Dow Chem Unit, Brazil Sugar Co To Make Plastic From Ethanol

CNNMoney.com
June 04, 2008: 03:07 PM EST

SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Dow Chemical Co.'s (DOW) Brazilian subsidiary is roughly two months away from acquiring farmland to grow sugarcane for ethanol, a company official said Monday.

Diego Donoso, a sales and marketing manager for Dow in Brazil said the sugarcane grown on the land will be turned into polyethylene plastic under the company's Dowlex brand.

The company will be producing ethanol in partnership with Brazilian sugar company Crystalsev. They plan to begin producing polyethylene by 2011.

"Ethanol gave us the chance to continue investing in our plastics business in Brazil," Donoso said. Dow has no significant plastics presence in Brazil, but is well-known locally as a chemical company.

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