Dow to Exit Hydroxyalkyl Acrylates Market

The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) announced today its intent to stop producing and marketing hydroxyalkyl acrylates (HAA) by the end of 2007.

The HAA product line includes hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and hydroxypropyl acrylate (HPA). These products are sold largely to major coatings formulators for use in automotive topcoat applications.

“Dow’s competitiveness in the HAA market has deteriorated significantly as a result of high raw material costs, industry overcapacity and declining demand with a shift to low acid HAA products,” explained Chris Kok, global HAA product manager. “Moreover, after carefully reviewing our options, we believe that we can generate more value by directing our resources and capital towards other promising growth initiatives that better fit with Dow’s emphasis on more innovative products and market-facing businesses. Our priority now is to ensure a seamless transition for our loyal customers and take whatever reasonable steps we can to minimize disruption for them.”

Dow will work closely with customers to manage last-time orders, which must be in by December 12, 2007, with delivery no later than November 12, 2008.

This decision has no impact on Dow’s standing as a leading acrylic acid and acrylic ester producer. Dow manages those products independently from the HAA line.