Dow Polyurethanes Plans Capital Investments in Europe
Dow Polyurethanes, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, announced that it plans to further invest in Europe by expanding capacity at two of its facilities over the next two years. The company plans to increase name-plate capacity at its polyols plant in Terneuzen, The Netherlands, by 180 kilotons per annum (KTA), and at its propylene glycol (PG) facility in Stade, Germany, by 80 KTA.
In September 2006, Dow announced plans to construct a Dow/BASF hydrogen peroxide-to-propylene oxide (HPPO) facility at Antwerp, Belgium, scheduled for start-up in 2008. Dow also completed a 40 KTA expansion of its propylene oxide (PO) name-plate capacity at Stade in January of this year, bringing its total PO capacity at the plant to 630 KTA. PO is a key raw material used in the production of both propylene glycol and polyols.
According to Dow Polyurethanes business vice president, Pat Dawson, the investments are driven by strong customer demand for polyurethane and propylene glycol end-use products in the region, and support Dow's plans to further grow its Performance businesses. "Dow is committed to providing our customers with a reliable supply of PG and polyurethane raw materials, using the most economic and technologically advanced processes, as evidenced by our investment in the new HPPO facility at Antwerp," said Dawson. "Demand for downstream products that rely on PG and polyols is expected to remain strong, and we are making these investments now to ensure that we continue to be the preferred supplier to our customers well into the future."
Dow recently completed a year-long feasibility study to evaluate the expansion of all polyol product lines at its existing facility at Terneuzen. Based on the results of that evaluation, the company will expand polyols name-plate capacity at the site by 180 KTA.
Dow has implemented an incremental, world-scale capacity increase at its propylene glycol (PG) manufacturing facility at Stade, Germany. The project, which was completed in 2007, increased capacity at the facility from 190 KTA to 225 KTA. A second expansion project, which will be completed in 2009, will add another 45 KTA of PG capacity to the plant. By year-end 2009, PG capacity at the site will total 270 KTA, making Dow's Stade plant the world's largest PG facility.
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