(BUSINESS WIRE)--Polyolefin Elastomers and Olefin Block Polymers (OBCs) from Dow continue to receive broad market acceptance, and are raising the bar for specialty plastics across a number of applications. Dow Elastomers has continuously been recognized as an industry leader in delivering innovation and unique offerings. Customers across the value chain rely on these for a myriad of markets, and Dow Elastomers is significantly growing participation in high-growth consumer applications through careful market segmentation and innovation of new materials.

"Breakthrough technologies like INFUSE™ and INTUNE™ OBCs, born from our proprietary chain shuttling Olefin Block Copolymer platform, underscore Dow's ability to translate value chain intimacy into differentiated, market-driven solutions that continue to change the game for the plastics industry," said Kim Ann Mink, Ph.D., business president, Dow Elastomers, Electrical and Telecommunications. "Both products exemplify the power of our industry-leading innovation pipeline and our ability to rapidly commercialize technologies that deliver enhanced performance at lower systems cost for customers across end-use markets - delivering growth and competitive advantage for Dow, our direct customers and brand owners alike."

INFUSE for Consumer Goods

The Dow family of proprietary OBCs began with INFUSE, which continues to set new standards for performance and is successfully displacing styrenic blocks and ethylene vinyl acetate in consumer applications ranging from footwear to hygiene products and housewares. In footwear, INFUSE is improving resilience, softness and durability, while reducing overall shoe weight - key features for cushioning performance, which has shown a dramatic increase in consumer buying behavior for running shoes in recent years.*

The entire footwear value chain is taking notice of the broad-based performance advantages enabled by INFUSE™, with several of today's largest brand owners launching or currently in development of new shoe models with INFUSE-based midsoles.

The athletic shoe market is just one area where Dow Elastomers is collaborating to deliver next-generation products with INFUSE. The product is revolutionizing several industries, due to its unique value propositions in consumer durables, infrastructure, packaging, personal care and other high growth markets. Dow Elastomers is currently expanding global production capabilities for INFUSE.

INTUNE for a Multitude of End-use Markets

The journey continues with INTUNE polypropylene-based OBCs, Dow's second generation technology derived from the same proprietary chain shuttling platform, that deliver a range of new to the world, highly effective solutions for combining materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene to provide the best benefits of each material, while minimizing individual trade-off properties.

INTUNE allows manufacturers and brand owners to design new products by obtaining the unique characteristics of two polymers which are typically not compatible. For example, they gain the flexibility of polyethylene and the heat resistance of polypropylene. INTUNE™ offers enhanced performance at lower systems cost for customers across a multitude of end-markets, including packaging, consumer durables, transportation, construction, hygiene, wire and cable, among others. It can also allow for continued property retention with the addition of polyethylene or polypropylene recycled content.

In packaging for example, INTUNE is enabling manufacturers to further improve performance while reducing energy consumption and productions costs by reducing the number of tie layers needed to achieve desired performance sought by brand owners - including food preservation, durability, and air and moisture protection.

Initially unveiled at the K-Show 2013, INTUNE has achieved global commercial sales and is progressing with product development and market proliferation.

NORDEL™ EPDM for Transportation and Infrastructure

Dow Elastomers is also progressing on its new world-scale NORDEL production unit in Plaquemine, La., where construction has begun and new product development is underway. The new plant's proprietary advanced post-metallocene catalyst and oil extension technology will enable Dow to expand participation in its foundational markets of transportation and infrastructure, as well as enter into new higher value segments, including automotive sponge weather strip and thermoplastic vulcanizates, and medium voltage power cables.

"Our new NORDEL facility will position Dow as the only post-metallocene EPDM producer globally, enabling a broader range of solutions for our customers, while also meeting increasing global demand for current applications," added Mink. "We are also the only EPDM producer investing in the highly advantaged U.S. Gulf Coast region."

This new production unit will service customers globally and is on target to come online in 2016.

A History and Future of Innovation

Dow Elastomers has a proven track record of disruptive, market-driven innovations. Since the early 1990s, when the business launched its revolutionary INSITE™ catalyst technology, Dow Elastomers has launched seven new-to-the-world polymer families.

Dow Elastomers is the world's leading producer of polyolefin elastomers, with the industry's broadest product portfolio, the global leader in metallocene EPDM and the industry's only producer with global solutions trains on three continents. The business is further bolstering its global capacity, differentiated product portfolio and rich innovation engine through the Company's investments on the U.S. Gulf Coast and Sadara Chemical Company. Collectively, these investments will solidify Dow as the plastics industry's preferred polyolefin elastomers and EPDM solutions provider, and further enable Dow Elastomers and its customers to serve high-growth consumer markets around the world.

*Sporting Goods Business Weekly, June 2, 2014 edition pg 15 "Influences on Footwear Purchases"

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 2013, Dow had annual sales of more than $57 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 products are manufactured at 201 sites in 36 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.

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