Dow Chemical 2011 Annual Report Download - page 12

Dow’s integrated business portfolio is positioned to
deliver value on multiple fronts and capture growth
when and where it occurs. In 2011, we introduced a new
management structure and new operating segments
that further emphasize the strategic importance of Dow’s
diversifi cation and refl ect our clear shift to innovation-
focused specialty businesses that deliver higher growth.
By combining our plastics businesses into one transformed,
powerful division, we are realizing immediate growth
and innovation synergies. Performance Plastics
is organized across four high-growth, high-margin
businesses that are growing faster than GDP and focused
on large sectors, such as packaging, elastomers, hygiene
and medical, and electrical and telecommunications.
The division’s transformation also refl ects Dow’s active
portfolio management over the last two years, with the
divestitures of non-strategic businesses, such as Styron and
Polypropylene. As a result, the Performance Plastics division
holds the potential to deliver signifi cantly higher earnings,
while dampening earnings volatility.
Another division with powerful opportunities is Performance
Materials. This division produces novel building blocks that
support Dow’s downstream growth and has leading positions
in a wide variety of applications, from automotive glass bonding
to state-of-the-art formulations for electrical laminates. A robust
innovation pipeline provides unique chemistries tailored to
customer needs. Performance Materials consumes 30 percent
of Dow‘s cost-advantaged feedstocks and is expected to gain
higher margins as a result of U.S. Gulf Coast investments.
Strong geographic positions and robust innovation pipelines
continue to differentiate our Agricultural Sciences and
Advanced Materials1 divisions. Dow AgroSciences expects
to deliver signifi cant technology-driven growth, led by SMARTSTAX®
and POWERCORE™ seed traits, Sulfoxafl or2 insecticide and the
Enlist™ Weed Control System.2 At the same time, Advanced
Materials continues to build on its leadership positions in electronic
materials, launching a new LED Technologies business to capture
current and future demand for LEDs in the global solid-state
lighting market.
Finally, our Feedstocks & Energy division brings unparalleled
cost advantage to our performance and market-driven businesses
by providing essential feedstocks for our downstream specialties.
In addition, the division increases Dow’s competitiveness through
its highly effi cient operations that recycle and reuse by-products,
its strong partnerships that enable access to advantaged feedstocks
and market channels, and its signifi cant scale and geographic reach.
1 Dow Advanced Materials includes the Electronic and Functional Materials
and Coatings and Infrastructure Solutions operating segments.
2 Subject to regulatory approval.
10 The Dow Chemical Company
A Transformed Portfolio
Oil and Gas
Automotive
Packaging
Hygiene
and Medical
Water
Coatings
Electronics
Agriculture
and Nutrition
Agricultural
Sciences
Feedstocks & Energy
Performance
Materials
Performance
Plastics
Advanced
Materials
Highly Differentiated, Market-Oriented, Technology-Rich Businesses and End-Markets
Advantaged Feedstocks to Support and Advance Downstream Growth
Strategically Integrated for Profi table Growth