Dow.com Offers chemical, plastic & agricultural products & services
Company
Motto: "Responsibility Begins Here"
DOW is the leader in the production of plastics, chemicals, hydrocarbons, and agrochemicals. It is the ""largest"" chemical company in the United States . The Dow Chemical Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of chemicals, plastic materials, agricultural, and other specialized products and services in United States and internationally.
The Company serves customers in more than 175 countries. The Company has 156 manufacturing sites in 37 countries and supplies more than 3,200 products. The Company operates in an integrated manufacturing environment. Basic raw materials are processed through many stages to produce a number of products that are sold as finished goods at various points in those processes. The two major raw material streams that feed the production of the Company's finished goods are chlorine-based and hydrocarbon-based raw materials. Salt, limestone and brine (natural) are the base raw materials used in the production of chlor-alkali products and derivatives.
The Company owns salt deposits in Louisiana, Michigan and Texas; Alberta, Canada; Brazil; and Germany. The Company also owns natural brine deposits in Michigan and limestone deposits in Texas. Dow has annual sales of $49 billion and employs 43,000 people worldwide.
History
Dow Chemical began manufacturing bleach and potassium bromide in 1897 and by 1902 were producing 72 tons per day. by the 1930s, they had diversified into also being a major producer of agricultural chemicals, elemental chlorine, phenol and other dyestuffs, and magnesium metal.
In the 1930s, Dow began production of plastics, which became its main staple, and also built a plant to produce magnesium. Amongst other uses, magnesium was used to make light-weight aircraft parts for fighter planes during World War II. At this time, Dow began its partnership with Corning, Inc., to be named Dow Corning, to produce silicone products which had both military and consumer uses.
Dow's business has continued to expand through the end of the 20th century and into the 21st, branching out into many areas of synthetic materials and chemicals.
Products
Dow Chemical is the world's leading producer of plastics. Their expansive operations include the research and manufacture of such synthetic goods as:
- Plastics
- polystyrene
- polyurethanes
- polyethylene
- polypropylene
- synthetic rubbers
- Epoxy resins
- bisphenol-A
- epichlorohydrin
- Chemicals
- calcium chloride
- ethylene oxide
- polyurethane
- acrylates
- surfactants
- cellulose resins
- starting materials for production of agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals
- Agricultural chemicals
- insecticides
- fungicides
- Styrofoam, a branded product
- Hydrocarbons
- ethylene
- propylene
- butadiene
- benzene
- styrene
Dow Chemical was also the original producer of the product lines Saran Wrap and Ziploc Bags, which have since been sold to S. C. Johnson & Son.
Website
Dow.com is a slick website with information about the business of their industry. The site contains mostly news and documents about chemical happenings and research progress, and sections on ethics and corporate commitments. The image on the front page is their illustration of the ideal "Hu", the "human element", which has become their new focus in light of the environmental complications of chemical production.
Global Role
It is impossible to be in the business of a global chemical producer without touching on the controversy surrounding the environmental impact of that production. Thus, Dow Chemical has found itself in the news on a number of occasions. For example, they were implicated during wartime for their role in the production of napalm and Agent Orange; their defense was that they are only the manufacturer and cannot be held responsible for the usage of their product. For another example, the famous disaster in Bhopal, India, happened at a Union Carbide insecticide plant in 1984 which Dow inherited when it purchased Union Carbide in 1999 as a wholly-owned subsidiary, and the controversy continues as to how much compensation Dow should pay for the role of their subsidiary company.
It should not be the purpose of this article to pass judgments upon any discussed parties. So, instead, we will note that Dow Chemical is regulated by such government entities as the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, and they do comply with regulations when ordered to do so. They are aware of their poor environmental rating as a corporate air polluter, and have stated in the "Environmental Stewardship" section of their website that they are working on the improvement of their impact on environment, health, and safety. They have in the past been heavily fined both by the EPA and by class action court settlements, including the largest penalty ever in an insecticide case.
We must also note that our industrialized age creates a huge demand for the products of Dow, even as the controversy continues over how those products are produced; environmental activists who post criticisms of Dow's environmental impact on the Internet would do well to make note of their usage of a plastic keyboard and mouse to do so, as well as the Styrofoam cup they are sipping coffee out of at the time.
Business Profile
Dow Chemical Company reported revenues of over $49 billion in 2006. They employ over 42,500 workers in their various plants located in over 175 countries in the world. Dow is regarded as one of the top world companies in innovation and research and development, spending $1 billion per year on research and boasting the highest concentration of degree-holding engineers in the United States. Their Fortune 500 ranking is #36.
Languages
English
Address
- 2020 Dow Center
- Midland MI 48674 US
Contact
- The Dow Chemical Company
-
- 989 636 0108 989 638 9405, Fax: +1 248 265 3432
Additional Information
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