Dow Moves Toward Volume Production Of New Resins.

Dow Plastics, Midland, Mich., has made steps toward larger-scale manufacturing of its two newest polymers:

* Dow recently started up a 50-million-lb/yr product-development plant in Sarnia, Ont., that will make Index Interpolymers. These are the world's first random copolymers of ethylene and styrene. By varying the proportions of the two monomers, Dow can tailor the properties to be anything from rigid and glassy to soft and rubbery. These resins already have commercial applications in cushioning and sound-deadening foams.

Index resins will become commercially available from a world-scale plant planned to start up at a still undetermined site in the next two years. Meanwhile, Dow has launched a web site (www.indexinterpolymers.com) to provide product and application information.

* Dow is building its first industrial-scale plant to make polycyclohexyl ethylene (PCHE), a clear cyclo-olefin that is said to have advantages over polycarbonate for next-generation DVDs. A 20-million lb/yr facility, expandable to 40 million lb, is being built at Dow's BSL subsidiary in Schkopau, Germany. Start-up is scheduled for mid-to-late 2001. Meanwhile, PCHE is available in developmental quantities through Dow pilot facilities in the U.S.