Starting in 2015, The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) plans to expand capacity and enhance production technologies and equipment at its four polyethylene (PE) production units located in Bahia Blanca, Argentina: Low-density (LDPE), Slurry, Gas-phase, and Solution. These investments will enable Dow to produce more high-performance resins for flexible and rigid packaging applications to meet growing demand in Latin America.
The LDPE plant will be refurbished to enable production of resins for extrusion coating used in multiple packaging applications. The Slurry plant expansion will help drive growth of bimodal blow-molding resins, which is currently in short supply in the region. The Gas-phase plant, which produces resins for geomembranes and pipes, will also be refurbished for improved operational performance. The Solution plant expansion will bring more of Dow’s popular Dowlex and Elite brand resins to market, and enable Dow to increase its participation in high-value markets, such as food packaging and hygiene.