DOW INC. (DOW)
SIC breadcrumb: Manufacturing > Chemicals And Allied Products > SIC 2821 Plastic Materials, Synth Resins & Nonvulcan Elastomers
SEC company page: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1751788. Latest filing source: 0001751788-26-000018.
Informational only - descriptive public-record data, not investment advice.
Selected Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Unit | FY | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 39,968,000,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-03 |
| Net income | -2,444,000,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-03 |
| Assets | 58,538,000,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-03 |
Financials
Annual standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-02-03. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001751788.json. Derived margins, ratios, and free cash flow are computed from the extracted annual SEC facts.
| Metric | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 49,604,000,000 | 42,951,000,000 | 38,542,000,000 | 54,968,000,000 | 56,902,000,000 | 44,622,000,000 | 42,964,000,000 | 39,968,000,000 | |
| Net income | 595,000,000 | 4,775,000,000 | -1,272,000,000 | 1,294,000,000 | 6,405,000,000 | 4,640,000,000 | 660,000,000 | 1,201,000,000 | -2,444,000,000 |
| Diluted EPS | 0.60 | 6.21 | -1.84 | 1.64 | 8.38 | 6.28 | 0.82 | 1.57 | -3.70 |
| Operating cash flow | -4,929,000,000 | 4,254,000,000 | 5,930,000,000 | 6,226,000,000 | 7,009,000,000 | 7,475,000,000 | 5,196,000,000 | 2,914,000,000 | 1,032,000,000 |
| Capital expenditures | 2,807,000,000 | 2,091,000,000 | 1,961,000,000 | 1,252,000,000 | 1,501,000,000 | 1,823,000,000 | 2,356,000,000 | 2,940,000,000 | 2,479,000,000 |
| Dividends paid | 0.00 | 1,550,000,000 | 2,071,000,000 | 2,073,000,000 | 2,006,000,000 | 1,972,000,000 | 1,966,000,000 | 1,490,000,000 | |
| Share buybacks | 0.00 | 0.00 | 500,000,000 | 125,000,000 | 1,000,000,000 | 2,325,000,000 | 625,000,000 | 494,000,000 | 0.00 |
| Assets | 83,699,000,000 | 60,524,000,000 | 61,470,000,000 | 62,990,000,000 | 60,603,000,000 | 57,967,000,000 | 57,312,000,000 | 58,538,000,000 | |
| Stockholders' equity | 31,515,000,000 | 32,483,000,000 | 13,541,000,000 | 12,435,000,000 | 18,165,000,000 | 20,718,000,000 | 18,607,000,000 | 17,355,000,000 | 16,008,000,000 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 6,189,000,000 | 2,724,000,000 | 2,367,000,000 | 5,104,000,000 | 2,988,000,000 | 3,886,000,000 | 2,987,000,000 | 2,189,000,000 | 3,816,000,000 |
| Free cash flow | -7,736,000,000 | 2,163,000,000 | 3,969,000,000 | 4,974,000,000 | 5,508,000,000 | 5,652,000,000 | 2,840,000,000 | -26,000,000 | -1,447,000,000 |
Ratios
| Metric | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net margin | 9.63% | -2.96% | 3.36% | 11.65% | 8.15% | 1.48% | 2.80% | -6.11% | |
| Return on equity | 1.89% | 14.70% | -9.39% | 10.41% | 35.26% | 22.40% | 3.55% | 6.92% | -15.27% |
| Return on assets | 5.70% | -2.10% | 2.11% | 10.17% | 7.66% | 1.14% | 2.10% | -4.18% | |
| Current ratio | 2.53 | 1.57 | 1.72 | 1.58 | 1.81 | 1.77 | 1.61 | 1.97 |
Financial Charts
Quarterly
Quarterly standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-04-24. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001751788.json.
| Quarter | End Date | Revenue | Net Income | Diluted EPS | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-Q2 | 2022-06-30 | 2.26 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2022-Q3 | 2022-09-30 | 1.02 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q1 | 2023-03-31 | -0.13 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q2 | 2023-06-30 | 11,420,000,000 | 501,000,000 | 0.68 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2023-Q3 | 2023-09-30 | 10,730,000,000 | 327,000,000 | 0.42 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2023-Q4 | 2023-12-31 | 10,621,000,000 | -95,000,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2024-Q1 | 2024-03-31 | 10,765,000,000 | 538,000,000 | 0.73 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q2 | 2024-06-30 | 10,915,000,000 | 458,000,000 | 0.62 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q3 | 2024-09-30 | 10,879,000,000 | 240,000,000 | 0.30 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q4 | 2024-12-31 | 10,405,000,000 | -35,000,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2025-Q1 | 2025-03-31 | 10,431,000,000 | -290,000,000 | -0.44 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q2 | 2025-06-30 | 10,104,000,000 | -801,000,000 | -1.18 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q3 | 2025-09-30 | 9,973,000,000 | 124,000,000 | 0.08 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q4 | 2025-12-31 | 9,460,000,000 | -1,477,000,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2026-Q1 | 2026-03-31 | 9,794,000,000 | -445,000,000 | -0.74 | reported discrete quarter |
Quarterly Charts
Macro Cross-References
- CPIAUCSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average
- UNRATE - Unemployment Rate
- FEDFUNDS - Federal Funds Effective Rate
- CES0500000003 - Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private
- DFEDTARU - Federal Funds Target Range - Upper Limit
- DFEDTARL - Federal Funds Target Range - Lower Limit
- DGS3MO - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 3-Month Constant Maturity
- DGS2 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 2-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS10 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS30 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 30-Year Constant Maturity
- T10Y2Y - 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Minus 2-Year Treasury Constant Maturity
- CPILFESL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food and Energy
- CPIUFDSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Food
- CPIENGSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Energy
- CUSR0000SAH1 - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Shelter
- PCEPI - Personal Consumption Expenditures: Chain-type Price Index
- PCEPILFE - Personal Consumption Expenditures Excluding Food and Energy: Chain-type Price Index
- PPIACO - Producer Price Index by Commodity: All Commodities
- T10YIE - 10-Year Breakeven Inflation Rate
- U6RATE - Total Unemployed, Plus All Marginally Attached Workers Plus Total Employed Part Time for Economic Reasons
- PAYEMS - All Employees, Total Nonfarm
- CIVPART - Labor Force Participation Rate
- EMRATIO - Employment-Population Ratio
- UNEMPLOY - Unemployed
- CE16OV - Employment Level
- ICSA - Initial Claims
- JTSJOL - Job Openings: Total Nonfarm
- JTSQUR - Quits: Total Nonfarm
- GDPC1 - Real Gross Domestic Product
- A191RL1Q225SBEA - Real Gross Domestic Product: Percent Change from Preceding Period
- INDPRO - Industrial Production: Total Index
- TCU - Capacity Utilization: Total Index
- HOUST - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units
- PERMIT - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units
- RSAFS - Advance Retail Sales: Retail Trade
- PCE - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- DSPIC96 - Real Disposable Personal Income
- PSAVERT - Personal Saving Rate
- M2SL - M2
- BOPGSTB - U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Balance
- MSPUS - Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States
- HSN1F - New One Family Houses Sold: United States
- RHORUSQ156N - Homeownership Rate in the United States
- TTLCONS - Total Construction Spending: Total Construction in the United States
- RRVRUSQ156N - Rental Vacancy Rate in the United States
- TOTALSL - Total Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- REVOLSL - Revolving Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- DRCCLACBS - Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product
- GPDI - Gross Private Domestic Investment
- GCE - Government Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment
- PCEC - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- NETEXP - Net Exports of Goods and Services
- GFDEBTN - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt
- GFDEGDQ188S - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product
- FYFSD - Federal Surplus or Deficit
- FGRECPT - Federal Government Current Receipts
- FGEXPND - Federal Government: Current Expenditures
- MANEMP - All Employees, Manufacturing
- USCONS - All Employees, Construction
- USTRADE - All Employees, Retail Trade
- USFIRE - All Employees, Financial Activities
- USGOVT - All Employees, Government
- AWHAETP - Average Weekly Hours of All Employees, Total Private
- DGORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Durable Goods
- NEWORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Nondefense Capital Goods Excluding Aircraft
- BUSINV - Total Business Inventories
- EXPGS - Exports of Goods and Services
- IMPGS - Imports of Goods and Services
- IR - Import Price Index (End Use): All Commodities
- PPIFIS - Producer Price Index by Commodity: Final Demand
Latest quarter (10-Q)
Latest 10-Q source: 0001751788-26-000134.
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q is a combined report being filed by Dow Inc. and The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries (“TDCC” and together with Dow Inc., “Dow” or the "Company") due to the parent/subsidiary relationship between Dow Inc. and TDCC. The information reflected in the report is equally applicable to both Dow Inc. and TDCC, except where otherwise noted. Each of Dow Inc. and TDCC is filing information in this report on its own behalf and neither company makes any representation to the information relating to the other company.
Pursuant to General Instruction H(1)(a) and (b) for Form 10-Q "Omission of Information by Certain Wholly-Owned Subsidiaries," TDCC is filing this Form 10-Q with the reduced disclosure format.
Except as otherwise indicated by the context, the term "Union Carbide" means Union Carbide Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Additionally, the term "Diamond Infrastructure Solutions" means Dow InfraCo, LLC, an entity that owns and operates infrastructure assets at certain Dow locations on the U.S. Gulf Coast and became a consolidated variable interest entity upon the sale of a portion of the entity's membership interests on May 1, 2025. The term "EMEAI" refers to the geographic region of Europe, Middle East, Africa and India.
Dow's website and its content are not deemed incorporated by reference into this report.
STATEMENT ON MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT
During the first quarter of 2026, heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East impacted conditions in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime area through which a significant portion of global crude oil, refined products, and related chemical feedstocks are transported. The current conflict and geopolitical conditions in the Middle East have impacted the global chemical industry, resulting in damage to upstream oil and gas infrastructure and logistics challenges in the geographic region. The global supply chain disruptions have led to supply constraints in Asia Pacific and Europe, and lengthened transit times as production has increased in other regions to compensate for reduced production in the Middle East. Additionally, the Company's joint ventures located in the Middle East have been directly impacted by the conflict.
The Company operates in cost-advantaged geographic regions, including the U.S. & Canada and Latin America, which have not been directly impacted by the Middle East conflict. Additionally, the Company's feedstock flexibility has allowed the Company to operate its European assets competitively, despite the volatile energy and feedstock environment.
OUTLOOK
The Company is seeing rapid, positive momentum from its announced pricing actions in every business and every geographic region, as well as constructive impacts to its operating rates. Dow's purpose-built asset footprint, well-established supply chain routes and leading asset reliability are being leveraged to prioritize its customers and navigate the conflict in the Middle East. At the same time, Dow's teams remain focused on capturing growth in attractive markets while delivering cost savings and cash support. Transform to Outperform aims to radically simplify how Dow operates, reengineer processes and cost structures, and modernize how Dow serves its customers. These collective actions position the Company for improved growth and productivity, expanded margins and higher shareholder returns across the cycle.
OVERVIEW
The following is a summary of the results for the three months ended March 31, 2026:
•The Company reported net sales in the first quarter of 2026 of $9.8 billion, down 6 percent from $10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2025; Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 7 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 8 percent) and flat in Performance Materials & Coatings. Net sales decreased in the U.S. & Canada (down 10 percent), Asia Pacific (down 6 percent) and EMEAI (down 3 percent), and was flat in Latin America.
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•Local price decreased 7 percent compared with the first quarter of 2025 and was down in all operating segments; Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 9 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 8 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 4 percent). Local price was down in all geographic regions; EMEAI and Latin America (both down 9 percent), Asia Pacific (down 8 percent) and the U.S. & Canada (down 6 percent).
•Volume decreased 2 percent compared with the first quarter of 2025 and was mixed by operating segment; Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 1 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 4 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 2 percent). Volume increased in Latin America (up 9 percent) and was more than offset by a decrease in the U.S. & Canada (down 4 percent) and EMEAI (down 2 percent). Volume was flat in Asia Pacific.
•Currency had a favorable impact of 3 percent on net sales compared with the first quarter of 2025, driven by EMEAI (up 8 percent) and Asia Pacific (up 2 percent).
•Restructuring and asset related charges - net was $27 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $208 million in the first quarter of 2025. The first quarter of 2026 included charges related to severance and related benefit costs associated with Transform to Outperform and the first quarter of 2025 included primarily severance and related benefits costs associated with the 2025 Restructuring Program.
•Equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates was $303 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates of $20 million in the first quarter of 2025. The first quarter of 2026 included losses of $292 million primarily related to an adjustment to the Company's liability associated with its guarantee of Sadara's project financing debt and was related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics ($81 million) and Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure ($211 million). Additionally, the Company suspended recognition of its share of equity losses from Sadara in the first quarter of 2026.
•Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was $88 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $17 million in the first quarter of 2025. The increase reflects the ownership interest in Diamond Infrastructure Solutions held by InfraPark Holdings, LLC ("InfraPark"), a subsidiary of a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management. InfraPark purchased 40 percent of the membership interests in Diamond Infrastructure Solutions in the second quarter of 2025 and an additional 9 percent in the third quarter of 2025.
