Langweid, Germany – Following the global announcement of July 10, Huntsman Textile Effects has announced that it will increase prices in Europe, with immediate effect or as soon as contracts allow.

“This price increase has become necessary in reaction to continued high crude oil, energy and transportation costs and sharply rising raw material costs caused by the removal of certain preferential export tariffs in China from July 1, 2007. The reduced availability of key raw materials from China caused by the closure of certain production plants due to environmental concerns also played a role”, said Michael Effing, Vice President and General Manager Europe, Middle-East and Africa.

Consequently, prices for textile dyes will increase by 10 to 20% and prices for textile chemicals will increase by approximately 5%.

“We have taken great care to try to avoid this. However, factors outside our control force us to realign our prices with the current market conditions. We wish to be able to continue investing to maintain our position as a lead innovator and solution provider to the textile industry. Although we are taking measures to improve productivity, these cannot compensate for the increased costs”, Effing added.

Huntsman has committed over $210m in the last 12 months to restructuring and investments in order to improve cost competitiveness and to ensure it remains able to serve customer needs fast and effectively in the future. This investment has strengthened our technology portfolio to increase the number of new products and technologies we have in our pipeline and to secure additional production capacity to improve supply availability.

Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. Its operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging. Originally known for pioneering innovations in packaging and, later, for rapid and integrated growth in petrochemicals, Huntsman today has 14,000 employees and over 75 operations in 24 countries. The Company had 2006 revenues from all operations of over $13 billion.