Dow Elastomers: a clarification

Dow Chemical runs three businesses which make and sell elastomeric materials.

Dow Elastomers focusses on ethylene elastomers, including the Nordel range of EPDM materials, as well as Engage and Affinity olefin-based elastomers and plastomers. Much of this business derives from the break-up of the DuPont Dow Elastomers activity. ERJ mistakenly indicated that this business was for sale in a news report yesterday. We are happy to clarify that Dow Elastomers  continues to be a significant contributor to Dow's growth strategy. Dow has at no stage said the business is for sale.

The second Dow business is referred to internally as Dow Synthetic Rubber. This covers Dow's range of styrene-butadiene rubber and polybutadiene rubber. This activity derives from the acquisition of the Schkopau petrochemicals complex in the eastern part of Germany. In February of this year, Dow announced that this business (and no other elastomer activity) was under strategic review, which might result in the sale of the  activity.

Dow's third business in the elastomers area is the newly-acquired latex activity. This was previously part of the Dow-Reichhold joint venture, which announced in August that it is in the process of winding up all its activities. Dow is in the process of buying back the assets which it contributed to the original joint venture.