Two global giants in chemical sector- Dow Chemical and DuPont, to merge operations?

10-Dec-15

The two giants in the global chemical sector-Dow Chemicals and DuPont, have been reported, by unconfirmed sources, to be at an advanced stage of discussions towards an agreement to merge operations. Combined, Dow and DuPont would have sales of nearly US$90 bln- Dow had sales of US$58.1 bln in 2014 and DuPont posted sales of US$28.4 bln, as per PlasticsNews.com Earlier this year, DuPont attempted to improve its results by spinning off its struggling titanium dioxide unit – as well as Teflon-brand fluoropolymers – into a separate public company, Chemours. Last month the company announced another major change that involved plastics: a plan to consolidate two of its plastics-related units into a single business. From the beginning of next year DuPont’s Performance Polymers unit will merge with Packaging & Industrial Polymers. DuPont also is merging its Protection and Building Innovations units. In March this year, Dow announced that it would combine a large part of its chlorine value chain with specialty chemicals and ammunition maker Olin to create a global materials firm with annual sales of almost US$7 bln. The combination includes Dow’s global epoxy business and units that make feedstocks used in PVC production