WYANDOTTE, MI, February 3, 2010 – BASF’s Engineering Plastics business has entered into an agreement with PolyOne Distribution, Avon Lake, Ohio, for PolyOne to serve as an authorized distributor for Ultrason® high temperature polymers to the healthcare industry in North America.  The product line includes Ultrason® S Polysulfone (PSU), Ultason® E Polyethersulfone (PESU) and Ultrason® P Polyphenylsulfone (PPSU).
Ultrason high temperature polymers can be used in applications requiring high strength properties, chemical resistance or repeated exposure to certain sterilization processes.  In addition, Ultrason® E (PESU) and Ultrason® P (PPSU) provide an alternative for applications requiring bisphenol A free polymers. Other benefits include:

• FDA and European food contact compliance
• Transparency
• Sterilizable and long-term dishwasher safe
• Impact resistance
• No discoloration by food contact
• High mechanical strength and toughness
• Dimensional stability
• Easy coloring

“We are pleased to expand our portfolio to include BASF’s Ultrason product line,” said Michael L. Rademacher, PolyOne Senior Vice President, President, PolyOne Distribution. “Ultrason is an excellent complement to our existing portfolio of high

performance healthcare solutions that create value for our customers by helping them win in the marketplace.”
“Expanding our distribution channel to include PolyOne Distribution is consistent with our overall BASF distributor strategy of aligning our product offerings with targeted channels to the market,” said Michael Britt, Group Vice President, Engineering Plastics for BASF in North America.
Currently, Entec Resins, Maitland, Florida and Ashland Distribution Company Dublin, Ohio, are authorized distributors for the entire product line offered by BASF’s Engineering Plastics.

BASF - The Chemical Company.

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 15,000 employees in North America, and had sales of approximately $17.5 billion in 2008. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, or to sign up to receive news releases by e-mail, visit www.basf.com/usa.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. As a reliable partner, BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges, such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008 and had approximately 97,000 employees at the end of that year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

About PolyOne

PolyOne Corporation, with 2008 annual revenues of $2.7 billion, is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. Headquartered outside of Cleveland, Ohio USA, PolyOne has operations around the world. For additional information on PolyOne, visit our Web site at www.polyone.com.