Bangkok, Thailand – April 28, 2015 – Dow Polyurethanes, a business of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), announced the successful start-up of a new state-of-the-art polyether polyols plant in Asia Industrial Estate, Rayong, Thailand. The company invited customers to the site for a celebration and facility tour to showcase the unique technologies and capabilities the plant provides to the industry.

“This expansion is directly aligned to our long-term strategy to address customer demands and invest in high-value markets where our technology and services are differentiated,” said Glenn Wright, business president for Dow’s Polyurethanes business. “We are committed to listening and responding to market dynamics with value-added products and services that benefit our customers and help them seize growth opportunities.”

Dow works closely with customers in the industrial, energy efficiency and consumer comfort industries to maximize opportunities that arise from shifting markets, sustainability trends, new regulations and energy dynamics.

“Given the pace of growth in Asia Pacific, Dow is constantly striving to meet evolving market needs while identifying new ways to accelerate our own growth,” said Peter Sykes, President of Dow Asia Pacific.  “The successful start up of this new Polyol production facility in Asia Industrial Estate not only completes our site integration model, it further strengthens our presence in Asia Pacific and enables us to better serve our customers through providing competitive and innovative solutions to their needs.” added Sykes.

Utilizing proven DMC catalyst technology, the facility will deliver local, high quality, reliable supply of polyether polyols into a variety of consumer comfort and industrial applications. “This new polyols production facility truly demonstrates Dow’s commitment to our customers in Asia and to our manufacturing standards in Thailand. We are setting new performance standards by utilizing cutting-edge technologies in this new plant, which can reduce the overall footprint of our facility, including energy consumption and waste water generation by 50-70 percent, and eliminating 100 percent of solid waste,” said Jirasak Singmaneechai, Managing Director of Dow Thailand. 

The facility’s annual capacity of up to 200 kilotons will increase Dow’s participation in one of the largest and fastest-growing regions in the world. This solidifies Dow’s position as one of the key players in foam technology for furniture, mattresses and bedding, and in specialty markets like high-performing coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers serving infrastructure, transportation and construction markets.

Announced in 2006, the project began with cracker and polyethylene chain developments and has expanded to include the Company’s most recent advancements. The production site will largely serve customers in Southeast Asia, China and India. The plant is one in a recent series of global polyol investments by Dow to deliver growth in targeted markets, with the first coming on line in Freeport, Texas late last year, the next slated for start-up in 2016 as part of the Company’s Sadara joint venture with Saudi Aramco in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and another at the Company’s Terneuzen site in The Netherlands.

Dow Polyurethanes develops and delivers a broad portfolio of performance products and tailor-made solutions to customers in a variety of industries, and applications ranging from energy-efficient residential and commercial construction, industrial solutions, infrastructure repair, to consumer comfort solutions in flooring, furniture, and footwear. The business provides key ingredients, fully-formulated systems and solutions for rigid, semi-rigid and flexible foams, adhesives, sealants, coatings, elastomers and binders. Dow’s Polyurethanes business is the world's largest producer of propylene oxide (PO), propylene glycol (PG), and polyether polyols, and is a leading producer of quality aromatic isocyanates, such as MDI. Striving to meet the specific needs of its customers in their local geographic regions, Dow Polyurethanes operates a global network of production sites, systems houses, as well as innovation and service centers. The business has an ongoing initiative to lead the industry by providing high-performance products that meet critical market needs and contribute to a more comfortable, healthier and resilient society. For more information, visit www.dowpolyurethanes.com.

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2014, Dow had annual sales of more than $58 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 products are manufactured at 201 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.