DUBLIN, Ohio, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ashland Distribution, a
division of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), will be advising customers that Dow
Chemical Company has provided notice of its intent to terminate Ashland's
supply agreement for distribution of Dow plastics in North America,
effective March 1, 2007.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040113/ASHLANDLOGO )
"While we regret Dow's decision, we are prepared to respond quickly,"
said Ted Harris, president, Ashland Distribution. "Because of our
partnerships with a variety of global plastics manufacturers, we are
prepared to offer our customers a range of conversion options to meet their
performance, quality and delivery needs."
Fiscal 2006 purchases under this agreement totaled $170 million,
representing approximately 5 percent of Ashland Distribution's total
materials purchases that year. The decision by Dow is specific only to
plastics distribution in North America. However, Ashland Distribution also
has a plastics distribution contract with Dow in Europe, under which it
purchased $60 million of plastics in fiscal 2006, which could at some point
be impacted.
While a substantial number of customers may choose to continue using
Dow plastics, especially initially, Ashland will aggressively pursue
retention of these customers, with the support of its plastics manufacturer
partners.
Ashland Distribution, a division of Ashland Inc., is a leading
distributor of chemicals, plastics, composite materials and environmental
services.
Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), a diversified, global chemical company,
provides quality products, services and solutions to customers in more than
100 countries. A FORTUNE 500 company, it operates through four wholly owned
divisions: Ashland Performance Materials, Ashland Distribution, Valvoline
and Ashland Water Technologies. To learn more about Ashland, visit
http://www.ashland.com.
Fortune 500 is a registered trademark of Time Inc.
SOURCE Ashland Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.ashland.com/
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CONTACT:
Jim Vitak, of Ashland Distribution,
+1-614-790-3715, or email, jevitak@ashland.com
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