Chemical giant, The Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) suffered a pump failure in a light hydrocarbon plant in Freeport, Texas. However, the incident did not affect the downstream business and no injuries were reported.
Dow’s Light Hydrocarbon 7 plant had an upset in the internal hydrogen supply to the acetylene reactors that caused flaring of “offspec” ethylene.
Hydrogen supply was re-established as quickly as possible to bring the ethylene product back on spec.
Recently, Dow reported its first quarter of 2011 results. The company earned $0.82 per share in the first quarter of 2011, ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.67 per share as well as last year’s $0.43 per share. However, including one-time charges, the company earned $0.54 per share compared with $0.41 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Quarterly revenues jumped 20% year over year to $14.7 billion and were above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $13.8 billion. Volume and pricing gains across all business segments and geographical regions, particularly North America and Europe, yielded healthy revenue growth.
Dow anticipates that demand would improve further, especially in Asia, with the global economic recovery. The US and European markets have also started showing signs of improvement. Dow is also optimistic on major consumer-markets, including electronics, coatings, automotive and packaging. However, construction markets are expected to remain weak.
DOW faces stiff competition from EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DD).
Currently, Dow has a short-term (1 to 3 months) Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) but a long- term Neutral recommendation.
DU PONT (EI) DE (DD): Free Stock Analysis Report
DOW CHEMICAL (DOW): Free Stock Analysis Report
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