•Net loss available for Dow Inc. and TDCC common stockholder(s) was $533 million and $531 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $307 million and $305 million, respectively, in the first quarter of 2025. Loss per share for Dow Inc. was $0.74 per share in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $0.44 per share in the first quarter of 2025.
•Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations was $1,124 million in the first quarter of 2026, up $1,020 million compared with the first quarter of 2025. The increase reflects a cash payment of approximately $1.0 billion (net of Canadian tax withholding) received by the Company on March 2, 2026, as part of a 2025 damages judgment and associated fees related to the ethylene asset matter with Nova Chemicals Corporation ("Nova").
•On February 18, 2026, Standard & Poor's announced a long-term credit rating change for TDCC from BBB to BBB- and a short-term credit rating change from A-2 to A-3, with its outlook remaining negative.
•On February 27, 2026, Moody's Ratings announced a long-term credit rating change for TDCC from Baa2 to Baa3 and a short-term credit rating change from P-2 to P-3, with its outlook remaining negative.
•On March 16, 2026, Fitch Ratings affirmed TDCC's BBB and F2 rating, with its outlook remaining stable.
In addition, the following events occurred subsequent to the first quarter of 2026:
•On April 9, 2026, Dow Inc. announced results from the 2026 Annual Stockholder Meeting, including the election of all incumbent directors to its Board of Directors ("Board").
•On April 9, 2026, Dow Inc. announced that its Board declared a dividend of $0.35 per share, payable on June 12, 2026, to shareholders of record as of May 29, 2026. This marks the 459th consecutive dividend paid by the Company or its affiliates since 1912.
•On April 14, 2026, Dow Inc. announced that its Board appointed Karen S. Carter as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective July 1, 2026. Ms. Carter will succeed Jim Fitterling, who will transition from Chief Executive Officer to Executive Chair effective July 1, 2026. The Board also appointed Karen S. Carter to serve as a Director of the Board, effective July 1, 2026.
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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Net Sales
The following tables summarize net sales and sales variances by operating segment and geographic region from the prior year:
| Summary of Sales Results | Three Months Ended | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | Mar 31, 2026 | Mar 31, 2025 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 9,794 | $ | 10,431 |
| Sales Variances by Operating Segment and Geographic Region | Three Months Ended Mar 31, 2026 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | ||||||
| Percentage change from prior year | |||||||||
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | (9) | % | 3 | % | (1) | % | (7) | % | |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | (8) | 4 | (4) | (8) | |||||
| Performance Materials & Coatings | (4) | 2 | 2 | — | |||||
| Total | (7) | % | 3 | % | (2) | % | (6) | % | |
| Total, excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business | (7) | % | 3 | % | — | % | (4) | % | |
| U.S. & Canada | (6) | % | — | % | (4) | % | (10) | % | |
| EMEAI | (9) | 8 | (2) | (3) | |||||
| Asia Pacific | (8) | 2 | — | (6) | |||||
| Latin America | (9) | — | 9 | — | |||||
| Total | (7) | % | 3 | % | (2) | % | (6) | % |
Net sales in the first quarter of 2026 were $9.8 billion, down 6 percent from $10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2025, with local price down 7 percent, volume down 2 percent, and a favorable currency impact of 3 percent. Net sales decreased in all operating segments except Performance Materials & Coatings and all geographic regions except Latin America. Local price decreased in all geographic regions and all operating segments, with Packaging & Specialty Plastics down 9 percent, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure down 8 percent, and Performance Materials & Coatings down 4 percent. Volume decreased 2 percent, driven by U.S. & Canada (down 4 percent) and EMEAI (down 2 percent) partially offset by increases in Latin America (up 9 percent). Volume decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 1 percent) and Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 4 percent) and increased in Performance Materials & Coatings (up 2 percent). Currency favorably impacted net sales by 3 percent, driven by EMEAI (up 8 percent) and Asia Pacific (up 2 percent). Excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business, net sales decreased 4 percent.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales ("COS") was $9.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $9.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025. COS decreased in the first quarter of 2026 primarily due to lower raw material, feedstock and energy costs and the impact of the Company’s cost reduction initiatives. COS as a percentage of net sales was 93.5 percent in the first quarter of 2026 (93.6 percent in the first quarter of 2025).
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development ("R&D") expenses totaled $181 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $200 million in the first quarter
[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]
Latest 10-K MD&A
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
STATEMENT ON MACROECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES
Overview of Macroeconomic Conditions and the Company’s Response
The Company has continued to face challenging market conditions in 2025, including the significant impact of slower global GDP growth. Industry overcapacity and newer entrants exporting at anti-competitive economics have negatively impacted the Company’s results of operations and cash flows and are expected to continue to do so. In addition, the current uncertain geopolitical environment, including the impact of trade policies, has resulted in increased volatility in global markets, also negatively impacting the Company’s results of operations and cash flows. The macroeconomic conditions experienced in 2025 are expected to persist in the near term for the Company and the industry alike.
Despite these challenges, the Company has maintained a strong financial position and solid liquidity and has taken actions to mitigate impacts on its supply chain and results of operations. At the time of this filing, the ultimate impact of tariff policies and other evolving global trade measures, coupled with existing macroeconomic challenges, is uncertain. The Company is actively monitoring global trade developments to identify actions necessary to maintain competitiveness while it adapts to these new economic challenges and continuing to work with regulatory bodies to address anti-competitive behavior. More information on these risks and potential impact to the Company can be found in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.
In the first quarter of 2025, Dow announced targeted cost actions to reduce structural costs by $1 billion over the next two years, while its businesses work to balance supply with profitable demand. The cost actions target areas such as third-party spending and include a workforce reduction of approximately 1,500 roles. The Company also announced reductions to its capital expenditures for 2025.
The Company announced further actions to address ongoing macroeconomic volatility and persistently slower global GDP growth in the second quarter of 2025, including the decision to delay construction of its Path2Zero project in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. The Company’s expected 2025 enterprise-wide capital expenditures were adjusted to $2.5 billion from the Company's original plan of $3.5 billion after the actions taken in the first and second quarters of 2025.
In January 2026, the Company provided an updated timeline for its Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project, delaying completion of the project by two years, and expects the first and second phases of the project to start up by the end of 2029 and 2030, respectively. Dow remains committed to its Path2Zero project and the growth upside it will enable in targeted applications like pressure pipe, wire and cable, and food packaging. The project is expected to be the world’s first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide equivalent emissions integrated ethylene and derivatives complex.
On July 7, 2025, the Company announced additional restructuring actions, approved by its Board of Directors ("Board") on June 30, 2025, to rationalize its global asset footprint, including actions related to the three assets identified as part of the Company’s expanded strategic review of its European assets and certain corporate and other assets, and to enhance the Company’s competitiveness over the economic cycle. The program includes asset write-down and write-off charges, severance and related benefit costs, contract termination fees and other exit and disposal costs. These actions will be completed by the Company primarily over the next four years, including the asset shut downs and completion of the related decommissioning and demolition activities. Significant actions approved to date include the following:
•Packaging & Specialty Plastics will shut down an ethylene facility in Böhlen, Germany, by the end of 2027.
•Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure will shut down chlor-alkali and vinyl assets in Schkopau, Germany, by the end of 2027.
•Performance Materials & Coatings will shut down a basics siloxanes plant in Barry, United Kingdom, by mid-year 2026.
•The Company wrote off certain Corporate-aligned owned and leased non-manufacturing facilities and other assets.
More information on the restructuring actions and related charges can be found in Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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Beginning with the third quarter of 2025, the Company’s Board reduced the dividend by 50 percent to $0.35 per share, in response to the prolonged industry downturn. The adjustment to the size of the dividend reflects the Company’s balanced capital allocation approach and enhances financial flexibility amidst a persistently challenging macroeconomic environment.
On January 29, 2026, the Company announced Transform to Outperform, a comprehensive set of actions designed to improve near-term Operating EBITDA by simplifying the Company’s operating model, reducing its cost structure and delivering faster growth. Transform to Outperform is expected to deliver at least $2 billion near-term Operating EBITDA improvement from productivity improvements and growth and will be accretive to the $1 billion structural cost reductions announced in the first quarter of 2025. The Company expects to incur one-time costs and charges related to Transform to Outperform of $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion, including severance and related benefit costs of $600 million to $800 million associated with approximately 4,500 roles. Charges for severance and related benefit costs and the related implementation costs will be incurred primarily over the next two years.
Currency Exchange Rates
The Company's global business operations give rise to market risk exposure related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and international capital flows that may be affected by extensive regulations and controls, especially in developing or highly inflationary countries such as Argentina. The Company continues to monitor these situations and take appropriate actions as necessary to manage the financial impact pursuant to established guidelines and policies. If the Company is unable to manage certain exposures in a cost-effective manner it could have a significant negative impact on its future results of operations and cash flows. A detailed discussion of these and other principal risks and uncertainties, which may negatively impact the future results of the Company, are included in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.
| Table of Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| About Dow | 35 |
| Overview | 36 |
| Results of Operations | 38 |
| Segment Results | 41 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | 42 |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | 42 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | 43 |
| Corporate | 43 |
| Outlook | 44 |
| Liquidity and Capital Resources | 45 |
| Other Matters | 54 |
| Critical Accounting Estimates | 54 |
| Environmental Matters | 57 |
| Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation | 64 |
ABOUT DOW
Dow is one of the world’s leading materials science companies, serving customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. The Company's global breadth, asset integration and scale, customer-focused innovation and leading business positions enable it to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. Dow operates manufacturing sites in 29 countries and employs approximately 34,600 people.
In 2025, the Company had net sales of $40 billion, of which 40 percent were to customers in the U.S. & Canada; 31 percent were in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India ("EMEAI"); while the remaining 29 percent were to customers in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
In 2025, the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries did not operate in countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions and export controls as imposed by the U.S. State Department or in countries designated by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terrorism, including Cuba, Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Syria. The Company has policies and procedures in place designed to ensure that it and its consolidated subsidiaries remain in compliance with applicable U.S. laws and regulations.
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OVERVIEW
The following is a summary of the results for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2025:
The Company reported net sales of $40 billion in 2025, down 7 percent from $43 billion in 2024, with decreases across all operating segments and geographic regions, and driven by a decrease in local price of 7 percent. Net sales decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 8 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 6 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 5 percent).
Local price decreased 7 percent compared with 2024, with decreases in all operating segments and geographic regions. Local price decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 8 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 6 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 3 percent).
Volume was flat compared with 2024 and mixed by geographic region. Volume increased in the U.S. & Canada (up 2 percent) and Asia Pacific (up 1 percent), and decreased in EMEAI (down 4 percent) and Latin America (down 2 percent).
The impact of currency on net sales was flat compared with 2024.
Restructuring, goodwill impairment and asset related charges - net were $1,856 million in 2025 compared with $103 million in 2024. The restructuring charges recognized in 2025 were related to actions approved by the Board in January and June 2025 and consisted of severance and related benefit costs of $389 million, asset write-downs and write-offs of $349 million and costs associated with exit and disposal activities of $124 million. The Company also reported an impairment charge of $690 million related to goodwill associated with the Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals reporting unit, a pretax impairment charge of $303 million related to the assets used for chlor-alkali, propylene oxide and brine production in Latin America, and $1 million of asset related charges associated with the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program in 2025.
Equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates was $240 million in 2025, compared with losses of $6 million in 2024, primarily driven by continued integrated margin compression at the Company's principal joint ventures.
Sundry income (expense) - net for Dow Inc. and TDCC was income of $140 million and $157 million, respectively, in 2025, compared with income of $415 million and $404 million, respectively, in 2024. Sundry income (expense) - net decreased primarily due to non-cash settlement charges related to the Company's pension derisking activities and lower non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits, partially offset by gains on the divestiture of the Company's ownership in its DowAksa Advanced Composites Holdings BV joint venture ("DowAksa") and the sale of its soil fumigation product line.
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was $179 million in 2025, compared with $85 million in 2024. The increase reflects the ownership interest in Diamond Infrastructure Solutions held by InfraPark Holdings, LLC ("InfraPark"), a subsidiary of a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management. InfraPark purchased 49 percent of the membership interests in Diamond Infrastructure Solutions in 2025.
Net income (loss) available for Dow Inc. and TDCC common stockholder(s) was a loss of $2,623 million and $2,598 million, respectively, in 2025, compared with income of $1,116 million and $1,127 million, respectively, in 2024. Earnings (loss) per share for Dow Inc. was a loss of $3.70 per share in 2025, compared with earnings of $1.57 per share in 2024.
In 2025, Dow Inc. declared and paid dividends to common stockholders of $1,490 million.
Other notable events and highlights from the year ended December 31, 2025 include:
•On January 27, 2025, the Dow Inc. Board approved targeted actions to further achieve the Company's cost reduction initiatives in response to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, including a workforce reduction of approximately 1,500 roles. These targeted actions are expected to deliver $1 billion in cost savings by 2026.
•On February 21, 2025, Standard & Poor's affirmed TDCC's BBB and A-2 rating, and revised its outlook to negative from stable.
