Dow/Solvay Thai Hydrogen Peroxide Project Will Be World’s Largest

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) – The world’s largest hydrogen peroxide (HP) plant will be constructed in Thailand by a joint venture between the Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) (Midland, Michigan) and Solvay (BE:SOLB) (Brussels, Belgium). The plant will have an annual production capacity of over 330,000 tons of HP at 100% concentration and is scheduled to come on stream in 2010 and will provide the raw material feed for propylene oxide (PO).

The announcement of this project follows an earlier announcement that Dow would develop five petrochemical projects in Thailand. For related news item see June 19, 2007 – Dow Looks at $2 billion Projects as Thai Petrochems Endure Volatile Environment. In another project Dow and BASF are advancing negotiations for the construction of a world-scale, 390,000 tpa (PO) manufacturing plant at the Map Ta Phut petrochemical complex. The plant will use the hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology jointly developed by DOW and BASF.

The HPPO in Thailand will be the second world scale plant to use HPPO technology and will follow the 300,000 tpa project now under construction in Antwerp, Belgium, The Belgian plant is fed by an HP plant using Solvay’s proprietary technology and is scheduled to go on steam in early 2008. Dow is also currently building a cracker with the Siam Cement Group which will supply the new plant with propylene and is scheduled to go on steam in early 2008.

Thailand is an attractive location for an HPPO investment due to its fertile business climate and easy access to the entire Asia-Pacific region. This new facility will further support Dow’s growth plans for our downstream performance businesses in the region such as Dow Polyurethane and is another example of our commitment to meeting the needs of our customers through establishing joint ventures with strategic partners, using an asset-light investment approach. In addition the that HPPO technology offers environmental benefits such as reduced wastewater and increased energy efficiency underscores Dow’s commitment to sustainability,” said Pat Dawson, President of Dow Polyurethanes.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) provides marketing communication services ranging from industrial database solutions to market forecasting, custom analytics, and specialty promotions that support high-level image campaigns.