Reade Advanced Materials Expands Into Latin America

Port of Balboa, Repúblic of Panama-- READE, the continuation of a 200 year old specialty chemicals business, announces the opening of READE Latin America with a strategically located customer service office & distribution facility adjacent to the Panama Canal in the Repúblic of Panama.

For Release: Monday, 17 March 2003

Subject: Reade Advanced Materials Expands Into Latin America

Port of Balboa, Repúblic of Panama-- Reade Advanced Materials (READE), the continuation of a 200 year old family specialty chemicals business and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island USA, announces the opening of READE Latin America with a strategically located customer service office & distribution facility adjacent to the Panama Canal at the Port of Balboa in the Repúblic of Panama.

With a dedicated team of Spanish speaking technical sales engineers, READE's Latin America office will expand the READE brand throughout the region-from Mexico to Argentina.

"Creating geographical and cultural ties to our customers allows the READE Latin America facility in Panama to have closer contact with our Latin American customers" stated Charles Reade, the President of READE. "It will help us gain a better understanding of the specific needs within each Latin American country and how we can adapt our products and services to address those needs."

"It also more directly enhances our customer service performance by offering Spanish speaking employees, provides more frequent interaction with our technical sales team, and offers J-I-T delivery of our product line."

The Latin American economies are forecasted to steadily recover from the slowdowns of the last two years. They should develop into an economic powerhouse with real GDP growing at an average ratio of 4.5% over the next ten years.

About READE:

Established in 1773 in Wolverhampton, England as a family managed specialty chemicals business, READE is now a leading edge custom processor and global distributor of higher tech specialty chemicals (metal, alloy, ceramic, mineral, oxide, composite, polymer, nano, powder, foil, wire, and tube),

With three strategically located regional customer service centers in The Americas (Providence, RI , Reno, NV, and the Repúblic of Panama), READE serves customers in over 60 industries worldwide.

The READE family business has received numerous quality awards over the past years. Two of the more leading awards include an Honorable Mention at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris, France and the 1999 recipient of NASA's "Commitment to Excellence Award"

Visit our award winning, multilingual, and 800 page web site at http://www.reade.com to learn more about READE.

More Information:

For more information, reporters may contact-

1) In English, please contact Reade Advanced Materials in Providence, RI USA, Attn: Mr. Charles Reade via creade@reade.com.

2) In Spanish, please contact Mr. Carlos Hassán at READE Latin America in the Republic of Panama via chassan@reade.com.

3) Complete contact information within READE is at: http://www.reade.com/Contact.html.

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