Dow to shut 800,000 tons of chlorine and caustic equivalent capacity at its Freeport, Texas, plant

Mathew Kearney

December 2, 2013 (Thomson Reuters Corp.) – Dow Chemical Co said it would sell a bulk of its chlorine operations - its oldest business - as part of its plan to sell or spin off commodity chemicals assets worth up to $4 billion.

Other assets identified for sale by the world's No.1 chlorine producer on Monday included its epoxy business and some brine and energy assets, representing a total of $5 billion in revenue.

The bulk of what the company plans to sell is housed in its performance materials business, which is particularly exposed to swings in commodity prices.

Dow Chemical, like other U.S. chemical makers such as Dupont , is moving away from providing a wide range of products to focus on electronics, packaging and agriculture.

Dow Chemical said in October it expected to raise between $3 billion and $4 billion from asset sales in the next 18 to 24 months.

The largest U.S. chemical maker by sales has shed non-core businesses representing about $8 billion in revenue since 2009.

Dow Chemical also said on Monday it would shut about 800,000 tons of chlorine and caustic equivalent capacity in Freeport, Texas.

Dow Chemical said it expects to execute these plans within the next 12 to 24 months.

Dow Chemical shares were up 1.3 percent at $39.55 in premarket trading on Monday.

(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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