Dow Raises Prices on Fuel Cost Spike

Dow Chemical(DOW Quote - Cramer on DOW - Stock Picks) on Wednesday said it was raising the prices of all products as much as 20% in response to soaring energy costs, issuing a strong rebuke of Washington's failure to address the issue.

At the current rate, energy and feedstock costs could climb to $32 billion this year. Dow spent $8 billion on the same costs in 2002.

"For years, Washington has failed to address the issue of rising energy costs and, as a result, the country now faces a true energy crisis, one that is causing serious harm to America's manufacturing sector and all consumers of energy," said Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris. "The government's failure to develop a comprehensive energy policy is causing U.S. industry to lose ground when it comes to global competitiveness, and our own domestic markets are now starting to see demand destruction throughout the U.S."

Dow said it plans to review all terms with all customers as it increases prices for its broad range of products and services such as food and pharmaceuticals, paints, packaging and personal care products.

The company also said it is "continuing its aggressive cost-control plan."

Shares were up fractionally to $40.55 in recent trading.

Competitors DuPont(DD Quote - Cramer on DD - Stock Picks), Air Products & Chemicals(APD Quote - Cramer on APD - Stock Picks), Rohm & Haas(ROH Quote - Cramer on ROH - Stock Picks) and Celanese(CE Quote - Cramer on CE - Stock Picks) also were rising modestly.