Earnings Preview: Cost Cuts May Help Dow Chemical

SANDY SHORE

DENVER (AP) — Dow Chemical Co., the nation's largest chemical maker, is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings Thursday before the market opens. Here is a summary of company news and analysts' thoughts from that period:

OVERVIEW: Dow manufactures basic products used in a variety of consumer items from shopping bags to toys and automobiles. It has sought to shift the focus of its business away from commodity chemicals, made from fossil fuels, to specialty chemicals, used in products like cosmetics and food additives.

During the third quarter, the Midland, Mich.-based company took steps to raise cash to pay off debt and meet a federal government mandate to divest some assets it acquired as part of a $16.5 billion buyout of Rohm & Haas Co. earlier this year.

Dow sold its interest in a Netherlands-based crude oil refinery to Paris-based Total SA for about $800 million, and a Texas acrylic acid and esters plant and a specialty latex business to Arkema for $50 million.

It also announced plans to sell a hollow sphere plastic pigment product line to specialty chemicals maker Omnova Solutions Inc. and close two production units at a Texas plant by the end of the year.