I am very excited about returning to the Chemical business.  I have spent over ten years of my career in chemicals prior to having the challenge of running Sunoco's Midwest marketing and refining business unit for the last five years. I look forward to building a strong relationship with our newly expanded customer base.

For the past five months, the chemical industry has faced many challenges. The industry is at the bottom of its cycle, feed stocks and operating costs have been impacted by the ramp up of natural gas prices, and the economy is hovering close to a recession. These factors have resulted in depressed earnings for the entire chemical industry.

However, I am very positive about the future of Sunoco Chemicals, due mostly in part to the recent acquisition and integration of Aristech Chemical Corporation into our organization. We found in Aristech high-quality products, strong technical capabilities, quality people and a dedication to excellent customer service. The acquisition of Aristech has allowed us to be more competitive in an ever-consolidating industry and represents an important step in Sunoco's continued commitment to growth and leadership in the chemical industry.

The transition has gone extremely well and we thank both Sunoco and Aristech employees for their dedication and hard work.  We would also like to thank you -- the customer -- for your patronage and loyalty during this crucial transition period. During this time, plants have been integrated into our system; key commercial personnel from Aristech have been transferred; and considerable efforts toward sharing information throughout the new organization have been made.

We are now able to offer our customers an expanded, more diversified product line. The five newly acquired Aristech plants give us the capacity to produce 1.5 billion pounds of polypropylene a year, more than 1.6 billion pounds of phenol and related derivatives per year -- including bisphenol-A -- and 800 million pounds of plasticizers per year. The acquisition will also allow us to provide multiple plant sources for our key products. Our focus on financial and operating metrics will enable Sunoco Chemicals to be a financially stable supplier. More importantly, we fully intend to maintain our responsiveness to commercial opportunities and customer issues.

This is a very exciting time for Sunoco Chemicals as we move forward in our mission to become a broad-based chemical company. Aristech complements Sunoco's existing chemical operations and the union represents a significant step in providing fully integrated marketing, distribution and corporate services for the combined assets. With a state-of-the-art technology and commercial center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Aristech's five additional manufacturing facilities, our world-scale Frankford phenol plant and our efficient refinery-based chemical facilities, we are poised to move toward the future with greater strength as one of the largest, fully integrated chemical producers in the United States.

Indeed, it is clear that with the unification of Aristech Chemical Corporation and Sunoco Chemicals, we are stronger together and in a better position for a successful future. I look forward to having Sunoco Chemicals grow with you as we mutually enjoy the upturn of the chemical cycle.

May 2001