Dow Chemical Plants to Close

It was revealed on Monday that Dow Chemical DOW has announced cost-cutting measures that include closing plants that make Styrofoam brand insulation products in Portugal, Hungary, the Netherlands, Brazil and Illinois. According to the Wall Street Journal, DOW also plans on cutting roughly 1.7% of its global workforce in response to continuing weakness in Europe's economy. The cuts and closures will be completed over the course of the next 24 months. DOW, the largest U.S. chemical company by revenue, is also aiming to consolidate some of its polyurethanes and epoxy businesses. The aim is to save $250 million per year. 900 positions are expected to be cut by DOW, which makes chemicals used in products like diapers and auto industry parts. It had approximately 52,000 employees globally in 2011. The company is expecting 1Q restructuring charges and write-downs of roughly $350 million. In February, DOW reported 4Q income that had fallen 87%, and shares closed on Friday at $34.64. On March 25, it was announced via Business Wire that DOW had unveiled plans to invest in a new manufacturing facility for its Dow Coating Materials (DCM) business unit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The planned facility, which will be located at the Jubail Industrial City, will manufacture a wide range of coating materials for both the Kingdom and export markets worldwide. “With an unmatched specialty portfolio of advanced materials, we constantly aim at bringing customers differentiation and solving global challenges locally together,” said Jerome Peribere, Executive Vice President of The Dow Chemical Company and President and Chief Executive Officer, Dow Advanced Materials Division (AMD). “By investing in a new coatings facility in Saudi Arabia, we are moving closer to our regional customers, and realizing our regional business objectives in a key growth market for Dow.” “Dow Coating Materials is known as “The Expert's Expert”, which basically means our experts collaborate with our customer's experts to develop the most advanced solutions,” said Anton Van Beek, General Manager, DCM Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA). “We are committed to helping our customers rethink coatings by working closely with paint and coating formulators worldwide to develop breakthrough technologies that are differentiated. Our new investment in Saudi Arabia will deliver the solutions our regional customers want, without compromising on cost or sustainability profile.”