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2 April 1998

Johnson Matthey to Invest £3 million in European Electronic Materials Facility

As part of a reorganisation of its Electronic Materials business in Europe, Johnson Matthey has announced that it is to invest approximately £3 million in expanding its plant at Widnes into a state of the art manufacturing and technical support facility. Widnes will become the company's primary electronic materials production site in Europe and will manufacture sputtering targets and specialised thermocouples for JM's growing European customer base. The company will continue to manufacture rare earth materials on the site.

As demanded by the global semiconductor and microelectronics industry, the new Widnes facility will use exactly the same processes as JM's worldwide network of manufacturing and technical support units. These cover the five key markets of the United States, Japan, Korea, South East Asia and Europe. Conversion of the existing 22,000 square foot plant will start this month and the new facility will be operational by the spring of 1999.

Commenting on the expansion plans, Mike Cleare, Managing Director of Johnson Matthey's Electronic Materials Division said:

"The new Widnes facility will provide our customers in Europe with 'copy exact' manufacturing, shorter delivery times and more efficient technical service. It will also permit more joint development work with European customers."

Enquiries:
Johnson Matthey
Ian Godwin
Group Public Relations Manager
+44 (0)171 269 8410