•On February 25, 2025, TDCC issued $1 billion of senior unsecured notes and announced that the proceeds would be used to complete cash tender offers for certain debt securities.
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•On March 13, 2025, the Company completed cash tender offers for certain debt securities. In total, $943 million aggregate principal amount was tendered and retired.
•On April 10, 2025, Dow Inc. announced results from the 2025 Annual Stockholder Meeting, including the election of all incumbent directors, as well as Rebecca B. Liebert, president and chief executive officer of The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, to its Board.
•On May 1, 2025, the Company completed the sale of 40 percent of the membership interests in its wholly owned subsidiary Diamond Infrastructure Solutions to InfraPark. Dow received initial cash proceeds of approximately $2.4 billion from the sale. The transaction included an option for InfraPark to purchase up to an additional 9 percent of Diamond Infrastructure Solutions' member interests in exchange for additional cash proceeds of up to $600 million within six months of the closing date of the sale.
•On May 1, 2025, the Company announced the completion of the sale of TeloneTM, a soil fumigation product line, to TriCal Soil Solutions, Inc., a distributor and applicator of soil fumigation products for net cash proceeds of $121 million.
•On June 10, 2025, The Court of King's Bench of Alberta, Canada signed a judgment ordering Nova Chemicals Corporation to pay the Company an additional amount of $1.62 billion Canadian dollars (equivalent to approximately $1.2 billion U.S. dollars) for damages the Company incurred through June 2018, which had not been previously quantified.
•On June 30, 2025, the Board approved restructuring actions to rationalize the Company's global asset footprint, including certain actions identified as part of the Company's previously announced strategic review of its European assets, and certain corporate and other assets.
•On July 7, 2025, Moody's Ratings announced a long-term credit rating change for TDCC from Baa1 to Baa2 and affirmed TDCC's P-2 rating and its outlook of negative.
•On July 24, 2025, the Company announced a 50 percent reduction to its dividend declared for the third quarter of 2025.
•On July 31, 2025, Fitch Ratings announced a long-term credit rating change for TDCC from BBB+ to BBB and a short-term credit rating change from F1 to F2, with its outlook remaining stable.
•On August 8, 2025, the Company sold its ownership interest in DowAksa to its joint venture partner, Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii A.Ş., for cash proceeds of $121 million, net of costs to sell and other transaction expenses and subject to customary post-closing adjustments.
•On August 29, 2025, the Company received approximately $540 million of additional proceeds following InfraPark's purchase of an additional 9 percent of the membership interests of Diamond Infrastructure Solutions, increasing its minority equity stake from 40 percent to 49 percent, and bringing the total proceeds from the transaction to approximately $3 billion.
•On September 3, 2025, TDCC issued $1.4 billion of senior unsecured notes.
•Dow was honored by Great Place to Work® and Fortune as one of the World's Best Workplaces. Dow was also certified as a Great Place to Work® in 15 countries and ranked on eight national Best Workplaces lists, including the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list in the United States for the fifth consecutive year.
•Dow received the first place spot on the Best Workplace in Manufacturing and Production list by Great Place to Work® and Fortune. This is the fifth consecutive year Dow has been named to this prestigious list and the second time atop the ranking.
•Dow received 10 2025 Edison Awards™ (one gold, four silver and five bronze), once again earning more awards than any other organization for the eighth consecutive year.
•Dow received six 2025 BIG Innovation Awards from the Business Intelligence Group™, matching the record number of BIG Innovation Awards Dow received in 2024.
•Dow received four prestigious 2025 SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement and Leadership) Business Sustainability Awards. Dow's RP 101 Trace Solution received a SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award. Dow's DOWSIL™ TC-6040 thermal conductive encapsulants, DOWSIL™ 2102 and DOWSIL™ 2110 adhesive, and EcoSense™ 2470 surfactant each received a SEAL Sustainable Product Award.
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In addition to the highlights above, the following events occurred subsequent to December 31, 2025:
•On January 5, 2026, the Company announced that A.N. Sreeram, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, had elected to retire in June 2026 after 20 years of service with Dow.
•On January 5, 2026, the Company announced that Andre Argenton had been named Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer effective January 1, 2026.
•On January 5, 2026, the Company announced Rebecca B. Liebert resigned from Dow's Board of Directors, effective January 2, 2026.
•On January 26, 2026, the Dow Inc. Board approved Transform to Outperform, a comprehensive set of actions designed to improve near-term Operating EBITDA by simplifying the Company’s operating model, reducing its cost structure and delivering faster growth.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
For comparison of results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2025.
Net Sales
The following tables summarize net sales and sales variances by operating segment and geographic region from the prior year:
| Summary of Sales Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 39,968 | $ | 42,964 |
| Sales Variances by Operating Segment and Geographic Region | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Percentage change from prior year | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Portfolio & Other 1 | Total | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | ||||||||||
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | (8) | % | 1 | % | — | % | (1) | % | (8) | % | (4) | % | — | % | (2) | % | (6) | % | |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | (6) | — | — | — | (6) | (6) | — | 1 | (5) | ||||||||||
| Performance Materials & Coatings | (3) | — | (2) | — | (5) | (3) | (1) | 5 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Total | (7) | % | — | % | — | % | — | % | (7) | % | (4) | % | — | % | — | % | (4) | % | |
| Total, excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business | (6) | % | — | % | — | % | (1) | % | (7) | % | (5) | % | — | % | 3 | % | (2) | % | |
| U.S. & Canada | (6) | % | — | % | 2 | % | — | % | (4) | % | (3) | % | — | % | 2 | % | (1) | % | |
| EMEAI | (7) | 2 | (4) | (1) | (10) | (4) | — | — | (4) | ||||||||||
| Asia Pacific | (7) | — | 1 | — | (6) | (6) | (1) | — | (7) | ||||||||||
| Latin America | (8) | — | (2) | (1) | (11) | (5) | — | (1) | (6) | ||||||||||
| Total | (7) | % | — | % | — | % | — | % | (7) | % | (4) | % | — | % | — | % | (4) | % |
1.Portfolio & Other includes the sales impact of the flexible packaging laminating adhesives business, which was sold to Arkema S.A. in the fourth quarter of 2024.
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2025 Versus 2024
The Company reported net sales of $40.0 billion in 2025, down 7 percent from $43.0 billion in 2024, with local price down 7 percent and volume, currency and portfolio & other flat. Net sales decreased across all operating segments and geographic regions. Local price decreased across all operating segments and geographic regions driven by industry supply and demand dynamics and lower global energy and feedstock costs. Local price decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 8 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 6 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 3 percent). Volume was flat with gains in the U.S. & Canada (up 2 percent) and in Asia Pacific (up 1 percent) offset by declines in EMEAI (down 4 percent) and in Latin America (down 2 percent). Volume was flat in Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and declined in Performance Materials & Coatings (down 2 percent). Packaging & Specialty Plastics was favorably impacted by currency (up 1 percent) and unfavorably impacted by portfolio & other (down 1 percent). Excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business, net sales decreased 7 percent.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales ("COS") was $37.4 billion in 2025, compared with $38.4 billion in 2024. COS decreased in 2025 primarily due to lower raw material, feedstock and energy costs, the impact of the Company's cost reduction initiatives, and lower planned maintenance turnaround spending, partially offset by the impact of lower operating rates. COS as a percentage of net sales was 93.7 percent in 2025, compared with 89.3 percent in 2024. The increase in COS as a percentage of net sales was driven by the impact of lower local price on flat net sales volume.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development ("R&D") expenses were $752 million in 2025, compared with $810 million in 2024. R&D expenses decreased in 2025 primarily due to the Company's cost reduction initiatives and lower performance-based compensation costs.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses were $1,392 million in 2025, compared with $1,581 million in 2024. SG&A expenses decreased in 2025 primarily due to the impact of lower third-party purchased services, the impact of the Company's cost reduction initiatives, lower performance-based compensation costs and decreased bad debt expense.
Amortization of Intangibles
Amortization of intangibles was $231 million in 2025, compared with $310 million in 2024. Amortization of intangibles decreased primarily due to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized in 2025. See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on intangible assets.
Restructuring, Goodwill Impairment and Asset Related Charges - Net
2025 Restructuring Program
On January 27, 2025, the Board approved targeted actions to further achieve the Company's cost reduction initiatives in response to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, while reinforcing its long-term competitiveness across the economic cycle. These actions are expected to be substantially complete by the end of 2026.
On June 30, 2025, the Board approved restructuring actions to rationalize the Company's global asset footprint, including certain actions identified as part of the Company's previously announced strategic review of its European assets and certain corporate and other assets, and to enhance the Company's competitiveness over the economic cycle. The program includes asset write-down and write-off charges, severance and related benefit costs and other exit and disposal costs.
As a result of these actions, the Company recorded pretax restructuring charges in 2025 of $862 million, consisting of severance and related benefit costs of $389 million, asset write-downs and write-offs of $349 million and costs associated with exit and disposal activities of $124 million. The restructuring charges by segment were as follows: $165 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $95 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, $150 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $452 million in Corporate. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
2023 Restructuring Program
Actions related to the 2023 Restructuring Program were complete at the end of the second quarter of 2025. In 2025, the Company recorded an additional pretax restructuring charge of $5 million for asset write-downs and write-offs and an asset related credit adjustment of $4 million, related to Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
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2025 Goodwill Impairment
Upon completion of the annual goodwill impairment testing in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company determined the fair value of the Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals reporting unit was lower than its carrying amount. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $690 million, related to Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure. See Notes 5, 12 and 22 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Asset Related Charges
In 2025, the Company recognized a $303 million pretax impairment charge related to assets used for chlor-alkali, propylene oxide and brine production in Latin America. Due to challenging economic conditions in the region, the Company performed a held-and-used impairment analysis and the assets were written down to their fair value. The impairment charge was related to Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure ($232 million) and Packaging & Specialty Plastics ($71 million). See Notes 5 and 22 for additional information.
Equity in Earnings (Losses) of Nonconsolidated Affiliates
The Company’s share of equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates was $240 million in 2025, compared with losses of $6 million in 2024, primarily driven by continued integrated margin compression at the Company's principal joint ventures.
Sundry Income (Expense) - Net
Sundry income (expense) – net includes a variety of income and expense items such as foreign currency exchange gains and losses, dividends from investments, gains and losses on sales of investments and assets, non-operating pension and other postretirement benefit plan credits or costs, losses on early extinguishment of debt and certain litigation matters.
Sundry income (expense) - net for 2025 was income of $140 million and $157 million for Dow Inc. and TDCC, respectively, compared with income of $415 million and $404 million for Dow Inc. and TDCC, respectively, in 2024. In 2025, sundry income (expense) - net included non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits, a gain from the divestiture of the Company's soil fumigation product line (related to Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure), a gain from the divestiture of its ownership interest in DowAksa (related to Corporate), foreign currency exchange gains, and gains on the sales of other assets and investments, partially offset by a loss on early extinguishment of debt and pension settlement charges (both related to Corporate). In 2024, sundry income (expense) - net included non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits and gains on the sales of assets and investments, which were partially offset by foreign currency exchange losses. See Notes 4, 6, 19 and 25, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In 2025 and 2024, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net for Dow Inc. included a net loss of $17 million and a net gain of $13 million, respectively, associated with agreements and matters with DuPont de Nemours, Inc. ("DuPont") and Corteva, Inc. ("Corteva") (related to Corporate).
Interest Expense and Amortization of Debt Discount
Interest expense and amortization of debt discount was $865 million in 2025, compared with $811 million in 2024. The increase in interest expense is primarily due to $1.4 billion of senior unsecured notes issued in the third quarter of 2025 and increased issuances of commercial paper in 2025. See Liquidity and Capital Resources in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to debt financing activity.
Provision (Credit) for Income Taxes
The Company's effective tax rate fluctuates based on, among other factors, where income is earned, the level of income relative to tax attributes and the level of equity earnings, since most earnings from the Company's equity method investments are taxed at the joint venture level. The underlying factors affecting the Company's overall tax rate are summarized in Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The Company reported a tax credit of $67 million in 2025, resulting in an effective tax rate of 2.7 percent, compared with a tax provision of $399 million in 2024, resulting in an effective tax rate of 24.9 percent and 24.8 percent for Dow Inc. and TDCC, respectively. The credit for income taxes was favorably impacted by the sale of a portion of the Company's membership interest in its wholly owned subsidiary, Diamond Infrastructure Solutions, as well as the recording of a tax benefit stemming from the U.S. Tax Court's decision in Varian Medical Systems Inc. v.
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Commissioner. These benefits were partially offset by the geographic mix of earnings, valuation allowances recorded in certain foreign jurisdictions, losses attributable to jurisdictions for which no tax benefit can be recognized, and non-deductible goodwill impairment.
The provision for income taxes and higher effective tax rate in 2024 was primarily due to the geographic mix of earnings, partially offset by adjustments and the reassessment of interest and penalties on a tax matter in foreign jurisdictions.
The Company continues to monitor and evaluate legislative developments related to the Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal Regime ("GloBE") established by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s ("OECD") Pillar Two framework. Several countries in which the Company operates have adopted those rules into their legislation and several others are expected to implement in the future. To date, such legislation has not materially impacted the Company's effective tax rate.
