Dow Announces 50 Percent Order Allocation For Glycidyl Methacrylate

Midland, MI — The Epoxy Products and Intermediates (EP&I) business of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") announced today that it is reducing allocation levels of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) from 80 to 50 percent of customers' average monthly volume. The order control measure is effective immediately.

Production at Dow's GMA facility in Freeport, Texas, was suspended as part of a precautionary site-wide shutdown ahead of Hurricane Rita. The unit sustained no structural damage as a result of the hurricane. However, operational issues since the unit's restart have forced Dow to take it down for repair.

"Any decision to shutdown a production facility is difficult, especially during a period of high demand from our valued customers," said Brent Polak, Dow product manager for GMA. "By late next week, barring unforeseen circumstances, we will be returning the plant to full production." The 50 percent allocation will likely remain in effect until the end of 2005. "It will take time for us to catch up on lost production and build our inventories to meet the strong demand," explained Polak.

Dow is the leading worldwide producer of GMA, a high purity, dual functionality monomer – bringing together the chemical resistance of an epoxy with the weatherability of an acrylic. GMA is used in a wide variety of high performance coatings applications. For more information about GMA and other specialty acrylic monomers from Dow, visit www.dowacrylicmonomers.com.

SOURCE: The Dow Chemical Company