Umicore

Environmental & Social Information • Mar 18, 2014

CP-2014-09-R Regulated information 08:00 CET

Press release 18 March 2014

Umicore opens dedicated catalyst facility in China to reduce emissions from truck engines

Helping China to meet the urgent need for cleaner air

Umicore today opened its new production facility for catalysts used in heavy duty diesel (HDD) vehicles such as trucks and buses. The catalysts made at this facility will enable truck producers and engine manufacturers in China to meet the new China IV emission standards which came into force in July 2013 and will also be essential in meeting more stringent legislation as already established in some major cities around the country.

The facility produces Selective Catalytic Reduction systems (SCR) for NOx after-treatment and is built close to Umicore's existing automotive catalysts plant and technology development centre in the Suzhou Industrial Park. It employs 40 people.

With this addition to its infrastructure and technical capability Umicore now boasts a full range of automotive catalyst development and production services for both the light duty and heavy duty markets in China.

David Fong, Senior Vice President Umicore Greater China, commented: "Concerns over the health effects of air pollution are growing in China and I am very proud of the contribution that this facility will make to cleaner air. While emission standards have been moving in the right direction in China for a while now. Umicore has the innovative technologies and production capabilities to enable China to meet even more stringent standards."

Umicore's catalysts enable improvements to air quality by transforming harmful vehicle emissions through sophisticated catalytic processes. In China Umicore has been producing catalysts since 2005 and since then its technology has enabled some 20 million tonnes of harmful pollutants to be removed from the air.

The Chinese truck market is the largest in the world in terms of number of vehicles, with an annual production of more than 2 million units. Umicore has secured a number of contracts for HDD engine platforms complying with the new standards.

Umicore Group Communications

Naamloze vennootschap/Société Anonyme phone +32 2 227 71 11 VAT BE0401 574 852 Broekstraat 31 Rue du Marais fax +32 2 227 79 00 Company number 0401574852 B-1000 Brussels e-mail info@umicore.com Registered office Broekstraat 31 Rue du Marais Belgium web www.umicore.com B-1000 Brussels

Note to editors

Combustion engines intrinsically produce toxic emissions. National and regional authorities impose limits on these emissions in order to obtain good air quality. Vehicle producers typically comply with these limits by installing a catalyst system in the exhaust system of the vehicle, which transforms toxic emissions into harmless ones. The vast majority of passenger cars produced today have such a catalyst system on board and this is more and more the case for heavy duty vehicles as well. The catalyst system has to reduce the NOx (nitrogen oxide) one of the targeted toxic emissions, to harmless N2 (nitrogen gas). A diesel engine operates with excess oxygen which makes NOx reduction directly in the exhaust system not possible. A dedicated catalyst is therefore needed. This can either be a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system, which uses a urea additive, or a NOx storage catalyst.

For more information

Media Relations:
Elcke Vercruysse	+32 2 227 71 29	elcke.vercruysse@umicore.com
Investor Relations:
Tim Weekes	+32 2 227 73 98	tim.weekes@umicore.com

Umicore profile

Umicore is a global materials technology and recycling group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are centred on four business areas: Catalysis, Energy Materials, Performance Materials and Recycling. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life.

Umicore generates the majority of its revenues and dedicates most of its R&D efforts to clean technologies, such as emission control catalysts, materials for rechargeable batteries and photovoltaics, fuel cells, and recycling. Umicore's overriding goal of sustainable value creation is based on an ambition to develop, produce and recycle materials in a way that fulfils its mission: materials for a better life.

The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of € 9.8 billion (€ 2.4 billion excluding metal) in 2013 and currently employs some 14,000 people.