Horgen, Switzerland - October 31, 2005

The continued pressure from rising raw material costs and product support costs do not allow for acceptable margins for Dow. Based on this situation, Dow Europe GmbH is announcing the following price increases across the European, Middle East and African regions.

Effective November 15, 2005, Dow Europe will increase by 100 Euro per metric ton for all grades of its AFFINITY™ polyolefin plastomers and all grades of its ENGAGE™ polyolefin elastomers.

"The upward shift in costs is on its own challenging, however, the limited feedstock availability is tightening and impacting supply and demand worldwide, and putting the industry under tremendous pressure," says Peter Heydasch, Product Director for Performance Elastomers & Plastomers in Europe. "Given the current circumstances, we have to act quickly and decisively to ensure we can meet customer needs and be able to reinvest in our activities long-term."

Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $40 billion, Dow serves customers in 175 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress: food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 43,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

For Editorial Information:

Kulwant Steiger
Dow Europe GmbH
+41-44-728-2488