On July 4, 2025, U.S. legislation formally titled "An Act to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14” (“the Act”) and commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law. The Act, among other things, extended key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and introduced targeted changes to the U.S. federal income tax regime. The Act has not materially impacted the Company's effective tax rate.
Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was $179 million in 2025, compared with $85 million in 2024. The increase in net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was primarily driven by the sale of 49 percent of the membership interests of Diamond Infrastructure Solutions in 2025. See Notes 18 and 23 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Net Income (Loss) Available for Common Stockholder(s)
Dow Inc.
Net income (loss) available for Dow Inc. common stockholders was a loss of $2,623 million in 2025, compared with income of $1,116 million in 2024. Earnings (loss) per share of Dow Inc. was a loss of $3.70 per share in 2025, compared with earnings of $1.57 per share in 2024. See Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for details on Dow Inc.'s earnings per share calculations.
TDCC
Net income (loss) available for the TDCC common stockholder was a loss of $2,598 million in 2025, compared with income of $1,127 million in 2024. TDCC's common shares are owned solely by Dow Inc.
SEGMENT RESULTS
The Company conducts its worldwide operations through six global businesses which are organized into the following operating segments: Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and Performance Materials & Coatings. Corporate contains the reconciliation between the totals for the operating segments and the Company's totals. The Company did not aggregate any operating segments when determining its reportable segments. The Company reports geographic information for the following regions: U.S. & Canada, EMEAI, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company transfers ethylene to its downstream derivative businesses at market prices. See Part I, Item 1. Business for further discussion of the Company's segments.
Dow’s measure of profit/loss for segment reporting purposes is Operating EBIT as this is the manner in which the chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, general counsel and corporate secretary, and senior vice president of corporate development, together the "executive committee" and chief operating decision maker ("CODM"), assesses performance and allocates resources. The CODM compares quarterly results to both the year-ago and sequential periods to assess performance and allocate resources to each segment. The Company defines Operating EBIT as earnings (i.e., "Income before income taxes") before interest, excluding the impact of significant items. Operating EBIT by segment includes all operating items relating to the businesses; items that principally apply to Dow as a whole are assigned to Corporate. See Note 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for reconciliations of these measures.
For comparison of segment results for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2025.
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PACKAGING & SPECIALTY PLASTICS
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 19,970 | $ | 21,776 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 827 | $ | 2,373 | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 35 | $ | 81 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2025 | 2024 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (8) | % | (4) | % |
| Currency | 1 | — | ||
| Volume | — | (2) | ||
| Portfolio & other 1 | (1) | — | ||
| Total | (8) | % | (6) | % |
1.Portfolio & other includes the sales impact of the flexible packaging laminating adhesives business, which was sold to Arkema S.A. in the fourth quarter of 2024.
2025 Versus 2024
Packaging & Specialty Plastics net sales were $19,970 million in 2025, down 8 percent from net sales of $21,776 million in 2024, with local price down 8 percent, portfolio & other down 1 percent, currency up 1 percent, and volume flat. Local price decreased in Packaging and Specialty Plastics in all geographic regions, driven by lower pricing of polyethylene and functional polymers. Local price decreased in Hydrocarbons & Energy, driven by olefins and aromatics in EMEAI and the U.S. & Canada. Currency had a favorable impact on sales, driven by EMEAI. Volume was flat in Packaging and Specialty Plastics as higher volumes in polyethylene were offset by lower functional polymers volumes. Volume increased in Hydrocarbons & Energy, primarily due to higher energy sales in the U.S. & Canada, partially offset by lower merchant olefin sales in EMEAI due to the Company's decision to temporarily idle an ethylene cracker.
Operating EBIT was $827 million in 2025, down $1,546 million from Operating EBIT of $2,373 million in 2024. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to lower integrated margins and equity earnings at the Company's EQUATE and Thai joint ventures, partially offset by lower planned maintenance costs and the impact of the Company's cost reduction initiatives.
INDUSTRIAL INTERMEDIATES & INFRASTRUCTURE
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 11,163 | $ | 11,869 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | (561) | $ | 125 | |
| Equity losses | $ | (282) | $ | (102) |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2025 | 2024 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (6) | % | (6) | % |
| Currency | — | — | ||
| Volume | — | 1 | ||
| Total | (6) | % | (5) | % |
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2025 Versus 2024
Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure net sales were $11,163 million in 2025, down 6 percent from $11,869 million in 2024, with local price down 6 percent, and both volume and currency flat. Local price decreased in both businesses and across all geographic regions, led by declines in industrial, consumer durables and building and construction applications. Volume increased in Industrial Solutions, with higher volumes in all geographic regions except Latin America, primarily in energy and industrial applications. Volume decreased in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals, driven by declines in EMEAI and Latin America, primarily in consumer durables and industrial applications.
Operating EBIT was a loss of $561 million in 2025, down $686 million from Operating EBIT of $125 million in 2024. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to margin compression, the impact of lower operating rates and lower results at the EQUATE and Sadara joint ventures, partially offset by the impact of the Company's cost reduction initiatives.
PERFORMANCE MATERIALS & COATINGS
| Performance Materials & Coatings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 8,134 | $ | 8,574 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 306 | $ | 318 | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 5 | $ | 11 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2025 | 2024 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (3) | % | (3) | % |
| Currency | — | (1) | ||
| Volume | (2) | 5 | ||
| Total | (5) | % | 1 | % |
2025 Versus 2024
Performance Materials & Coatings net sales were $8,134 million in 2025, down 5 percent from net sales of $8,574 million in 2024, with local price down 3 percent, volume down 2 percent, and currency flat. Coatings & Performance Monomers local price decreased across all geographic regions, primarily in acrylic monomers and architectural coatings, due to lower raw material costs and competitive pricing pressures. Local price decreased in Consumer Solutions in all geographic regions and was broad-based across end-markets. Volume decreased in Coatings & Performance Monomers in all geographic regions, driven by lower demand for coatings applications and competitive dynamics in EMEAI limiting opportunistic acrylic monomers sales. Volume decreased in Consumer Solutions, in all geographic regions except Asia Pacific, driven by lower upstream siloxanes volumes and lower demand in building and construction end-markets, partially offset by increased demand in consumer and electronics applications.
Operating EBIT was $306 million in 2025, down $12 million from Operating EBIT of $318 million in 2024. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to margin compression, lower volumes and the impact of lower operating rates, partially offset by the impact of the Company's cost reduction initiatives and reduced intangible asset amortization expenses in Consumer Solutions.
CORPORATE
| Corporate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 701 | $ | 745 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | (150) | $ | (228) | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 2 | $ | 4 |
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2025 Versus 2024
Net sales for Corporate, which primarily relate to the Company's insurance operations, were $701 million in 2025, down from net sales of $745 million in 2024, largely driven by reduced premiums received for insurance policies covering third parties.
Operating EBIT was a loss of $150 million in 2025, compared with a loss of $228 million in 2024. Operating EBIT improved primarily due to lower environmental costs.
OUTLOOK
Operating Segments & End-Market Expectations
Team Dow remains focused on delivering near-term cost savings, navigating an unprecedented industry downturn and its long-standing cultural values of safety and reliability. At the same time, by reducing complexity, adopting the best available technologies and streamlining end-to-end processes, Transform to Outperform is expected to provide step-change productivity gains while enabling consistent growth. The Company will make breakthrough improvements to fundamentally simplify Dow’s operating model, which will position the Company to work more efficiently, better serve customers and deliver improved shareholder returns.
In Packaging & Specialty Plastics, continued volume growth is expected driven by an increase in global polyethylene demand as well as the full year benefit of the Company's new polyethylene train located in the U.S. Gulf Coast that came online in the second half of 2025. Local prices will be impacted by market supply and demand dynamics as well as competitor capacity rationalizations. The Company’s feedstock flexibility, low cost, and advantaged integrated regional footprint will continue to position the segment to navigate market dynamics throughout the year.
In Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, improved volume growth is expected based on the full year impact of the recent growth investment in alkoxylation capacity as well as underlying growth in key end-markets which will more than offset the loss of volume from the shutdown of a propylene oxide and propylene glycol plant in Freeport, Texas. The upgraded capacity supports increasing demand across a wide range of fast-growing end-markets including home and personal care, energy, and pharmaceuticals. The investments are backed by supply agreements with customers, including leading consumer brands. Local prices are expected to remain similar to 2025 levels.
In Performance Materials & Coatings, the Company will continue to prioritize key end-markets in performance silicones in which its innovation and footprint can drive value and volume growth above GDP. While demand in consumer and electronics is expected to benefit from continued investments in artificial intelligence, data centers, and advanced devices, other sectors face a more challenging environment. Pricing for specialty products is expected to remain relatively stable due to anticipated modest and uneven economic expansion as consumer sentiment remains subdued. Dow will complete the shutdown of a basics siloxanes plant in Barry, United Kingdom, by mid-year 2026 to rationalize its global footprint. Market conditions impacting sales of coatings are expected to improve compared with recent years due to global central bank rate cut activity across the second half of 2025.
Other factors impacting operating segment profitability include an expected increase in planned maintenance turnaround spending of approximately $200 million compared with 2025.
Projected Sources and Uses of Cash
Items that may impact the consolidated statements of cash flows in 2026 include:
•Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $2.5 billion.
•Cash contributions to pension plans are expected to be approximately $180 million.
•Cash outflows related to the Company's 2025 Restructuring Program are expected to be approximately $260 million.
•Cash inflows related to the judgment with Nova Chemicals Corporation are expected to be approximately $1.3 billion.
•Cash outflows for dividends paid to noncontrolling interests are expected to be approximately $250 million.
•Cash outflows associated with Transform to Outperform are expected to be approximately $0.8 billion to $1.0 billion.
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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
The Company had cash and cash equivalents of $3,816 million at December 31, 2025 and $2,189 million at December 31, 2024, of which $2,636 million at December 31, 2025 and $1,427 million at December 31, 2024, was held by subsidiaries in foreign countries, including U.S. territories. For each of its foreign subsidiaries, the Company makes an assertion regarding the amount of earnings intended for permanent reinvestment, with the balance available to be repatriated to the United States.
Cash held by foreign subsidiaries for permanent reinvestment is generally used to finance the subsidiaries' operational activities and future foreign investments. Dow has the ability to repatriate additional funds to the United States, which could result in an adjustment to the tax liability for foreign withholding taxes, foreign and/or U.S. state income taxes and the impact of foreign currency movements. At December 31, 2025, management believed that sufficient liquidity was available in the United States. The Company has and expects to continue repatriating certain funds from its non-U.S. subsidiaries that are not needed to finance local operations; however, these particular repatriation activities have not and are not expected to result in a significant incremental tax liability to the Company.
For comparison of cash flows for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2025.
The Company’s cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities, as reflected in the consolidated statements of cash flows, are summarized in the following table:
| Cash Flow Summary | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||
| Cash provided by (used for): | ||||||||||||
| Operating activities - continuing operations | $ | 1,062 | $ | 2,903 | $ | 1,045 | $ | 2,939 | ||||
| Operating activities - discontinued operations | (30) | 11 | — | — | ||||||||
| Operating activities | $ | 1,032 | $ | 2,914 | $ | 1,045 | $ | 2,939 | ||||
| Investing activities | $ | (2,126) | $ | (2,368) | $ | (2,126) | $ | (2,368) | ||||
| Financing activities | $ | 2,508 | $ | (1,168) | $ | 2,495 | $ | (1,193) |
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2025 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings, advance payments received from customers related to long-term supply contracts and dividends from equity method investments, which were partially offset by cash used for working capital, performance-based compensation, pension contributions and severance payments related to the 2025 Restructuring Program. Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2024 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings and dividends from equity method investments, which were partially offset by cash used for working capital, performance-based compensation payments, pension contributions and severance payments related to the 2023 Restructuring Program.
| Net Working Capital and Current Ratio at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Current assets | $ | 18,062 | $ | 16,590 | $ | 18,027 | $ | 16,565 | |||
| Current liabilities | 9,183 | 10,288 | 9,076 | 10,210 | |||||||
| Net working capital | $ | 8,879 | $ | 6,302 | $ | 8,951 | $ | 6,355 | |||
| Current ratio | 1.97:1 | 1.61:1 | 1.99:1 | 1.62:1 |
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| Working Capital Metrics | Twelve Months Ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2025 | Dec 31, 2024 | ||||||
| Days sales outstanding in trade receivables | 43 | 40 | |||||
| Days sales in inventory | 64 | 60 | |||||
| Days payables outstanding | 59 | 60 |
Cash provided by (used for) operating activities from discontinued operations reflected cash payments and receipts for certain agreements and matters related to the Company's separation from DowDuPont Inc.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities in 2025 and 2024 was primarily for capital expenditures and purchases of investments, which were partially offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of investments. In addition, 2025 included a cash inflow related to proceeds from incentives related to capital expenditures, the sale of the soil fumigation product line and certain related assets and the divestiture of the Company's ownership interest in DowAksa. Cash used for investing activities in 2024 also included a cash inflow for the sale of the flexible packaging laminating adhesives business and a cash outflow for the acquisition of Circulus Holdings, LLC, a U.S. mechanical recycling company.
