Dow Chemical Canada Inc. (Dow Canada) announced today that its Chlor-Vinyl business has signed an agreement to sell Dow's Western Canada caustic soda business to Univar Canada Ltd.

This sale includes the West Coast distribution centre (WCDC) in North Vancouver, British Columbia, its marine, rail and truck terminal assets and other miscellaneous equipment. Close of the transaction is expected as soon as practicable in 2007, subject to regulatory approval. Dow Canada is maintaining its caustic soda business in Eastern Canada.

"Since the shut down of the Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Chlor-Alkali and Ethylene Dichloride plants in October 2006, we have played a distribution role for caustic soda in Western Canada," said Jeff Johnston, president, Dow Canada. "This activity did not align with Dow's overall strategy to be a competitive chemical producer in this region, nor did it take full advantage of our company's core manufacturing capabilities."

Dow Canada does not expect any job loss from the divestiture. As well, no market disruption is anticipated. Under the agreement, Dow will provide Univar with caustic soda rail to truck offloading services for Western Canada truck customers at its Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta site.

"Dow remains committed to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence here in Canada," continued Johnston. "We continue to be focused on growing our North American competitive advantage through hydrocarbon-based petrochemical production."

The WCDC was built in 1980 to act as Dow Canada's transfer facility for the increasing quantities of products manufactured at Fort Saskatchewan. Following the shutdown of the Chlor-Alkali and Ethylene Dichloride facilities at the Fort in October 2006, Dow continued to use the WCDC to supply caustic soda to customers in Western Canada.

Caustic soda is an essential ingredient in many industrial operations including pulp and paper, textiles, detergents, and chemical processing.