Dow Extends Shutdown Of Joliet Polystyrene Plant Cites Poor Business Conditions, Compressed Margins

Joliet, IL - The Dow Chemical Company announced today that it will delay the restart of production activities at its polystyrene plant located in Joliet, Ill., due to difficult global economic conditions. Production at the facility was stopped on May 1 for a scheduled maintenance and regulatory shutdown, which will be successfully completed by May 16th. Dow anticipates that operations will restart on June 1, 2006.

"The decision to delay the restart at this time is a reflection of the poor business conditions that the polystyrene industry faces," said Jeff Denton, North American product director for polystyrene, The Dow Chemical Company. "Continued increases in the costs of raw materials for all polystyrene resin grades have exacerbated a business condition that simply is not supporting acceptable margins. We will restart the Joliet plant next month or as business conditions warrant."

"We remain very committed to the global polystyrene business and are confident that we will be able to meet customer requirements from other Dow polystyrene facilities during this period," added Denton.

The Joliet polystyrene plant has a production capacity of approximately 125,000 metric tons/year (275 million lbs/annually). Dow is the world's largest producer of polystyrene with approximately 5.1 billion pounds global capacity; leading positions and manufacturing facilities in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America; and global integrated feedstock capabilities.

SOURCE: The Dow Chemical Company