The groundbreaking ceremonywas held on September 14, 2000, and attended by local authorities, customers, employees and executives from Rohm and Haas including Nicholas Gutwein, vice president & worldwide business director for the Adhesivesaand Sealants business, Frank Bozich, worldwide business manager Packaging and Converting, and Guillermo Novo, vice president of Rohm and Haas Latin America.

The new, state-of-the-art unit, scheduled to begin operations in September 2001, will produce high-performance polyester- and polyurethane-based adhesives, which are used in a variety of applications including flexible packaging, labels, automotive interior trim, rubber-to-metal bonding agents, industrial lamination and shoes.

Rohm and Haas, a leading supplier of adhesives and sealants, with annual sales of $6+ billion — over three-quarter of a billion in adhesives alone — is one of the largest specialty chemicals companies in the world and operates 150 manufacturing plants in 25 countries.