Dow Chemical's Portugal, Hungary XPS plants permanently shutdown

22-Oct-12

Dow Chemical has permanently closed its extruded foam polystyrene (EPS) plants at Estarreja, Portugal and Balatonfuzfo, Hungary, at the end of September, as per Platts. Dow will continue to supply products to customers from the remaining stocks. In April, Dow announced that as part of a drive to reduce costs it would close five petrochemical plants across Europe, North America and Latin America over the next two years. The other XPS facilities earmarked for closure are located in Terneuzen, the Netherlands and in Charleston, Illinois. Dow will also close its toluene diisocyanate plant in Camacari, Brazil. The move was in response to continued weakness in the European economy, the company said, as part of its previously announced cost-reduction efforts and its "Efficiency for Growth" program initiated in 2011. Dow estimates it will save around $250 million from these cloures.