Dow to expand polyethylene production in Argentina

The Dow Chemical Company is planning to expand capabilities of its polyethylene production units in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, to support increased market demand in consumer and industrial films. Starting in 2015, Dow plans to expand capacity and enhance production technologies and equipment at its four polyethylene (PE) production units - LDPE, slurry, gas phase and solution - in Bahia Blanca. These investments will enable Dow to produce more high performance resins for flexible and rigid packaging applications to meet growing demand in Latin America.
 
The LDPE plant will be refurbished to enable production of resins for extrusion coating used in multiple packaging applications. The slurry plant expansion will help drive growth of bimodal blow moulding resins, which is currently in short supply in the region. The gas phase plant, which produces resins for geomembranes and pipes, will also be refurbished for improved operational performance. The solution plant expansion will bring more of Dow's popular Dowlex and Elite resins to market and enable Dow to increase its participation in high value markets like food packaging and hygiene.
 
Meanwhile, Dow has announced that the projects on the US Gulf Coast are nearing peak construction and remain on track and on-plan for start-up, with all site construction underway. When fully operational, Dow’s collective feedstock and plastics expansions on the US Gulf Coast are projected to deliver an estimated $2.5 billion in EBITDA annually.
 
“Dow continues to forge ahead with its global growth strategy, leveraging our first-mover advantage on the US Gulf Coast and expanding capacity in Latin America to meet customer growth long term. We are well on our way to realising the full financial benefit of these efforts, and continue to be diligent with Dow’s investment to connect cost-advantaged raw materials to many of the company’s highest-margin downstream businesses,” said James Fitterling, vice chairman, Business Operations.