The Company's capital expenditures were $2,479 million in 2025 and $2,940 million in 2024. Capital spending was lower in 2025 as the Company reduced its full year capital spending plan to approximately $2.5 billion. The primary driver for the decrease was the Company’s decision to delay construction of the Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project. The Company now expects to start up the first and second phases of the project by the end of 2029 and 2030, respectively. The Company expects capital spending for this key growth project to average approximately $1.5 billion annually through 2030. In total, the Company expects capital spending in 2026 to be approximately $2.5 billion, including capital spending related to the construction of the Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project. As evidenced across the current and prior economic cycles, the Company will adjust its spending as economic conditions evolve.
Capital spending in recent years has included the construction of a world-scale polyethylene unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast, which was completed in 2025; a new reactor to expand alkoxylation capacity in Europe, mechanically completed in 2025 and expected to begin product qualification and ramp-up activities in early 2026; and construction of the world's first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide equivalent ("CO2e") emissions integrated ethylene and derivatives complex in Alberta, Canada.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Cash provided by financing activities in 2025 for Dow Inc. was primarily related to proceeds from the sale of a minority stake in Diamond Infrastructure Solutions and proceeds from the issuance of long-term debt, which were partially offset by dividends paid to stockholders and payments on long-term debt. TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. Cash used for financing activities in 2024 was primarily related to dividends paid to stockholders, purchases of treasury stock and payments on long-term debt, which were partially offset by proceeds from the issuance of long-term debt. TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. See Notes 14 and 17 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to the issuance and retirement of debt and the Company's share repurchases and dividends.
Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures
Free Cash Flow
Dow defines Free Cash Flow as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," less capital expenditures. Under this definition, Free Cash Flow represents the cash generated by Dow from operations after investing in its asset base. Free Cash Flow, combined with cash balances and other sources of liquidity, represents the cash available to fund obligations and provide returns to shareholders. Free Cash Flow is an integral financial measure used in the Company's financial planning process.
Operating EBITDA
Dow defines Operating EBITDA as earnings (i.e., "Income (loss) before income taxes") before interest, depreciation and amortization, excluding the impact of significant items.
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Cash Flow Conversion (Cash Flow From Operations to Operating EBITDA)
Dow defines Cash Flow Conversion (Cash flow from operations to Operating EBITDA) as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," divided by Operating EBITDA. Management believes Cash Flow Conversion is an important financial metric as it helps the Company determine how efficiently it is converting its earnings into cash flow.
These financial measures are not recognized in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and should not be viewed as alternatives to GAAP financial measures of performance. All companies do not calculate non-GAAP financial measures in the same manner and, accordingly, Dow's definitions may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies.
| Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures | Dow Inc. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | |||
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 1,062 | $ | 2,903 | |
| Capital expenditures | (2,479) | (2,940) | |||
| Free Cash Flow (non-GAAP) | $ | (1,417) | $ | (37) |
| Reconciliation of Cash Flow Conversion (Cash Flow From Operations to Operating EBITDA) | Dow Inc. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | ||
| Net income (loss) (GAAP) | $ | (2,444) | $ | 1,201 |
| + Provision (credit) for income taxes | (67) | 399 | ||
| Income (loss) before income taxes | $ | (2,511) | $ | 1,600 |
| - Interest income | 152 | 200 | ||
| + Interest expense and amortization of debt discount | 865 | 811 | ||
| - Significant items 1 | (2,220) | (377) | ||
| Operating EBIT (non-GAAP) | $ | 422 | $ | 2,588 |
| + Depreciation and amortization | 2,834 | 2,894 | ||
| Operating EBITDA (non-GAAP) | $ | 3,256 | $ | 5,482 |
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 1,062 | $ | 2,903 |
| Cash flow from operations to net income (GAAP) 2 | N/A | 241.7 | % | |
| Cash Flow Conversion (Cash flow from operations to Operating EBITDA) (non-GAAP) | 32.6 | % | 53.0 | % |
1.The year ended December 31, 2025, includes severance and related benefit costs, costs associated with exit and disposal activities and impairment charges related to the 2025 Restructuring Program; an impairment charge related to goodwill associated with the Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals reporting unit, non-cash settlement charges related to the termination of certain Company pension plans in the United States and the United Kingdom, an impairment charge related to assets used for chlor-alkali, propylene oxide and brine production in Latin America, charges related to an arbitration agreement for historical product claims from a divested business, charges associated with agreements entered into with DuPont de Nemours, Inc. and Corteva, Inc. as part of the separation and distribution, a loss on early extinguishment of debt, the settlement of a claim related to water storage groundwater contamination matters, implementation costs associated with the Company's 2025 Restructuring Program and the sale of membership interests of Diamond Infrastructure Solutions and restructuring charges and implementation and efficiency costs associated with the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program; partially offset by a gain on the sale of the soil fumigation product line and divestiture of ownership interest in DowAksa and a gain associated with the reassessment of liabilities for certain accrued Groundwater Matters. The year ended December 31, 2024, includes restructuring charges and implementation and efficiency costs associated with the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program, gains associated with a previously impaired equity investment, impairment charges related to the write-down of certain manufacturing assets, a charge related to an arbitration settlement agreement for historical product claims from a divested business and activity related to the separation from DowDuPont. See Note 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
2.Cash flow from operations to net income is not applicable for the year ended December 31, 2025 due to a net loss for the period.
Liquidity & Financial Flexibility
The Company’s primary source of incremental liquidity is cash flows from operating activities. The generation of cash from operations over the economic cycle and the Company's ability to access capital markets is expected to meet the Company’s cash requirements for working capital, capital expenditures, debt maturities, contributions to pension plans, dividend distributions to stockholders, restructuring payments, share repurchases and other needs. In addition to cash from operating activities, the Company’s current liquidity sources also include TDCC's U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs, committed and uncommitted credit facilities, committed and uncommitted accounts receivable facilities, a medium-term notes program, a U.S. retail note program (“InterNotes®”) and other debt markets.
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The Company continues to maintain a strong financial position with all of its committed credit facilities undrawn and fully available at December 31, 2025. Cash and committed and available forms of liquidity were $13.6 billion at December 31, 2025, an increase of $1.6 billion from December 31, 2024. The Company also has no substantive long-term debt maturities due until 2029. Additional details on sources of liquidity are as follows:
Commercial Paper
TDCC issues promissory notes under its U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs. TDCC had no commercial paper outstanding at December 31, 2025 and 2024. TDCC maintains access to the commercial paper market at competitive rates. Amounts outstanding under TDCC's commercial paper programs during the period may be greater or less than the amount reported at the end of the period. Subsequent to December 31, 2025, TDCC issued commercial paper with none outstanding at February 3, 2026.
Committed Credit Facilities
The Company also has the ability to access liquidity through TDCC's committed and available credit facilities. At December 31, 2025, TDCC had total committed and available credit facilities of $8.3 billion. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on committed and available credit facilities.
Uncommitted Credit Facilities
The Company has entered into various uncommitted bilateral credit arrangements as a potential source of excess liquidity. These lines can be used to support short-term liquidity needs and for general purposes. The Company had no drawdowns outstanding at December 31, 2025.
Accounts Receivable Securitization Facilities
In addition to the above credit facilities, the Company maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in the United States where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to $900 million, may be sold at any point in time and expires in November 2028. The Company also maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in Europe where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to €500 million, may be sold at any point in time. This facility expires in March 2026, with renegotiations expected to be completed prior to the expiration. In 2025, there were $106 million in sales of receivables under the U.S. and Europe committed accounts receivable facilities ($290 million in sales of receivables in 2024). At December 31, 2025 and 2024, no material balances of sold receivables remained outstanding.
In addition, the Company has an uncommitted accounts receivable facility in the United States providing additional liquidity, set to expire in November 2028. In 2025, sales of receivables under this facility were $147 million ($378 million in sales of receivables in 2024). At December 31, 2025 and 2024, no material balances of sold receivables remained outstanding. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Early Settlement of Letters of Credit
The Company utilizes, from time-to-time, letters of credit discounting programs to manage and expedite the settlement of letters of credit in certain regions. These letters of credit are associated with accounts receivable and the Company retains no interest in the transferred letters of credit or receivables once sold.
Accounts Receivable Discounting Facilities
The Company has access to accounts receivable discounting facilities, under which receivables are transferred with limited recourse. The Company retains no interest in the transferred receivables once sold. In 2025, sales of receivables under these facilities were $285 million ($865 million in sales of receivables in 2024). At December 31, 2025, no material balances of sold receivables remained outstanding ($287 million remained outstanding at December 31, 2024). See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
The Company maintains these facilities and also participates in certain customers’ supply chain financing and other early pay programs as a routine source of working capital.
Letters of Credit
TDCC utilizes letters of credit to support commitments made in the ordinary course of business. While the terms and amounts of letters of credit change, TDCC generally has approximately $600 million of outstanding letters of credit at any given time.
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Company-Owned Life Insurance
The Company has investments in company-owned life insurance ("COLI") policies, which are recorded at their cash surrender value as of each balance sheet date. The Company has the ability to monetize its investment in its COLI policies as an additional source of liquidity. At December 31, 2025, the Company had monetized $197 million of its existing COLI polices' surrender value (zero at December 31, 2024). See Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Shelf Registration - United States
On June 13, 2025, Dow Inc. and TDCC filed a shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The shelf indicates that Dow Inc. may offer common stock; preferred stock; depositary shares; debt securities; guarantees; warrants to purchase common stock, preferred stock and debt securities; and stock purchase contracts and stock purchase units, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. The shelf also indicates that TDCC may offer debt securities, guarantees and warrants to purchase debt securities, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. In 2025, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an undetermined amount of securities for issuance under InterNotes®. Also, in 2025, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an undetermined amount of securities for issuance under a medium-term notes program.
Debt
As the Company continues to maintain its strong balance sheet and financial flexibility, management is focused on net debt (a non-GAAP financial measure), as the Company believes this is the best representation of its financial leverage at this point in time. As shown in the following table, net debt is equal to total gross debt minus "Cash and cash equivalents" and "Marketable securities."
| Total Debt at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | ||||
| Notes payable | $ | 90 | $ | 135 | $ | 90 | $ | 135 |
| Long-term debt due within one year | 222 | 497 | 222 | 497 | ||||
| Long-term debt | 17,849 | 15,711 | 17,849 | 15,711 | ||||
| Gross debt | $ | 18,161 | $ | 16,343 | $ | 18,161 | $ | 16,343 |
| - Cash and cash equivalents | 3,816 | 2,189 | 3,816 | 2,189 | ||||
| - Marketable securities 1 | 385 | 383 | 385 | 383 | ||||
| Net debt (non-GAAP) | $ | 13,960 | $ | 13,771 | $ | 13,960 | $ | 13,771 |
| Total equity | $ | 17,522 | $ | 17,851 | $ | 17,726 | $ | 18,032 |
| Gross debt as a percentage of total capitalization | 50.9 | % | 47.8 | % | 50.6 | % | 47.5 | % |
| Net debt as a percentage of total capitalization (non-GAAP) | 44.3 | % | 43.5 | % | 44.1 | % | 43.3 | % |
1.Included in "Other current assets" in the consolidated balance sheets.
In the first quarter of 2025, the Company completed debt neutral liability management activities. The Company issued $1 billion of senior unsecured notes. This offering included $400 million aggregate principal amount of 5.35 percent notes due 2035 and $600 million aggregate principal amount of 5.95 percent notes due 2055. The Company used the proceeds to complete cash tender offers for certain debt securities. In total, $943 million aggregate principal amount was tendered and retired. As a result, the Company recognized a pretax loss of $60 million on the early extinguishment of debt, included in "Sundry income (expense) - net" in the consolidated statements of income, related to Corporate.
In the third quarter of 2025, the Company issued $1.4 billion of senior unsecured notes. This offering included $750 million aggregate principal amount of 4.80 percent notes due 2031 and $650 million aggregate principal amount of 5.65 percent notes due 2036. Additionally, the Company redeemed $55 million aggregate principal amount of 9.40 percent notes due 2039. As a result of the redemption, the Company recognized a pretax loss of $18 million on the early extinguishment of debt, included in "Sundry income (expense) - net" in the consolidated statements of income, related to Corporate.
In 2025, the Company issued an aggregate principal amount of $378 million of InterNotes®. Additionally, the Company repaid $334 million of long-term debt at maturity.
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The Company may at any time repurchase certain debt securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions subject to: the applicable terms under which any such debt securities were issued, certain internal approvals of the Company, and applicable laws and regulations of the relevant jurisdiction in which any such potential transactions might take place. This in no way obligates the Company to make any such repurchases nor should it be considered an offer to do so.
