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Introduction
Founded in 1897 in Midland, Michigan, USA, The Dow Chemical Company
is a global science and technology based company that provides innovative
chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many
essential consumer markets. With annual sales of US$19 billion,
Dow serves customers in 162 countries and a wide range of markets
that are vital to human progress, including 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 39,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental
and social responsibilities.
Dow in the Pacific
Dow Pacific was established in 1966 with its Area headquarters in
Hong Kong. Today, Dow and its subsidiaries employ about 3,000 people
and has 23 manufacturing sites and 29 business offices in 14 countries
in the Pacific. These include: Australia, China (including Hong
Kong), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines,
Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Key Products
Dow is a world leader in plastics production, providing plastic
resins to industries including electronics, food service, health
care, packaging and recreation.
Dow is the world’s largest producer of chlorine, caustic soda,
ethylene, polyethylene, polystyrene and polyol, as well as a leading
producer or other polyurethane materials and epoxy.
Dow produces about twice as much chlorine and caustic
soda capacity as the next largest producer. Uses for chlorine include
pharmaceuticals, water purification and the manufacture of plastics.
Caustic soda is used in detergents, pulp and paper, petroleum refining
and the manufacture of aluminium.
Dow offers a wide range of performance plastics
and performance chemicals. These products provide specialised functionality
to customers in a diverse array of industries. Performance chemicals
include specialty chemicals such as those used as food additives
to retain moisture and replace fat; latex coatings and binders,
used in the construction and pulp and paper industries; and agricultural
chemicals.
Dow’s portfolio of performance plastics includes
polyurethanes; epoxy products and intermediates; engineering plastics;
adhesives, sealants and coatings; and fabricated products such as
STYROFOAM® brand insulation. Dow’s performance plastics
are used by a variety of industries including appliances, automotive,
electronics, and construction.
Environment, Health and Safety
A key element of Dow’s business success is the company’s
commitment to excellence in environment, health, and safety. The
company has made a public commitment to Responsible Care®, an
initiative of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and other
international trade organisations, that will help Dow work to eliminate
injuries, illnesses, incidents, adverse environmental and health
impacts, wastes and emissions. In 1995, Dow announced it would spend
US$1 billion over ten years to accomplish a series of significant
environmental, health and safety goals by the year 2005.
For further information, please visit www.dow.com
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