Umicore has taken advantage of the recent rally in the zinc price to lock in a portion of its zinc price exposure for 2006. Umicore has hedged approximately 30% of its exposure at an average zinc price of EUR 1,028 per tonne.

Taking into account the zinc production which is now anticipated for 2005, all of Umicore’s zinc price exposure for 2005 is hedged at an average zinc price of EUR 974 per tonne. Furthermore, approximately half of the US dollar exposure for 2005 is hedged at an average rate of 1.08 USD / EUR.

Sensitivities update
In the light of structural changes on-going at Umicore, the following update has been made to the company’s external sensitivity guidelines:

After the planned reduction in zinc production (scheduled for the second half of 2005) the EBIT sensitivity of the Zinc Specialties business group to the zinc price will be between EUR 16 and 18 million for a change in the zinc price of EUR 100 per tonne.

The company’s sensitivity to the US dollar stands at approximately EUR 1.0 to 1.5 million for a change in the USD / EUR exchange rate of 1 US cent. This sensitivity is attributable to the Advanced Materials business and to a lesser extent Precious Metals Services.

The above sensitivities are in the absence of any hedging and applicable at current market conditions (approximately USD / EUR 1.30 and a zinc price of EUR 1,000 per tonne).