Poor business conditions that the polystyrene industry faces have prompted Dow Chemical Co. to delay the restart of production activities at its polystyrene plant located in Joliet, Ill. Production at the facility was stopped on May 1 for a scheduled maintenance and regulatory shutdown, which will be successfully completed by May 16th. However, operations are anticipated to restart on June 1, 2006. Continued increases in the costs of raw materials for all polystyrene resin grades have aggravated a business condition that does not support acceptable margins.
The Joliet polystyrene plant has a production capacity of approximately 125,000 metric tons/year (275 million lbs/annually). Dow is the world's largest producer of polystyrene with approximately 5.1 billion pounds global capacity; leading positions and manufacturing facilities in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America; and global integrated feedstock capabilities
17-May-06 
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