Exhibit 99


UNION CARBIDE NEWS RELEASE




CONTACT:      Tomm F. Sprick
              (203) 794-6992


            BLACKSTONE CAPITAL PARTNERS ACQUIRES 75% INTEREST
    IN UCAR INTERNATIONAL, OWNED JOINTLY BY UNION CARBIDE, MITSUBISHI

            Union Carbide Retains 25 Percent Equity Ownership
                 In Corporate Partnership With Blackstone

     DANBURY, Conn., Jan. 26 -- Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and 
Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan today announced that they have concluded 
the sale of newly issued common stock representing 75 percent of UCAR 
International Inc.'s outstanding shares to a new company formed by 
Blackstone Capital Partners II Merchant Banking Fund L.P.
     UCAR has been a joint venture of UCC and Mitsubishi, which purchased 
50 percent interest in UCAR in 1991.  UCC received $346.5 million in cash 
proceeds and retained a 25 percent equity interest in UCAR.  The 
transaction will result in a nonrecurring, material gain for Union Carbide 
that will be based on a final evaluation of assets and obligations, and 
will be recorded in the first quarter of 1995.  UCC plans to use the cash 
proceeds for general corporate purposes.
     UCAR redeemed all of the shares owned by Mitsubishi for $406 million 
in cash.
     UCAR is the largest manufacturer of graphite and carbon electrodes in 
the world.
     Union Carbide Corporation is a worldwide, basic chemicals company with 
advanced process technologies and large-scale chemical production 
facilities.  Union Carbide had sales of more than $4.8 billion in 1994.

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