HUDSON TECHNOLOGIES ENTERS SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETPLACE

Executes Technology and Marketing Agreement with BOC and African Oxygen Limited

PEARL RIVER, N.Y. – March 24, 2004 – Hudson Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HDSNC), a leading refrigerant services company, The BOC Group plc (NYSE: BOX), a worldwide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company, and African Oxygen Limited (“Afrox”), a subsidiary of BOC, have executed a technology and marketing agreement related to providing services in the Republic of South Africa.  

Using Hudson’s leading-edge technology and Afrox’s position as a leader in the distribution and marketing of refrigerants in South Africa, the companies will work together to develop the market for refrigerant reclamation and Hudson’s RefrigerantSide® and performance optimization services.  

The agreement supplements the exclusive technology and marketing alliance Hudson and BOC entered into on June 26, 2003, and represents the second market that Hudson and BOC have entered as alliance partners.   Hudson and BOC are expected to enter as many as 20 market places around the world.  BOC's significant market presence, combined with Hudson’s technology is expected to result in an accelerated market penetration that is significantly greater than previously seen by Hudson alone. 

Kevin J. Zugibe, Hudson’s chairman and chief executive officer, commented, “Our work with BOC is moving forward at a good pace.  We executed the first supplemental agreement for the U.K. market, where BOC is based, in June 2003 and we are beginning to recognize revenue from this market.  The Republic of South Africa, where many industrial companies with significant cooling needs are located, is the logical next step for our alliance.  Afrox is sub-Saharan Africa’s market leader in gases and welding products and is well known for pursuing technological leadership and innovation.  We look forward to introducing all of Hudson’s services – and particularly our performance optimization services, for which there have been early indications of interest – to Afrox’s substantial customer base.  The market served by Afrox is another in the many markets where BOC has tremendous market share, particularly with customers that are expected to utilize Hudson’s service offering.”   

Gavin Turner, General Manager for Afrox’s Special Products Division, stated, “Introduction of Hudson’s market leading technologies will enable us to add real value to our customers’ processes in key industries such as mining and petrochemicals. We see great long-term opportunities in refrigerant reclaim, and are excited about partnering with Hudson Technologies in providing these services.”

Under the agreement, Hudson licenses its patented and proprietary equipment and technology to Afrox in return for ongoing license fees and royalties based on revenues derived from RefrigerantSide® Services, including performance optimization, and the reclamation of refrigerants in South Africa. Royalty-based revenues are expected to flow directly to Hudson’s bottom line. 

About Hudson Technologies
Hudson Technologies, Inc., is a leading provider of innovative solutions to recurring problems within the refrigeration industry.  Hudson’s proprietary RefrigerantSide® Services increase operating efficiency and energy savings, and remove moisture, oils and other contaminants frequently found in the refrigeration circuits of large comfort cooling and process refrigeration systems.  Performed at a customer’s site as an integral part of an effective scheduled maintenance program or in response to emergencies, RefrigerantSide® Services offer significant savings to customers due to their ability to be completed rapidly and at higher purity levels, and can be utilized while the customer’s system continues to operate.  In addition, the company sells refrigerants and provides traditional reclamation services to the commercial and industrial air conditioning and refrigeration markets. For further information on Hudson, please visit the company’s web site at www.hudsontech.com. 

About The BOC Group
The BOC Group, which serves two million customers in more than 50 countries, is one of the world’s leading gases companies. It employs more than 46,000 people worldwide and had annual sales of approximately $6 billion in 2002 Further information about The BOC Group can be obtained on the Internet at www.boc.com.

About African Oxygen Limited (“Afrox”)
Established in 1927, Afrox is sub-Saharan Africa’s market leader in gases and welding products, and has been listed on the JSE Securities Exchange since 1963. Afrox’s Industrial business, in alignment with The BOC Group, is divided into two lines of business: Industrial and Special Products (ISP) and Process Gas Solutions (PGS). ISP involves cylinder and liquid fabrication gases, special and medical gases, Handigas (Afrox’s liquefied petroleum gas brand) and welding products. PGS tailors solutions to meet the needs of large consumers of product in key market sectors, by supplying dedicated on-site production units, either by pipeline, or in liquid form by tanker.  

Afrox operates from 113 South African branches and 30 branches and distributors in 16 other African countries. This infrastructure supports Afrox ’s customer base, which exceeds 70,000. Some 85 percent of all industrial products, including refrigerants, and 60 percent of Handigas sales are supplied directly to end-users.

In 2003Afrox won the Technology Top 100 award, presented by the Department of Science and Technology. Also, Afrox was named the Best Governed company in South Africa in 2003. It also won the Board Effectiveness and Ethics and Integrity categories. Further information about Afrox can be obtained on the Internet at www.afrox.com.  

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995
Statements contained herein, which are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Such factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the markets for refrigerants (including unfavorable market conditions adversely affecting the demand for, and the price of refrigerants), regulatory and economic factors, seasonality, competition, litigation, the nature of supplier or customer arrangements which become available to the company in the future, adverse weather conditions, possible technological obsolescence of existing products and services, possible reduction in the carrying value of long-lived assets, estimates of the useful life of its assets, potential environmental liability, customer concentration, the ability to obtain financing and other risks detailed in the company’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The words “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “may”, “plan”, “should” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made.

Investor Relations Contacts:                                                      Company Contact:
Harriet Fried                                                                            Brian F. Coleman, President & COO
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates                                                    Hudson Technologies, Inc.
(212) 838-3777                                                                       (845) 735-6000
hfried@lhai.com                                                                       bcoleman@hudsontech.com

---