Dow Chemical shuts sites

Dow Chemical Company announced today that it is to close a number of sites around the world in order to reduce structural costs by approximately $160m a year.

Dow said in a statement that as a consequence of these shutdowns, and other optimisation activities, the company expects to incur a charge of between $550m and $650m, which includes costs such as severance and asset write-downs. This charge will be reflected in Dow’s third quarter of 2006 results.

‘One of the fundamental drivers of Dow’s future success is the company’s commitment to maintain a sharp focus on financial discipline and low cost to serve,’ explained Andrew N. Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer.

‘Part of that commitment involves continually looking for ways to enhance our efficiency and our cost-effectiveness – through good times as well as bad – to ensure we remain competitive across every business and in every geographic region. Today’s announcement highlights a number of decisions by Dow in support of that objective, and demonstrates our resolve to actively manage the company's portfolio at all points in the cycle,’ he said.