TDCC’s public debt instruments and primary, private credit agreements contain, among other provisions, certain customary restrictive covenant and default provisions. TDCC’s most significant debt covenant with regard to its financial position is the obligation to maintain the ratio of its consolidated indebtedness to consolidated capitalization at no greater than 0.70 to 1.00 at any time the aggregate outstanding amount of loans under the Five Year Competitive Advance and Revolving Credit Facility Agreement ("Revolving Credit Agreement") equals or exceeds $500 million. The ratio of TDCC’s consolidated indebtedness as defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement was 0.48 to 1.00 at December 31, 2025. Management believes TDCC was in compliance with all of its covenants and default provisions at December 31, 2025. For information on TDCC's debt covenants and default provisions, see Note 14. There were no material changes to the debt covenants and default provisions related to TDCC’s outstanding long-term debt and primary, private credit agreements in 2025.
Dow Inc. is obligated, substantially concurrently with the issuance of any guarantee in respect of outstanding or committed indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Agreement, to enter into a supplemental indenture with TDCC and the trustee under TDCC’s existing 2008 base indenture governing certain notes issued by TDCC. Under such supplemental indenture, Dow Inc. will guarantee all outstanding debt securities and all amounts due under such existing base indenture and will become subject to certain covenants and events of default under the existing base indenture.
In addition, the Revolving Credit Agreement includes an event of default which would be triggered in the event Dow Inc. incurs or guarantees third party indebtedness for borrowed money in excess of $250 million or engages in any material activity or directly owns any material assets, in each case, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. Dow Inc. may, at its option, cure the event of default by delivering an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee to the administrative agent within thirty days of the event or events giving rise to such event of default.
No such events have occurred or have been triggered at the time of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to TDCC’s notes payable and long-term debt activity and information on TDCC’s debt covenants and default provisions.
While taking into consideration the current economic environment, management expects that the Company will continue to have sufficient liquidity and financial flexibility to meet all of its business obligations.
Credit Ratings
TDCC's credit ratings at January 31, 2026 were as follows:
| Credit Ratings | Long-Term Rating | Short-Term Rating | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitch Ratings | BBB | F2 | Stable |
| Moody’s Ratings | Baa2 | P-2 | Negative |
| Standard & Poor’s | BBB | A-2 | Negative |
On February 21, 2025, Standard & Poor's affirmed TDCC's BBB and A-2 rating, and revised its outlook to negative from stable. Standard & Poor's decision was made as part of their annual review process and reflects the Company's supportive financial policies, scale, liquidity and cost-advantaged footprint.
On July 7, 2025, Moody's Ratings announced a long-term credit rating change for TDCC from Baa1 to Baa2 and affirmed TDCC's P-2 rating and its outlook of negative. On July 31, 2025, Fitch Ratings announced a long-term credit rating change for TDCC from BBB+ to BBB and a short-term credit rating change from F1 to F2, with its outlook remaining stable. The credit rating agencies' decisions were made to reflect the impact of current market conditions on the Company's operating results and cash flow, including the impact of global trade policy uncertainty and capacity additions in the industry, while recognizing the Company's strong asset base, strategic cost actions and long-term commitment to maintaining investment-grade quality.
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Dividends
Dow Inc.
Dow Inc. has paid dividends on a quarterly basis and expects to continue to do so, subject to approval by the Board. On July 24, 2025, the Company announced a 50 percent reduction to its quarterly dividend. The following tables provide information on dividends declared and paid to common stockholders:
| Dividends Paid for the Years Ended Dec 31 | 2025 | 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions, except per share amounts | |||||
| Dividends paid, per common share | $ | 2.10 | $ | 2.80 | |
| Dividends paid to common stockholders | $ | 1,490 | $ | 1,966 |
| Dow Inc. Cash Dividends Declared and Paid | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | Amount (per share) | |
| February 13, 2025 | February 28, 2025 | March 14, 2025 | $ | 0.70 |
| April 10, 2025 | May 30, 2025 | June 13, 2025 | $ | 0.70 |
| July 24, 2025 | August 29, 2025 | September 12, 2025 | $ | 0.35 |
| October 9, 2025 | November 28, 2025 | December 12, 2025 | $ | 0.35 |
TDCC
TDCC has committed to fund Dow Inc.'s dividends paid to common stockholders and share repurchases, as approved by the Board from time to time, as well as certain governance expenses. Funding is accomplished through intercompany loans. TDCC's Board of Directors reviews and determines a dividend distribution to Dow Inc. to settle the intercompany loans. For the year ended December 31, 2025, TDCC declared $1,491 million of dividends and paid $1,503 million of dividends to Dow, Inc. ($2,578 million of dividends declared and $2,485 million of dividends paid to Dow, Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2024). At December 31, 2025, TDCC's intercompany loan balance with Dow Inc. was insignificant. See Note 24 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Share Repurchase Program
On April 13, 2022, the Board approved a share repurchase program authorizing up to $3 billion for the repurchase of the Company's common stock, with no expiration date. The Company did not repurchase any of its common stock in 2025. At December 31, 2025, approximately $931 million of the share repurchase program authorization remained available for repurchases. As previously announced, the Company intends to repurchase shares at a minimum to cover dilution over the economic cycle. The Company may from time to time expand its share repurchases beyond dilution, based on a number of factors including macroeconomic conditions, free cash flow generation, and the Dow share price. Any share repurchases, when coupled with the Company's dividends, are intended to implement the long-term strategy of targeting shareholder remuneration of approximately 65 percent over the economic cycle.
Pension Plans
The Company has both funded and unfunded defined benefit pension plans in the United States and a number of other countries. The Company’s funding policy is to contribute to funded plans when pension laws and/or economics either require or encourage funding. In 2025 and 2024, the Company contributed $209 million and $121 million to its pension plans, respectively, including contributions to fund benefit payments for its unfunded pension plans. Additionally, in the second quarter of 2024, the Company received a pension plan reversion of approximately $70 million for a portion of the excess funding of one of its plans in Europe, included in "Other assets and liabilities, net" in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The Company expects to contribute approximately $180 million to its pension plans in 2026.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, as part of its ongoing pension derisking initiatives, the Company terminated certain U.S. tax-qualified pension plans, which included the tax-qualified benefit obligations for substantially all employees hired after January 1, 2008. These employees earned benefits based on a set percentage of annual pay, plus interest. As part of the plan termination process, participants were provided with various benefit payment or distribution options. The Company also terminated a certain European pension plan, with the plan purchasing nonparticipating annuity contracts for the benefit of plan participants. These transactions were funded with existing plan assets and did not require any cash funding from the Company. These actions resulted in non-cash settlement
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charges of $323 million, primarily related to the accelerated recognition of the accumulated actuarial losses of the plans. Additional actions by the Company resulted in total noncash settlement charges across all plans of $342 million for the year ended December 31, 2025.
See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to the Company’s pension plans, including pension plan terminations.
Restructuring
The 2025 Restructuring Program is expected to result in additional cash expenditures of approximately $625 million primarily over the next four years and consist primarily of severance and related benefit costs, implementation costs related to decommissioning and demolition and additional costs associated with exit and disposal activities. Restructuring implementation costs totaled $53 million for the year ended December 31, 2025.
Restructuring implementation and efficiency costs related to the 2023 Restructuring Program were $50 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 ($230 million for the year ended December 31, 2024).
The Company expects to incur additional costs in the future related to its restructuring activities, which will be recognized as incurred. The Company also expects to incur additional employee-related costs, including involuntary termination benefits related to its other optimization activities. These costs cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company's restructuring activities.
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Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes the Company’s contractual obligations, commercial commitments and expected cash requirements for interest at December 31, 2025. Additional information related to these obligations can be found in Notes 14, 15, 16 and 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
| Contractual Obligations at Dec 31, 2025 | Payments Due In | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2026 | 2027-2028 | 2029-2030 | 2031 and beyond | Total | |||||||||
| Dow Inc. | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 222 | $ | 1,560 | $ | 2,116 | $ | 14,399 | $ | 18,297 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 884 | 1,706 | 1,528 | 9,370 | 13,488 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 255 | 422 | 417 | 3,264 | 4,358 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 397 | 603 | 301 | 418 | 1,719 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 2,673 | 4,264 | 3,191 | 17,181 | 27,309 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 756 | 542 | 2,079 | 3,377 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 4,431 | $ | 9,311 | $ | 8,095 | $ | 46,711 | $ | 68,548 | ||||
| TDCC | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 222 | $ | 1,560 | $ | 2,116 | $ | 14,399 | $ | 18,297 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 884 | 1,706 | 1,528 | 9,370 | 13,488 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 255 | 422 | 417 | 3,264 | 4,358 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 397 | 603 | 301 | 418 | 1,719 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 2,673 | 4,264 | 3,191 | 17,181 | 27,309 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 756 | 542 | 1,941 | 3,239 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 4,431 | $ | 9,311 | $ | 8,095 | $ | 46,573 | $ | 68,410 |
1.Excludes unamortized debt discount and issuance costs of $226 million. Includes finance lease obligations of $1,126 million and net fair value hedge adjustment gains of $27 million.
2.Cash requirements for interest on long-term debt was calculated using current interest rates at December 31, 2025, and includes $130 million of various floating rate notes.
3.Includes imputed interest of $282 million.
4.Includes a $1.3 billion purchase commitment for the use of a water supply reservoir asset expected to commence in 2028, as discussed in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, and outstanding purchase orders and other commitments greater than $1 million obtained through a survey conducted within the Company. The increase from December 31, 2024 was primarily due to supply agreements related to the Company's Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project and contract term extensions.
5.Includes liabilities related to asbestos litigation, environmental remediation, legal matters and other noncurrent liabilities. In addition to these items, Dow Inc. includes liabilities related to noncurrent obligations with DuPont and Corteva. The table excludes uncertain tax positions due to uncertainties in the timing of the effective settlement of tax positions with the respective taxing authorities. The table also excludes deferred revenue as it does not represent future cash requirements arising from contractual payment obligations.
The Company expects to meet its contractual obligations through its normal sources of liquidity and believes it has the financial resources to satisfy these contractual obligations.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Off-balance sheet arrangements are obligations the Company has with nonconsolidated entities related to transactions, agreements or other contractual arrangements. The Company holds variable interests in joint ventures accounted for under the equity method of accounting. The Company is not the primary beneficiary of these joint ventures and therefore is not required to consolidate these entities (see Note 23 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). In addition, see Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the transfer of financial assets.
Guarantees arise during the ordinary course of business from relationships with customers, committed accounts receivable facilities and nonconsolidated affiliates when the Company undertakes an obligation to guarantee the performance of others if specific triggering events occur. Additional information related to guarantees can be found in the “Guarantees” section of Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Fair Value Measurements
See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to fair value measurements of pension and other postretirement benefit plan assets; see Note 21 for information related to other-than-temporary impairments; and, see Note 22 for additional information concerning fair value measurements.
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OTHER MATTERS
Recent Accounting Guidance
See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of recent accounting guidance.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements describes the significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. Following are the Company’s accounting policies impacted by judgments, assumptions and estimates:
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past several decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem Products, Inc. ("Amchem"). Each year, Ankura Consulting Group, LLC ("Ankura") performs a review for Union Carbide based upon historical asbestos claims, resolution and asbestos-related defense and processing costs, through the terminal year of 2049. Union Carbide compares current asbestos claim and resolution activity, including asbestos-related defense and processing costs, to the results of the most recent Ankura study at each balance sheet date to determine whether the asbestos-related liability continues to be appropriate.
For additional information, see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings; Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; and Notes 1 and 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Environmental Matters
The Company determines the costs of environmental remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on evaluations of current law and existing technologies. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and emerging remediation technologies. The recorded liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress, or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. At December 31, 2025, the Company had accrued obligations of $1,011 million for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs, including $221 million for the remediation of Superfund sites. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. For further discussion, see Environmental Matters in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Notes 1 and 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
The amounts recognized in the consolidated financial statements related to pension and other postretirement benefits are determined from actuarial valuations. Inherent in these valuations are assumptions including expected return on plan assets, discount rates at which the liabilities could have been settled at December 31, 2025, rate of increase in future compensation levels, mortality rates and health care cost trend rates. These assumptions are updated annually and are disclosed in Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods and, therefore, affect expense recognized and obligations recorded in future periods. The U.S. pension plans represent 73 percent of the Company’s pension plan assets and 72 percent of the pension obligations. The U.S. pension plans are frozen and, therefore, participants do not accrue additional benefits for future service and compensation.
The Company uses the spot rate approach to determine the discount rate utilized to measure the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit costs for the United States and other selected countries, as applicable. Under the spot rate approach, the Company calculates service cost and interest cost by applying individual spot rates from the Willis Towers Watson RATE:Link yield curve (based on high-quality corporate bond yields) for each selected country to the separate expected cash flow components of service
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cost and interest cost; service cost and interest cost for all other plans are determined on the basis of the single equivalent discount rates derived in determining those plan obligations.
The following information relates primarily to the U.S. plans; a similar approach is used for the Company’s non-U.S. plans.
The Company determines the expected long-term rate of return on assets by performing a detailed analysis of historical and expected returns based on the strategic asset allocation approved by the Company's Investment Committee and the underlying return fundamentals of each asset class. The Company’s historical experience with the pension fund asset performance is also considered. The expected return of each asset class is derived from a forecasted future return confirmed by historical experience. The expected long-term rate of return is an assumption and not what is expected to be earned in any one particular year. The weighted-average long-term rate of return assumption used for determining net periodic pension expense for 2025 was 7.04 percent. The weighted-average assumption to be used for determining 2026 net periodic pension expense is 7.22 percent. Future actual pension expense will depend on future investment performance, changes in future discount rates and various other factors related to the population of participants in the Company’s pension plans.
