Dow Completes Construction of ELITE™ Enhanced Polyethylene Production Unit in Freeport, Texas

• First of four new derivative investments currently underway as
  part of Company’s previously announced investments on the U.S. Gulf
  Coast
• Facility start-up will be sequenced with mid-2017 start-up of
  Company’s world-scale ethylene production facility
• Unit features proprietary solution process technology with
  unmatched catalyst & comonomer flexibility for applications in
  high-performance food packaging and health and hygiene

FREEPORT, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) today announced the completion of
the construction phase of its new ELITE™ enhanced polyethylene
production facility in Freeport, Texas.

Completed on time, the 400,000 metric ton polyethylene unit is the first
of four new derivative investments currently under way at Dow’s
manufacturing sites in Texas and Louisiana as part of the company’s
previously announced $6 billion expansion on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

“This milestone further reflects the steady progress our teams are
making to bring these multi-phased investments online to enhance our
cost-advantaged integration and industry-leading innovation,” said Jim
Fitterling, Dow’s president and chief operating officer. “Taken
together, these investments represent the industry’s broadest and most
differentiated derivative slate, fueled by Dow’s proprietary catalyst
and process technologies, and will deliver enhanced products and
technologies for our customers while enabling higher quality growth for
our shareholders.”

The production unit now enters its commissioning and start-up phase in
sequence with the mid-year start-up of Dow’s 1.5 million metric ton
world-scale ethylene facility. The plant is expected to ramp up during
the third quarter and be fully operational in the fourth quarter.
Designed with Dow’s proprietary Solution process technology, the unit
will produce ELITE™ enhanced polyethylene resins, known for their
versatility and high performance attributes in multiple types of
flexible packaging applications for food, personal hygiene products and
industrial packaging.

“The mechanical completion of our first new polyethylene unit is yet
another milestone that brings us closer to having more volume to meet
growing customer demand globally,” said Diego Donoso, business president
for Dow’s Packaging and Specialty Plastics business. “As with our
ethylene production facility, the Dow team safely delivered the project
on time. This is yet another example of Dow’s ability to deliver on our
commitments to generate value for our customers, shareholders and
employees.”

Dow’s other three derivative units along with a planned debottleneck are
proceeding on schedule and are staged to come online throughout 2017 and
2018.

• New specialty low density polyethylene for industrial and
  supply chain packaging applications (Capacity: 350 KTA), which is also
  expected to come online in coordination with the cracker;
• Next Generation NORDEL™ metallocene EPDM to deliver solutions
  for higher-margin applications for the transportation, infrastructure
  and consumer durables end-markets (Capacity: 200 KTA), expected to
  startup in early 2018;
• Bi-modal gas phase de-bottleneck to enable more offerings
  for high-performance pipe and fitting applications, as well as the cap
  and closure market (125 KTA), to follow later in 2018;
• High Melt Index Specialty and Conventional Polyolefin Elastomers for
  high-performance flexible packaging, transportation and consumer
  markets (Capacity: 320 KTA), expected to come online in late 2018.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to
passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company
is driving innovations that extract value from material, polymer,
chemical and biological science to help address many of the world’s most
challenging problems, such as the need for fresh food, safer and more
sustainable transportation, clean water, energy efficiency, more durable
infrastructure, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s
integrated, market-driven portfolio delivers a broad range of
technology-based products and solutions to customers in 175 countries
and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, infrastructure,
transportation, consumer care, electronics, and agriculture. In 2016,
Dow had annual sales of $48 billion and employed approximately 56,000
people worldwide. The Company’s more than 7,000 product families are
manufactured at 189 sites in 34 countries across the globe. References
to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its
consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More
information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

^®TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an
affiliated company of Dow

Contacts

The Dow Chemical Company
Jarrod Erpelding
Corporate Media
Relations
989.633.1863
[email protected]