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July 16, 2007

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Chusei (U.S.A.) Incorporated was established as a Texas corporation in September of 1989, initially as a wholly owned subsidiary of Chusei Oil Company, Ltd., a privately help company with headquarters in Okayama Japan.  Chusei Oil Company has nearly ninety years of involvement with a myriad of businesses in both the consumer and industrial sectors.  Its industrial focus includes the manufacturing and marketing of automotive products and specialty polymers along with providing environmental services and custom chemical manufacturing services.  The Chusei group of companies consists of over 250 employees with sales in excess of $150 million, covering East Asia, Europe and the United States.

With its initial U.S. offices in Houston, Texas, the early objectives of Chusei (U.S.A.) were to expand sales of Chusei’s low molecular weight polyethylene waxes into the North American market and to expand and identify business opportunities to support the construction of a manufacturing facility in the United States.

In October of 1990, key management and engineering personnel joined the company to oversee business expansion and to provide engineering design, construction management, and eventually operations management, for the Company’s manufacturing facility in the Houston area’s Bayport industrial complex.  William Sonnier was appointed Executive Vice President and CEO and Steven Mayeux became Vice President, Manufacturing.  In 1993, Sonnier was elevated to the position of President and CEO and both Sonnier and Mayeux became minority shareholders in Chusei (U.S.A.). 

In June of 1991, a 20-acre plant site was selected and construction began at the site in October of that year.  As the construction progressed, efforts were expanded on the sales and marketing front.  Chusei (U.S.A.)’ major business lines were divided into two areas – polyethylene waxes and toll manufacturing.  (The toll processing business sector is conducted through Quest Separation Technologies, a division of Chusei (U.S.A.) Inc.)  The opening construction phase was completed in November of 1992 and full operation of the facility began February of 1993.  Chusei’s early business activities were relatively evenly divided between polyethylene wax and toll processing. By 1995, toll processing was quickly becoming a major focus of the Company, supported by incremental expansions of the Bayport site in order to serve growing customer needs.  Today, the Chusei site consists of over 30 acres of property with over 80 employees.

Chusei, through Quest Separation Technologies, serves the chemical industry with one of the newest and technologically advanced facilities in the United States.  State-of-the-art equipment and proprietary technologies have been combined to meet a wide variety of processing and product needs serving major specialty and fine chemical companies.  From lab research through pilot plant development onto large-scale production, Quest offers a wide array of process development and custom manufacturing services.  Success in the area of tolling is largely due to Chusei’s recognized strengths in terms of unique equipment, experienced personnel, and advanced technical and manufacturing capabilities. 

Toll manufacturing for Chusei in both the United States and Japan has been utilized as a vehicle of opportunity for participation in new business ventures.  It was in conjunction with its tolling business that Chusei became involved with phytosterols production in 1996.  For the next four years, the Company devoted considerable resources to the development and commercialization of tall oil derived sterols.  This development of sterols production capability has led to the establishment of Phyto-Source LP, for the manufacture and marketing of wood based phytosterols.

In 1999 the opportunity arose for Chusei to significantly expand its polyethylene wax business through an alliance with Waxtech International, a Houston based privately owned polymer sourcing and marketing company.  In October of 1999, a joint venture company known as Chusei-Waxtech Polymers LLC was established.  Under the joint venture arrangement, Waxtech International is primarily responsible for sourcing raw materials while Chusei is responsible for production of products for various applications.  Both companies share in marketing responsibilities.  Today, Chusei-Waxtech Polymers produces and markets over 20 million pounds of polyethylene wax products annually

Chusei (U.S.A.) is also involved in a manufacturing operation with Nissan Chemical Americas, known as Nissan Chemical Houston Corporation.  Chusei has served as the operator of a 10-acre plant site adjoining Chusei’s Bayport facility.  This facility serves to manufacture Nissan’s various colloidal silica products to serve the United States and European markets.  The original plant, constructed in 1997, is now undergoing significant expansion to increase the product variety and volume to serve Nissan’s customers.

Chusei (U.S.A.) has continued its growth in terms of size and diversification with the formation of Phyto-Source, LP and the construction of its phytosterol manufacturing facility in 2002.  Based on Chusei developed technology, Phyto-Source has become one of the world’s leading producers of non-GMO phytosterols in the world.  The use of phytosterols as a food ingredient for the reduction of cholesterol is one of the largest growing functional food applications in Europe and is now beginning to show promise in the North American and Latin American markets.  Chusei is committed to the long term development and expansion of this business.