The discount rates utilized to measure the pension and other postretirement obligations of the U.S. plans are based on the yield on high-quality corporate fixed income investments at the measurement date. Future expected actuarially determined cash flows for the Company’s U.S. plans are individually discounted at the spot rates under the Willis Towers Watson U.S. RATE:Link 60-90 corporate yield curve (based on 60th to 90th percentile high-quality corporate bond yields) to arrive at the plan’s obligations as of the measurement date. The weighted average discount rate utilized to measure pension obligations decreased to 5.48 percent at December 31, 2025, from 5.74 percent at December 31, 2024.
At December 31, 2025, the net underfunded status of the U.S. tax-qualified plans on a projected benefit obligation basis was $1,301 million. The net underfunded amount decreased $59 million compared with December 31, 2024. The Company uses a generational mortality table to determine the duration of its pension and other postretirement obligations.
The following discussion relates to the Company’s significant pension plans.
The Company bases the determination of pension expense on a market-related valuation of plan assets that reduces year-to-year volatility. This market-related valuation recognizes investment gains or losses over a five-year period from the year in which they occur. Investment gains or losses for this purpose represent the difference between the expected return calculated using the market-related value of plan assets and the actual return based on the market value of plan assets. Since the market-related value of plan assets recognizes gains or losses over a five-year period, the future value will be impacted when previously deferred gains or losses are recorded. Over the life of the plans, both gains and losses have been recognized and amortized. At December 31, 2025, net losses of $1,757 million remain to be recognized in the calculation of the market-related value of plan assets. These net losses will result in increases in future pension expense or reduced credits as they are recognized in the market-related value of assets.
The net decrease in the market-related value of assets due to the recognition of prior losses (gains) is presented in the following table:
| Net Decrease in Market-Related Asset Value Due to Recognition of Prior Losses (Gains) | ||
|---|---|---|
| In millions | ||
| 2026 | $ | 1,262 |
| 2027 | 261 | |
| 2028 | 238 | |
| 2029 | (4) | |
| Total | $ | 1,757 |
Excluding the impact of the Company's 2025 derisking activities and other one-time events, the Company expects net periodic benefit cost ("NPBC") credit to decrease in 2026 by approximately $66 million compared with 2025. The reduction in the NPBC credit is primarily due to the recognition of prior losses under the market-related valuation of plan assets methodology described above.
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A 25 basis point increase or decrease in the long-term return on assets assumption would change the Company’s NPBC credit for 2026 by $46 million. A 25 basis point increase in the discount rate assumption would increase the Company's NPBC credit for 2026 by $8 million. A 25 basis point decrease in the discount rate assumption would decrease the Company's NPBC credit for 2026 by $5 million.
Income Taxes
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, applying enacted tax rates expected to be in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Based on the evaluation of available evidence, both positive and negative, the Company recognizes future tax benefits, such as net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards, to the extent that realizing these benefits is considered to be more likely than not.
At December 31, 2025, the Company had a net deferred tax asset balance of $1,147 million, after valuation allowances of $3,049 million. In evaluating the ability to realize the deferred tax assets, the Company relies on, in order of increasing subjectivity, taxable income in prior carryback years, the future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, tax planning strategies and forecasted taxable income using historical and projected future operating results.
The Company files tax returns in multiple jurisdictions and is subject to examination by taxing authorities throughout the world. Tax authorities have the ability to review and challenge matters that could be subject to differing interpretation of applicable tax laws and regulations as they relate to the amount, character, timing or inclusion of revenue and expenses or the sustainability of tax attributes. The ultimate resolution of such uncertainties could last several years. When an uncertain tax position is identified, the Company considers and interprets complex tax laws and regulations in order to determine the need for recognizing a provision in its financial statements. Significant judgment is required in determining the timing and measurement of uncertain tax positions. The Company utilizes internal and external expertise in interpreting tax laws to support the Company's tax positions. The Company recognizes the financial statement effects of an uncertain income tax position when it is more likely than not, based on technical merits, that the position will be sustained upon examination. At December 31, 2025, the Company had uncertain tax positions for both domestic and foreign issues of $509 million and $334 million for interest and penalties.
Goodwill
The Company performs goodwill impairment testing at the reporting unit level. Reporting units are the level at which discrete financial information is available and reviewed by business management on a regular basis. The Company tests goodwill for impairment annually (in the fourth quarter), or more frequently when events or changes in circumstances indicate it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit has declined below its carrying value. Goodwill is evaluated for impairment using qualitative and/or quantitative testing procedures. At December 31, 2025, goodwill was carried by four out of six of the Company's reporting units.
The Company has the option to first perform qualitative testing to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. Qualitative factors assessed at the Company level include, but are not limited to, GDP growth rates, long-term hydrocarbon and energy prices, equity and credit market activity, discount rates, foreign exchange rates and overall financial performance. Qualitative factors assessed at the reporting unit level include, but are not limited to, changes in industry and market structure, competitive environments, planned capacity and new product launches, cost factors such as raw material prices, and financial performance of the reporting unit. If the Company chooses not to complete a qualitative assessment for a given reporting unit or if the initial assessment indicates that it is more likely than not that the estimated fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, additional quantitative testing is required.
Quantitative testing requires the fair value of the reporting unit to be compared with its carrying value. If the reporting unit's carrying value exceeds its fair value, an impairment charge is recognized for the difference. The Company utilizes a discounted cash flow methodology to calculate the fair value of its reporting units. This valuation technique has been selected by management as the most meaningful valuation method due to the limited number of market comparables for the Company's reporting units. However, where market comparables are available, the Company includes EBIT/EBITDA multiples as part of the reporting unit valuation analysis. The discounted cash flow valuations are completed using the following key assumptions: projected revenue growth rates or compounded annual growth rates, discount rates, tax rates, terminal values, currency exchange rates, and forecasted long-term hydrocarbon and energy prices, by geographic region and by year, which include the Company's key feedstocks as well as natural gas and crude oil (due to its correlation to naphtha). Currency exchange rates and long-term
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hydrocarbon and energy prices are established for the Company as a whole and applied consistently to all reporting units, while revenue growth rates, discount rates and tax rates are established by reporting unit to account for differences in business fundamentals and industry risk. These key assumptions drive projected EBIT/EBITDA and EBIT/EBITDA margins, which are key elements of management’s internal control over the reporting unit valuation analysis.
2025 Goodwill Impairment Testing
In the second quarter of 2025, the Board approved actions to shut down certain upstream manufacturing assets. As a result of the announced actions, the Company identified potential indicators of goodwill impairment and evaluated whether the fair value of any reporting unit may be less than its carrying amount. The Company identified one reporting unit for which a quantitative interim goodwill impairment test was required. The results of the quantitative impairment test concluded that no goodwill impairment existed, as the fair value exceeded the carrying value of the reporting unit.
In the third quarter of 2025, as a result of continued macroeconomic challenges, the Company evaluated whether the fair value of any reporting unit may be less than its carrying amount. The Company identified one reporting unit for which a quantitative interim goodwill impairment test was required. The results of the quantitative impairment test concluded that no goodwill impairment existed, as the fair value exceeded the carrying value of the reporting unit.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, qualitative testing was performed for all reporting units carrying goodwill as part of the Company's annual goodwill impairment testing. Based on the results of the qualitative testing, quantitative testing was performed on one reporting unit. For the qualitative assessments, management considered factors at both the Company level and the reporting unit level. For the reporting units where only qualitative testing was performed, management concluded it is more likely than not that the carrying value of the reporting unit is less than the fair value of the reporting unit.
Upon completion of the quantitative testing in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company determined the Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals reporting unit was impaired. During 2025, the reporting unit did not consistently meet expected financial performance targets, primarily due to significant over supply in the industry, which led to volume reductions and compressed margins for products across the portfolio due to changes in customer buying patterns and supply and demand balances. As a result of these trends and third-party market data, which now project sustained pressure on pricing and volume, and a more moderate growth outlook, the reporting unit reduced its future revenue and profitability projections. The fair value of the reporting unit was estimated using a discounted cash flow model that incorporated current market conditions and reflected reductions in projected revenue growth rates due to lower sales volume and price assumptions. Key assumptions included projected revenue growth, discount rate, tax rate, terminal value, currency exchange rates, and long-term raw material and energy price forecasts. These discounted cash flows did not support the carrying value of the reporting unit. As a result, the Company recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $690 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals reporting unit did not carry a goodwill balance at December 31, 2025.
Environmental Matters
Environmental Policies
Dow is committed to world-class environmental, health and safety (“EH&S”) performance, as demonstrated by industry-leading results, a long-standing commitment to the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® program, and a strong commitment to deliver against its targets around a circular economy and climate protection. These targets set the standard for sustainability in the chemical industry, focusing on improvements in the Company’s local corporate citizenship and product stewardship, and by actively pursuing methods to reduce the Company's environmental impact.
To continue to meet the Company’s public commitments, as well as the stringent laws and government regulations related to environmental protection and remediation to which its global operations are subject, the Company has well-defined policies, requirements and management systems. The Company's EH&S Management System (“EMS”) defines the “who, what, when and how” needed for the businesses to implement the Company’s policies and requirements and meet performance objectives, leadership expectations and public commitments. To ensure effective utilization, the EMS is integrated into a company-wide management system for EH&S, Operations, Quality and Human Resources.
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The Company believes third-party verification and transparent public reporting are cornerstones of world-class EH&S performance and building public trust. Numerous Dow sites in the U.S. & Canada, EMEAI, Asia Pacific and Latin America have received third-party verification of the Company’s compliance with Responsible Care® and with outside specifications such as ISO-14001. The Company continues to be a global champion of Responsible Care® and has worked to broaden the application and impact of Responsible Care® around the world through engagement with suppliers, customers and joint venture partners.
Dow manages environmental data for reporting with a waste, water and emissions inventory system. All emitting manufacturing sites globally record their emissions and water use in the system annually. The data sets are reviewed at the facility level and then by global coordinators before being aggregated for corporate environmental reporting purposes.
Dow's EH&S policies help to ensure the Company achieves its annual health and safety performance targets and the Company seeks to continuously improve performance through process and personal safety project implementations. Improvement in these areas, as well as environmental compliance, remains a top management priority, as the Company continues to implement its progressive, multi-decade sustainability targets that include advancing a circular economy and climate protection. Progress is reviewed annually by management and with the Environment, Health, Safety & Technology ("EHS&T") Committee of the Board.
Detailed information on Dow’s performance regarding environmental matters and goals is accessible through the Company's Purpose in Action webpage at www.corporate.dow.com/en-us/purpose-in-action. Dow's website and its content are not deemed incorporated by reference into this report.
Chemical Security
Public and political attention continues to be placed on the protection of critical infrastructure, including the chemical industry, from security threats. Sabotage, terrorism, war, natural disasters and cybersecurity incidents have increased global concerns about the security and safety of chemical production and distribution. Many, including the Company and the American Chemistry Council, have called for uniform risk-based and performance-based national standards for securing the U.S. chemical industry. The Company is subject to U.S. regulations with established risk-based and performance-based standards that must be met at U.S. Coast Guard-regulated facilities promulgated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Company is also subject to the requirements of the Rail Transportation Security Rule issued by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The Company continues to support uniform risk-based national standards for securing the chemical industry.
The Company maintains a comprehensive, multi-level security plan that focuses on security, emergency planning, preparedness and response. This plan, which has been activated in response to significant world and national events, is reviewed on an annual basis. The Company continues to improve its security plans, placing emphasis on the safety of Dow communities and people by being prepared to meet risks at any level and to address both internal and external identifiable risks. The security plan includes regular vulnerability assessments, security audits, mitigation efforts and physical security upgrades designed to reduce vulnerability. As discussed in Part I, Item 1C. Cybersecurity, the Company also maintains a comprehensive cybersecurity and information security framework, which includes and is not limited to risk assessments, mitigation through a threat intelligence-driven approach, application controls, and a defense-in-depth strategy to safeguard critical assets. This framework leverages International Organization for Standardizations 27001/27002 standards for general information technology controls, International Society of Automation/International Electrotechnical Commission standards for industrial automation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cyber Security Framework ("NIST CSF") for measuring overall readiness to respond to cybersecurity threats. The Company’s security plans are also designed to avert interruptions of normal business operations that could materially and adversely affect the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The Company played a key role in the development and implementation of the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® Security Code ("Security Code"), which requires that all aspects of security – including facility, transportation and cyberspace – be assessed and gaps addressed. Through the global implementation of the Security Code, the Company has permanently heightened the level of security – not just in the United States, but worldwide. The Company employs several hundred employees and contractors in its Emergency Services and Security department worldwide. In 2019, the Company established its Global Security Operations Center ("GSOC") to provide 24-hour/day, 365-day/year real-time monitoring of global risks to Dow assets and people. The GSOC employs state-of-the-art social media monitoring, threat reporting and geo-fencing capabilities to analyze global risks and report those risks, facilitating decision-making and actions to prevent Dow crises.
