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News Release

SCG-DOW Group Reaches Key Milestone toward Thailand HPPO Plant Start-up
[#DowInvestorDay]

New HPPO facility ramps up to stable production levels in preparation for full capacity run scheduled for 4Q11

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) announced today that the SCG-Dow Group, a joint venture between Dow and SCG, has reached a key milestone for the new propylene oxide (PO) facility in Thailand by ramping the plant up to stable production levels in preparation for the full capacity run scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2011. The world-scale plant, located within the Asia Industrial Estates (AIE) site near Map Ta Phut, Thailand will have a name plate capacity of 390 kilotons per annum (KTA) of PO via the innovative hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology jointly developed by Dow and BASF.

“The Map Ta Phut, Thailand HPPO plant cements Dow’s existing position as the global capacity leader in PO,” explained Steven English, global vice president, Dow Polyurethanes. “Not only does this large investment exemplify Dow’s commitment to the PO-based industry, we also continue to bring value by investing in the latest technology and offering a more sustainable PO to our customers and our downstream offerings through Dow’s other Performance and Advanced Materials businesses, such as Polyurethanes and Propylene Glycol.”

According to Holger Baer, global manufacturing and technology director, PO/PG, “Within three years, this is the second world-scale plant brought on-line with the innovative Dow-BASF HPPO process. It significantly reduces wastewater and energy consumption compared to existing PO technology, and is planned to be utilized next in the Sadara Chemicals Company project between Dow and Saudi Aramco due to the clear demonstration of the advantages of this process.”

“The start-up of this PO plant has completed the downstream envelope of the SCG-DOW Group joint venture cracker in Thailand which came on-stream last year,” said Cholanat Yanaranop, president, SCG Chemicals Company Limited. “With commitment between the partners, this is proved to be another successful project.”

In June 2010, Dow and BASF were honored to receive a 2010 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for the jointly developed innovative HPPO technology – recognized as a breakthrough technology that transfers sustainability principles from the research lab into the real world to enable environmentally responsible and economically viable routes to commercial chemical manufacturing. In 2009, Dow and BASF received the Institution of Chemical Engineers' Innovation and Excellence Award in Core Engineering for their jointly developed HPPO Technology – recognized as the process that best demonstrates a chemical engineering solution to improve resource efficiency, lifetime value and/or process optimization.

In December 2010, Dow announced plans to build a propylene glycol (PG) plant at the Map Ta Phut, Thailand site, with a production capacity of 150 KTA. The PG plant is currently on-track in the design process, and will utilize this environmentally advantaged PO from the new HPPO plant. It will be the largest PG plant in the Pacific area.

The AIE site also features a specialty elastomers plant, which announced start-up earlier this year; power utilities and infrastructure; and a new liquids cracker, also jointly owned by SCG and Dow. “The new integrated Thailand site serves as a strategic source point for all of Asia Pacific, and demonstrates Dow’s commitment to growing our presence to serve customers in our Performance Materials and Performance Plastics businesses across the area,” said Pat Dawson, Dow Asia Pacific president.

About Dow Polyurethanes

Dow is the world's largest producer of propylene oxide (PO), propylene glycol (PG), and polyether polyols, and is a leading producer of quality aromatic isocyanates, such as MDI and TDI. Dow's polyurethane products enhance a broad range of applications including construction, automotive, furniture, bedding, appliance, decorative molding, athletic equipment and more. The business provides key ingredients, systems and solutions for rigid, semi-rigid and flexible foams, adhesives, sealants, coatings, elastomers and binders. VORANOL™ VORACTIV™ polyols exemplify Dow’s ongoing initiative to lead the industry in providing high-performance products that meet critical consumer needs. For more information, visit www.dowpolyurethanes.com, www.dowpg.com, www.dowpo.com and www.voractiv.com.

About The Dow Chemical Company

Dow (NYSE:DOW) combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element" to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2010, Dow had annual sales of $53.7 billion and employed approximately 50,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About SCG

SCG, established in 1913, is publicly listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. SCG is one of ASEAN leading conglomerates, comprises five core businesses: chemicals, cement, paper, building materials, and distribution. Altogether, there are over 200 companies within the group, which collectively employ more than 34,000 employees, and manufacture more than 64,000 products.

SCG Chemicals continues to expand its business presence into international markets, and places a strong emphasis on innovation in products/services, processes, and business models in service of its diverse and sophisticated customer base. In addition, SCG Chemicals has partnered with a number of the world’s leading chemical firms. More information about SCG can be found at www.scg.co.th.

Contacts

The Dow Chemical Company
Melissa Jones
+1 989-636-2228
mcjones@dow.com
or
Gibbs & Soell
Carlene Eck
+1 847-519-9150 ext. 2134
ceck@gibbs-soell.com