Dow To Build Specialty Alkanolamines Facility in Plaquemine, La.

Midland, MI - February 08, 2005

The Dow Chemical Company today announced plans to build an integrated Specialty Alkanolamines facility in Plaquemine, La., to meet the changing needs of its Isopropanolamines and Gas Treating customers. The new facility, which is scheduled to come on-line in early 2007, will replace existing Amines capacity in Midland, Mich., and South Charleston, W.Va.

"This investment demonstrates Dow's commitment to our Gas Treating business, which is seeing robust growth in the global liquefied natural gas industry and increasing demand from North American refining operations," says Ted Cosse, vice president, Acrylics, Solvents & Intermediates. "It also strengthens our position as the leading global producer of Isopropanolamines by ensuring that our customers will continue to receive a reliable supply of high-quality products well into the future."

The new plant will have extensive product-mix flexibility, which will allow the business to provide products to meet changing market needs and, at the same time, reduce levels of co-products and by-products that are common in today's operations.

"Plaquemine offers Dow an efficient capital investment opportunity due to the on-site production of key raw materials - ethylene oxide and propylene oxide," says Kevin Dillan, global business director, Dow Amines. "This facility will enable us to serve the broader global market due to its economy of scale and flexibility."

Dow is a leading manufacturer, marketer and consumer of Specialty Alkanolamines, making this a strategic business for Dow. With this investment, all of Dow's North American amines production will be in highly integrated petrochemical complexes, thereby ensuring low cost and reliable operations.

Dow Amines has production facilities in North America (Taft, La.; Midland, Mich.; South Charleston, W.Va.; Freeport, Texas; and Victoria, Texas), Europe (Terneuzen, The Netherlands), as well as Asia Pacific at OPTIMAL Chemicals (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, a joint venture of Union Carbide Corporation and Petroliam Nasional Berhad.

Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $40 billion, Dow serves customers in 175 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress: food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 43,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

For more information, visit our business web site at www.dowamines.com.


For Editorial Information:

Jennifer Heronema
The Dow Chemical Company
(989) 638-5323