Dow Chemical

General Company Info

Headquartered in Midland, Michigan, Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) is the largest chemical company in the US and #2 worldwide. It is a leader in the production of plastics, chemicals, hydrocarbons, herbicides and pesticides. Dow offers products and services to customers in more than 175 countries, helping them to provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. It makes more than 3,500 products. Dow is a component of the S&P 500.

2005 Sales (mil.) $46,307.0 [1-Year Sales Growth] [15.3%] 2005 Net Income (mil.) $4,515.0 [1-Year Net Income Growth] [61.4%] 2005 Employees 42,413 [(1.8%)] [1-Year Employee Growth]

2005 Sales 2005 Operating Income $ mil. % of total $ mil. % of total Plastics 11,815 26 2,405 31 Performance Plastics 11,388 25 2,467 32 Performance Chemicals 7,713 16 1,212 16 Hydrocarbons & Energy 6,061 200513 Sales (1) $ mil. % of- total Chemicals 5,660 US12 1,132 17,524 14 38 Agricultural Sciences 3,364 Europe7 543 16,624 7 36 Other 306 Other1 (795) 12,159 - 26 Total 46,307 Total100 6,963 46,307 100 100

Operating Segments - Businesses

Performance Plastics offers building and construction products, automotive products, engineering plastics and compounds, epoxy products and intermediates, polyurethanes and thermoset systems, wire and cable products, and technology licensing and catalyst products. Performance Chemicals offers acrylics and oxide derivatives, latex, and specialty chemicals and polymers Agricultural Sciences provides pest management, agricultural, and crop biotechnology products and solutions Plastics offers polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, rubber, plastomers, and elastomers. Chemicals provides chemicals, such as acids, alcohols, caustic soda, chlorine, and other chemicals; and ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol chemicals. Hydrocarbons and Energy activities include procurement of fuels, natural gas liquids, and crude oil-based raw materials, as well as the supply of monomers, power, and steam. Its products include benzene, butadiene, ethylene, propylene, styrene, power, steam, and other utilities.

In the news

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Dow Automotive, which supplies plastics, adhesives, sealants and fluids to automakers, will raise prices next year due to higher raw material costs in the United States, the unit of Dow Chemical Co. said on Monday. The company also said it would begin doing more manufacturing overseas to help lower costs.

Oct 26 - Dow Chemical Co. said Thursday its third-quarter earnings fell 36 percent due to a hefty restructuring charge related to asset shutdowns, but results beat Wall Street expectations as strong pricing helped offset increased raw materials and energy costs.

Top Competitors

BASF AG. - the world's largest chemical company, with more than 100 major manufacturing facilities. DuPont - the # 3 US chemical maker. ExxonMobil Chemical - subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, ranks #1 or #2 in making many petrochemicals .

Sources: Company website, Hoovers.com, Morningstar.com, and Yahoo! Finance