Via Alex Tullo in this week's C&EN, this tough news:
Slow economic activity around the world stymied third quarter performance at Dow, the largest US chemical maker and the first major firm to report results.
Dow’s sales were down 24% in the third quarter versus the same period a year ago, while net income declined 57%.
Selling volumes declined by 6%, but a bigger factor in the results were prices for Dow products, which declined 18% from a year ago, the result, primarily, of lower energy costs.
The company’s largest business segment, Packaging and Specialty Plastics, saw a 26% drop in sales. Demand for the segment’s key product, polyethylene, was strong, but volumes for merchant sales of chemicals were weak. Moreover the segment saw a 20% decline in prices.
The main factors behind the sluggish economic performance continues to be Europe, which is seeing tepid growth, and China which is experiencing a slow recovery from its lockdowns.
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looks like Blogger doesn't work with anonymous comments from Chrome browsers at the moment - works in Microsoft Edge, or from Chrome with a Blogger account - sorry! CJ 3/21/20