Solutia Announces Price Increase for Saflex® Polyvinyl Butyral Product Portfolio

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Solutia Inc. (NYSE: SOA) announced today that the company's Saflex® Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) products will be subject to a price increase effective December 15, 2010.  The price increases will support investments in the business and allow Solutia to continue to provide industry leading support for its customers.  Prices for currently contracted business will be adjusted as individual contracts come due.  The price increase will range from 6% to 10% throughout the Saflex portfolio.

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According to Rick Calk, vice president of commercial operations for Solutia's Advanced Interlayers division, the price increases are necessary as Solutia continues to invest in the Saflex business.  "As a leading supplier of PVB interlayer and EVA for solar applications, we are fully committed to meeting the current and future needs of our customers.  We have recently made several significant investments in this business to ensure stable supply of quality, high performance products around the world and we will continue to do so in the future."

"Despite facing increases in both energy and processing materials costs, I am proud of Solutia's efforts to improve production efficiency and boost capacity," says Dirk Duquet, Solutia's vice president, operations.  "These investments have partially offset increased production costs and have allowed us to keep this price increase to a minimum."

Solutia manufactures PVB interlayers at Ghent, Belgium; Santo Toribio, Mexico; San Jose Dos Campos, Brazil; Springfield, Mass., USA; and Suzhou, China.  It also operates a PVB finishing center in Singapore, and a distribution center and regional customer service center in Shanghai. The company also manufactures ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) for solar applications in Dietenheim, Germany.  

Solutia's Saflex product is the most trusted name in PVB interlayer technology for laminated glazing, delivering outstanding performance and durability, backed by reliable and knowledgeable service.  As a result, it is found in nearly 40 percent of laminated architectural and automotive glass worldwide.  Saflex interlayers are also used to encapsulate thin film photovoltaic solar cells, providing outstanding processability and durability.  The company recently acquired Etimex Solar GmbH, producer of Vistasolar® encapsulants, uniquely positioning Solutia's Advanced Interlayers division as the sole provider of both major encapsulants (PVB and EVA) to the fast-growing photovoltaic industry.

Corporate Profile

Solutia is a market-leading performance materials and specialty chemicals company.  The company focuses on providing solutions for a better life through a range of products, including: Saflex(R) polyvinyl butyral interlayers for glass lamination and for photovoltaic module encapsulation and Vistasolar(R) ethylene vinyl acetate films for photovoltaic module encapsulation; LLumar(R), Vista(TM), EnerLogic™, FormulaOne(TM), Gila(R), V-Kool(R), Huper Optik(R), Sun-X(R) and Nanolux(R) aftermarket performance films for automotive and architectural applications; Flexvue(TM) advanced film component solutions for solar and electronic technologies; and technical specialties products including Crystex(R) insoluble sulfur, Santoflex(R) PPD antidegradants, Therminol(R) heat transfer fluids and Skydrol(R) aviation hydraulic fluids. Solutia's businesses are world leaders in each of their market segments.  With its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, the company operates globally with approximately 3,400 employees in more than 50 worldwide locations.  More information is available at http://www.solutia.com/ .

SOURCE Solutia Inc.