Monday, May 17, 2010

Lithium market: Rockwood calls for Electrification of U.S. Transportation ROC, TNR.v, CZX.v, LMR.v, RM.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, HEV, AONE, GM, NSANY, F, FMC,


Competition for Oil is heating up and aggressive move by China into Electric Cars leaves no other options for US than to follow. In order to keep power China needs gradually improve standard of living, it will bring upside pressure on labor cost. Electrification will not only provide Energy Security to China, but will significantly reduce the cost of its transportation element and provide another opportunity to stay among low cost producers. Situation is completely different to U.S. - they have capital to invest in Electric Mobility CAPEX now and rip the rewards of lower cash cost on transportation side later. We will refer you to the Economics of Electric Cars.







PRINCETON, N.J., May 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Seifi Ghasemi, chairman and chief executive officer of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!roc/quotes/nls/roc (ROC 27.70, -0.18, -0.65%) ,speaking at an alternative energy conference in Washington D.C., urged policymakers and others to recognize that "electrification of our transportation system is essential for the future ."
Mr. Ghasemi made his comments at a panel, "Vehicle Electrification, Laying the Groundwork for Mass Adoption," at the Deutsche Bank Alternative Energy Conference, which included other members of that Coalition. Following is the text of his opening statement:
"The first point I want to make is why we are convinced electrification of our transportation system is essential for the future," Mr. Ghasemi said. "Our current way of life, and to some extent, our day-to-day existence is totally dependent on a transportation system which is powered by the internal combustion engine. To maintain this means of transportation, we are dependent on imported oil. This dependence, especially in the last 40 years, has created three significant problems for the United States and the western world in general. They are:
-- national security
-- economic security
-- "environmental sustainability."
Mr. Ghasemi's went on to explain, "On the national security front, we are dependent on oil from very unstable and hostile regions of the world. Therefore, to secure the flow of oil, we are spending billions of dollars to have a military presence in the Persian Gulf and other strategic parts of the world to ensure security of supply. To fuel our current transportation system based on the internal combustion engine, we are paying in treasure and blood. This cannot go on forever.
"Second, on the issue of economic security, the United States alone spends close to $300-400 billion a year on imported oil to fuel our transportation system. This is a gigantic transfer of wealth to other, mostly hostile regions of the world. Considering our current national debt, this cannot continue for much longer either.
"The third issue of environmental sustainability is obvious. Gasoline driven cars do pollute," Mr. Ghasemi said.
He concluded, "We believe, strongly, that electrification of our transportation system is the only logical solution to the above problems. Nuclear energy, wind power or solar energy alone will not make us free of imported oil. As long as our transportation system is based on the internal combustion engine we will be dependant on imported oil.
That is why we think electrification of the transportation system is the right way to move forward. Thus, we are very supportive of the actions taken, and policy proposals put forth by the Electrification Coalition.
"As a leading producer of lithium, we at Rockwood will do our best to ensure an adequate and secure supply of lithium to power the lithium ion batteries for electric cars of the future."
Rockwood Holdings is a global producer of specialty chemicals and advanced materials and the largest producer of lithium and lithium compounds. The company is also a founding member of the Electrification Coalition, a nonpartisan group of business leaders committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in the United States.
Rockwood Holdings, Inc. is a leading global specialty chemicals and advanced materials company. Rockwood has a worldwide employee base of approximately 9,500 people and annual net sales of approximately $3 billion. The company focuses on global niche segments of the specialty chemicals, pigments and additives and advanced materials markets. For more information on Rockwood, please visit http://www.rocksp.com/.
The information set forth in this press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning the business, operations and financial condition of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates ("Rockwood"). Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "predicts" and variations of such words or expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although Rockwood believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that its expectations will be realized. "Forward-looking statements" consist of all non-historical information, including any statements referring to the prospects and future performance of Rockwood. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in Rockwood's forward-looking statements due to numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, the "Risk Factors" described in Rockwood's 2009 Form 10-K on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rockwood does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which any such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
SOURCE: Rockwood Holdings, Inc.

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