Sep 28 2015
Dow is reinforcing its commitment to invest in Africa and today it announces the first Polyurethanes Systems House in Sub-Saharan Africa. These focused investments demonstrate a commitment to the industry in the region and an invitation to customers to grow together with Dow.
“We are proud to introduce our first dedicated Polyurethanes Systems House in Durban which will serve as the hub to provide the Sub-Saharan African region with tailor-made polyurethanes systems,” said Jonathan Penrice, Global Vice President Polyurethanes at Dow.
Global innovation made available locally
Dow is investing in a local capability to better meet the specific requirements of the growing Sub-Saharan African region and be able to respond more quickly to customer needs.
“Dow is positive about the opportunities that its polyurethane innovations can bring to customers, markets and society,” explains Penrice. “According to our global credo ‘Innovating for You’, we believe that our differentiated solutions can help move the needle to improve people’s lives everywhere.”
Beneficiaries of this include the furniture and bedding, construction, energy, mining, refrigerated transportation and appliances industries that use polyurethane chemistry to improve product performance.
The company expects the Sadara complex in the Middle East to supply polyurethane building blocks beginning in late 2016. The supply from Sadara will give Sub-Saharan Africa access to more polyurethane materials needed to grow the construction, cold chain, furniture and bedding markets in the region.
“With Dow Polyurethanes expanding its presence in South Africa, the region will have a growing sales team and more capabilities as we now have a dedicated systems house at the Durban site,” Penrice adds.
Why South Africa benefits from using Polyurethanes
The timing of the inauguration couldn’t be more perfect as South Africa’s energy challenges continue to impact the economy, businesses and households. “The local needs for more energy efficient houses and food transportation in order to conserve energy can be met with our global innovations tailored to local market needs,” says Mohammed Sami, Commercial Leader Sub-Saharan Africa for Dow Polyurethanes.
“We are convinced polyurethane solutions can make a difference and deliver solutions for challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. For example, highly efficient and practical insulation materials for homes, buildings, refrigerated trucks and supermarket shelves that reduce energy consumption, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions – all at the same time.”
In support of insulation materials, South Africa’s power utility Eskom encourages the construction industry to build energy efficient homes. On its ‘Insulation in buildings: residential homes and commercial buildings’ report, Eskom states “With electricity costs rising, energy efficiency is also becoming a priority for property and home owners.
An insulated room requires 51% less energy to heat up than one that isn’t.” Using polyurethanes as an insulation material will save costs for both business and households.
With the inauguration of the Polyurethane Systems house, Dow also celebrated its first production batch in August. “Our new manufacturing capacity enables the leverage of global innovation locally,” says Sami. “Customers are looking forward to bringing more comfortable, high-performing and energy-efficient materials to a strategic growth market.”
About Dow Polyurethanes
Dow Polyurethanes develops and delivers a broad portfolio of performance products and tailor-made solutions to customers in a variety of industries and applications ranging from energy-efficient residential and commercial construction, industrial solutions, infrastructure repair, to consumer comfort solutions in flooring, furniture, and footwear. The business provides key ingredients, fully-formulated systems and solutions for rigid, semi-rigid and flexible foams, adhesives, sealants, coatings, elastomers and binders.
Dow is one of the world's largest producers of propylene oxide (PO), propylene glycol (PG), and polyether polyols, and is a leading producer of quality aromatic isocyanates, such as MDI. Striving to meet the specific needs of its customers in their local geographic regions, Dow Polyurethanes operates a global network of production sites, systems houses, as well as innovation and service centers.
The business has an ongoing initiative to lead the industry in providing high-performance products that meet critical market needs. For more information, visit www.dowpolyurethanes.com.
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 the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity.
Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture.
In 2014, Dow had annual sales of more than $58 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 product families are manufactured at 201 sites in 35 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.