for Huber and represents our continued commitment to serving the paper industry.”

HuberPrime coating kaolins are produced from a primary kaolin crude obtained through an exclusive agreement on mining rights for these materials.  Primary kaolins differ from traditional, secondary kaolins (the source for all current products sold by the major paper kaolin producers in the U.S. and Brazil).  Primary kaolins are mined from the site where they were originally formed while secondary kaolins are mined from a location where the clay was deposited after being eroded and carried from its original site.  As a result, utilizing primary deposits presents unique challenges in mining and processing not associated with secondary deposits. 

“Our development process is focused on listening to market needs and developing new technologies to meet these needs,” remarked Doug Carter, Director Technology and Commercial Development for Huber’s paper business.  “We listened to our customers, invested in unique primary crudes that provided a platform for ‘new to the world products’ and developed the processing to deliver performance that has resulted in a step change in quality and/or costs.  Huber has had a history of innovation, pioneering development of glossing kaolins (Hydragloss® 90) and the use of superconducting magnets to process high bright kaolins.  We are pleased to be adding HuberPrime coating kaolins to the list of Huber innovations.”

The investment in the company’s Sandersville, Ga., plant is part of a continuing plan to strengthen Huber’s kaolin business.  Since acquiring the Sandersville facility from Imerys in 1999, Huber has focused on upgrading the plant’s portfolio of products. The investment in the Sandersville plant has been used to upgrade current capabilities and has not added any additional capacity to this plant. 

“The reception of the HuberPrime coating kaolins in the marketplace has been tremendous.  We were  able to pre-sell capacity prior to start-up and are now looking at options to convert more of our Sandersville production capacity to this unique product in order to meet the market demand,” remarked Bob Hurst, Commercial Director for Huber worldwide paper kaolin.

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Controlled Function Technology® is a registered trademark of J.M. Huber Corporation for chemical product modification.
Huberprime™ is a trademark of J.M. Huber Corporation for kaolin clay.
Hydragloss® is a registered trademark of J.M. Huber Corporation for kaolin clay.