Financial Analysis of Dow Chemicals - Research Paper Example

The company is considering building two new plants in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, and Schkopau, Germany. To reflect Dow’s disciplined portfolio management and strategy to focus on higher-value performance businesses, the company has decided to sell its global Polypropylene business to Braskem SA and in the third quarter of the financial year, Dow AgroSciences and M.S. Technologies LLC have announced submission to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for approval of the first-ever three-gene herbicide-tolerant soybean. Dow is named to Dow Jones Sustainability World Index 11th time since the index was launched. Dow has improved its rating from last year and has thus achieved the highest score in the chemical sector.

In the last quarter of the financial year, Dow launched its DOW POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle to U.S. markets, starting in Colorado and expanding into targeted states through 2012. A joint venture of Dow, SCG-Dow Group, has started its propylene oxide facility in Thailand using innovative hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide technology. To enhance innovation collaboration between two companies, Dow and Haier Group have agreed to establish the Haier-Dow Global Joint Innovation Laboratory in China.

Response to Part E
Following its strategy of global exposure, Dow Electronic Materials announced the formation of a new business to capture current and future demand for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the construction of a manufacturing and testing facility for metallization materials is underway in Korea. To strengthen research in important scientific fields, Dow announced 11 years, $25 million-per-year investment in programs with 11 leading U.S. universities, supporting every individual related to the program and enabling resources to face the world’s leading challenges.

Dow Chemicals has developed itself into a billion dollars worth of Multinational Corporation through its expansion strategy. With wider greater geographic reach, the company is now reaching fast-growing markets in various parts of the world. These areas include China, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The company has its footsteps on four continents of the world and its business operations appear to be growing at a rapid pace. In the financial year 2011, the company started projects in several parts of the globe to accelerate growth in its downstream business. These projects are turning out to be highly cost savings projects.

In the financial year 2011, the company achieved record sales in developing economies all around the globe. For instance, in China, the company’s sales reached a staggering $ 4.5 billion during the last financial year which is the best figure yet for the country from any offshore operations. Moreover, the company is steadfast and committed to its goal of 35% of revenues from developing economies of the world by the end of the current financial year.

Currently, the major chunk of the company’s revenue comes from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa which accounts for 35% of the global sale of the company and has more than 57 manufacturing sites all across these areas. Another 35% of the revenue is generated through North America where the company has 65 manufacturing sites and has employees more than 26,000 employees. The last thirty of the revenue comes from Asia Pacific countries and Latin America where the company is planning to further expand its operations through better market penetration techniques. Read More