Opening of New Plant

Johnson,Matthey PLC
16 October 2000


Johnson Matthey opens state of the art process catalyst plant at Royston

Johnson Matthey announces the opening of a new plant at its site in Royston;
Hertfordshire to manufacture the latest generations of supported chemical
process catalysts. The new facility, which uses state of the art production
technology, has the capacity and flexibility to produce several hundred tons
of catalyst a year for a wide range of applications. 

The plant has been initially designed to manufacture special catalysts for two
new BP processes. The first of these, known as LEAP(TM), uses fluid bed
technology to produce vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), a key intermediate for
polymer manufacturing.  Johnson Matthey has worked in close partnership with
BP to optimise the performance of the catalyst for this application by a
number of technical enhancements and also to scale up production of the
catalyst. 

The second BP process is called AVADA(TM) and is used for the manufacture of
ethyl acetate in a single step. This new process is simpler than other routes
and is suited to locations where feed stocks for the current processes are not
competitively available. 

While this new facility will initially be used to produce these two catalysts
for BP, it is highly versatile and significantly enhances Johnson Matthey's
capacity to manufacture a wide range of catalysts for the fine and speciality
chemicals industries.

Commenting on the opening of the new process catalyst plant Neil Carson,
Executive Director said:

'The best results are always achieved when our teams are working in close
partnership with our customers and this project, the latest to result from our
longstanding collaboration with BP, is a prime example. This new facility is a
reflection of Johnson Matthey's strong process catalyst technology and our
continuing commitment to supply innovative products to our customers around
the world.'

Enquiries:
Brian Harrison          Technology Director, Chemicals  01763 253375
Ian Godwin              Group Corporate Communications Manager                
                                                        020 7269 8410