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Through the implementation of the Security Code, including voluntary security enhancements and upgrades, the Company is well-positioned to comply with U.S. chemical facility regulations and other regulatory security frameworks. The Company participates with the American Chemistry Council to periodically review and update the Security Code.
The Company continues to work collaboratively across the supply chain on Responsible Care®, supply chain design, emergency preparedness, shipment visibility and transportation of hazardous materials. The Company cooperated with public and private entities to lead the implementation of advanced tank car design, and track and trace technologies. Further, the Company’s Distribution Risk Review process addresses potential threats in all modes of transportation across the Company’s supply chain. To reduce vulnerabilities, the Company maintains security measures that meet or exceed regulatory and industry security standards in all areas in which they operate.
The Company's initiatives relative to chemical security, emergency preparedness and response, Community Awareness and Emergency Response and crisis management are implemented consistently at all Dow sites on a global basis. Each Dow site has established outreach programs designed to engage community stakeholders with objectives centered around awareness of Dow operations, products, and efforts to protect worker and community health and the environment. These programs also educate community members on emergency planning and response, emissions and waste, future site plans to reduce waste and emissions, and process safety systems. Finally, these outreach efforts establish an opportunity for Dow site leaders to hear about community stakeholder expectations and address questions and concerns about safety, health, environmental or other issues. The Company participates with chemical associations globally and participates as an active member of the Global Congress on Chemical Security and Emerging Threats and in positions of leadership in the U.S. Chemical Sector Coordinating Council.
Climate Protection
Evaluation of climate-related risks and opportunities continues to be a catalyst for the development of the Company’s Decarbonize & Grow strategy (Dow’s climate transition plan) and its broad water stewardship and habitat conservation efforts. Dow's science-based strategy includes a phased approach to decarbonize while meeting the growing demand for Dow's products and contributing to a low-emissions future through continued investment in new products, technologies and processes, and a focus on water resilience in key watersheds and positive impact on biodiversity through habitat conservation.
In 2020, Dow set a target to be carbon neutral by 2050 across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, plus product benefits. Dow’s Protect the Climate goals include reducing net annual greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions by 5 million metric tons by 2030 versus its 2020 baseline, representing approximately a 15 percent reduction versus 2020 and a nearly 30 percent reduction since 2005. Dow has a multi-generational plan to replace end-of-life emissions-intensive assets with higher-efficiency, lower-emissions assets. Dow has continued its near-term progression in its Decarbonize & Grow strategy by starting construction of its Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project which will be the world’s first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions ethylene complex, when completed, and will decarbonize approximately 20 percent of Dow’s global ethylene production capacity. While Dow remains committed to this project and the growth upside it will enable, the Company now expects to complete construction of the project with a two-year delay, with the first and second phases expected to start up by the end of 2029 and 2030, respectively. Dow has also continued to advance a project with X-energy, a nuclear energy innovation company, to commercialize an advanced small modular nuclear reactor that will generate GHG emissions-free process heat and energy at its site in Seadrift, Texas. Energy reduction and optimization projects will provide continuous progress toward Dow’s carbon-neutral ambitions.
Dow is also committed to advancing water stewardship within the Company's operations and supply chain and with downstream customers and to working collaboratively to enhance water management at the watershed level. In 2024, Dow announced a robust 2050 water resilience strategy as well as a 50,000 acre habitat conservation target to address these key elements of climate adaptation.
Despite these commitments, climate change-related risks and uncertainties, legal or regulatory responses to climate change, and failure to meet climate change commitments could negatively impact Dow’s results of operations, financial condition and/or reputation. Climate-related risks include both physical and transition risks.
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Physical Risks
Climate-related physical risks include more frequent severe weather events, potential changes in precipitation patterns, water scarcity and extreme variability in weather patterns, which can disrupt the operations of the Company as well as those of its customers, partners and vendors.
To evaluate physical risks, Dow partnered with S&P Global Trucost (“Trucost”) to assess the Company’s exposure to physical risks based on the geographic location of its manufacturing operations. The risks assessed included water stress, flood, heat waves, cold waves, hurricanes, wildfires and sea level rise. The analysis included an assessment of the physical risks using a baseline year of 2020 with time periods for medium- (year 2030) and long-term (year 2050) using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change representative concentration pathways. These pathways represent varying degrees of global atmospheric GHG concentrations (low, medium and high), and thus different expectations on global temperature rise. Results are incorporated into Dow’s long-term assessments of its manufacturing sites, which are key inputs into Dow’s capital approval process.
Transition Risks
Climate-related transition risks include the availability, development and affordability of lower GHG emissions technology, the effects of CO2e pricing, and changes in public sentiment, regulations, taxes, public mandates or requirements as they relate to CO2e, water or land use.
Climate-related risks, including both physical and transition risks, are assessed with input from internal and external sources including corporate, business, function and geographic leaders; subject matter experts; investors; and other stakeholders. The evaluation of climate-related risks and opportunities is integrated into an annual company-wide risk management process, known as enterprise risk management (“ERM”). ERM identifies significant or major risks to the Company and develops action plans to modify or mitigate risks.
To ensure its processes and plans are resilient, Dow uses climate-related scenarios to assess physical and transition risks. Dow’s periodic climate scenario analysis considers a longer time frame (currently to 2050) for magnitude of impact. Every few years, Dow also utilizes a robust scenario analysis to assess the long-term materiality and impact of climate-related risks and opportunities. Scenario analysis is used to challenge business-as-usual assumptions and strengthen the resiliency of the Company’s Decarbonize & Grow strategy. Scenarios are used to evaluate both physical and transition risk and are particularly useful in evaluating the potential and impact of emerging risks. Dow selected several climate scenarios relevant for physical and transition risks, to cover a range of assumptions regarding policy development and to build resiliency for a variety of outcomes in its strategy.
Managing Climate Risks
Management of climate risk is assigned to Dow’s Climate Steering Team (“CST”), which is accountable for developing and implementing plans to mitigate risk and for tracking actions and progress against those plans. With oversight and accountability by the CST, specific carbon-related risks are managed by Dow’s Carbon Program Management Office (“PMO”). Water and nature risks are managed by the Water and Nature PMO, which is also accountable to the CST. The PMOs partner with subject matter experts to develop and implement strategies to mitigate or eliminate climate-related risks. The teams develop specific action plans and ensure owners are assigned to drive forward progress to reduce Dow’s risk exposure. Risk mitigation status updates are provided to executive leaders on a regular basis and discussions include risk time horizons or magnitude of impact to confirm that the strategy remains solid.
Decarbonize & Grow
The Company continuously works to decarbonize while driving value growth. Dow's Decarbonize & Grow strategy spans nearly every aspect of Dow's business with an approach that focuses on five key areas. These include:
•Optimizing Manufacturing Facilities and Processes for Sustainability: In addition to implementing near-term growth and efficiency investments, Dow is replacing end-of-life assets with low-GHG-emissions technologies, such as hydrogen-ready next-generation capabilities, clean hydrogen use, carbon capture and storage and advanced nuclear.
•Investing in Transformative, Next Generation Manufacturing Technologies: Dow is investing in next-generation, low-GHG-emissions manufacturing technologies that are critical in the decarbonization of the Company's manufacturing. As part of these efforts, the Company safely constructed and energized an electric furnace (e-furnace) test unit to validate the concept of converting steam-cracking furnaces from gas-
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fired to electric. This milestone marks a critical juncture on Dow’s journey to decarbonize ethylene production, one of the most carbon-intensive aspects of petrochemical manufacturing.
•Building a Value-Generating Scope 3 Decarbonization Pathway: Approximately 70 percent of Dow’s emissions footprint fall into Scope 3 categories and more than half of those emissions derive from the raw materials, transportation and other services purchased as a company. Dow is actively validating and developing Scope 3 emissions reduction and mitigation efforts. Collaboration with the Company’s partners along the entire value chain is key to lowering Scope 3 carbon emissions.
•Developing Low-GHG-Emissions Products and Services: Through Dow's materials science expertise and collaboration, the Company designs products and services that support its customers in lowering their GHG emissions, including products that facilitate energy efficiency, lightweighting, fuel transition, circularity, increased operational efficiency and resource reductions.
•Increasing Use of Clean Energy and Steam: As a major user and producer of energy, Dow is committed to integrating clean energy, including both renewables and low-GHG-emissions sources, into its operations.
Water Resilience
Water is Dow’s largest dependency on nature and water stewardship is a critical component of the Company's strategy. Water-related risk considers water availability (too much, too little), water quality (intake and effluents), access to safe drinking water, health of ecosystems and reputational and regulatory challenges. Dow’s approach to identifying water-related risks and impacts includes identification of physical, regulatory and reputational risks. Dow’s methodology uses scientifically robust external tools such as the World Resources Institute Aqueduct tool and the World Wildlife Fund water risk filter tool. Dow’s actions are also informed by the Trucost physical risk assessment, wherein water scarcity is recognized and addressed as the biggest climate-related threat to corporate assets with potential substantive financial or strategic impact on business.
In 2024, Dow set new water stewardship goals for 2030, 2035, and 2050 as part of its Protect the Climate target. Recognizing the impact of climate change on water and nature, Dow's Water & Nature strategy aims to make its sites and surrounding ecosystems more resilient to conditions like drought and flooding. Dow’s water risk management ensures every site and business is accountable for water use, with extra measures for specific water-stressed areas. As part of Dow's Water & Nature strategy, the Company is focused on 20 priority water basins. Regular analysis of water stress is essential to monitor its progression and ensure effective management.
In addition to site water stewardship efforts, Dow will work with suppliers to understand and mitigate water and biodiversity impacts and dependencies in its supply chain and will continue to innovate products that enable society to have reduced impacts on water bodies and other ecosystems.
Accountability for operational water stewardship begins at the site level where the operating permits exist. The Company's progress against its broader water and nature targets is reviewed regularly by management and with the EHS&T Committee of the Board.
Advancing a Circular Economy
As one important part of the materials ecosystem, Dow advocates for the adoption of policies to accelerate the broader pathway to circularity. Circularity-enabling policies such as national targets for recyclability; recycling mandates; mandates for recycled content in products; extended producer responsibility systems to finance state-of-the-art local access to collection, sorting and recycling; and policies to incentivize investments in innovative circular technologies are all critical to ensure that post-use products are diverted away from landfilling, incineration, open dumps and open burning and instead enter the circular economy. To accelerate the materials ecosystem, Dow is working toward its voluntary circularity targets collectively with partners. The goal is to boost recycling rates globally for materials by developing the associated ecosystems to increase collection, sorting and recycling, thereby enabling circularity across entire value chains. As part of Dow’s sustainability targets and in response to growing customer demand, Dow intends to transform waste and alternative feedstocks to commercialize 3 million metric tons per year of circular and renewable solutions by 2030.
Although the volume base is fairly modest today, circular products are seeing increasing promise with commercially attractive growth rates, and Dow expects this market to gain an increasingly larger market share over the coming decades as supporting policies, technology and economics improve. Dow is partnering to build industrial ecosystems to collect, reuse or recycle waste and expand its portfolio to meet rapidly growing demand for circular
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solutions. Further, Dow is redesigning product formulations to use circular feedstocks such as waste and renewable materials, thereby reducing reliance on virgin fossil feedstocks.
A circular economy requires embedding circularity in all parts of the value chains downstream from Dow. This includes product design for recyclability, accessible collection, sorting and recycling facilities, and appropriate economic incentives to make recycling economically viable. Through innovative developments, combined with partnerships and value chain collaboration, Dow is assisting its customers to design downstream applications for recyclability.
Prioritizing Safer Materials
Dow has been a pioneer in the practice of product stewardship since 1970 and is committed to ensuring that the materials it offers are designed for the safety of people and the planet. Dow monitors regulatory trends and uses cutting-edge science to develop materials that meet the needs of its customers and the value chain.
Dow leverages the Company’s strong innovation pipeline to develop sustainable alternatives and reduce or eliminate priority substances in its products. Dow also invests in clean upstream manufacturing technologies to reduce facility emissions and, where necessary, restricts downstream uses of some substances.
Dow is working to deliver a sustainable future through its materials science expertise and collaboration with its customers. By constantly innovating how it sources, manufactures and delivers material solutions, Dow helps customers achieve their goals and create a better tomorrow. Dow has an impact on safer materials directly through the manufacture and delivery of solutions and indirectly through the chemicals that are sourced. Dow continues to assess products across their life cycle using life cycle assessments and digital, in vitro, and in vivo toxicology testing. Dow also transparently communicates information on substances to customers via safety data sheets, regulatory data sheets and, in some cases, product handling guides.
Prioritizing safer materials is a key aspect of Dow's sustainability strategy. Dow is committed to demonstrating the value of chemistry and materials science to society and improving the way the world understands and considers science in decision-making to maximize benefits to businesses, society and the planet. Through Dow’s 2025 Safe Materials for a Sustainable Planet goal, the Company has made progress toward this vision by innovating sustainable materials of tomorrow, leading candid conversations about product safety and committing to the advancement of open and transparent chemistry with value chain partners, customers and the public.
Environmental Remediation
For comparison of environmental remediation-related matters for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2025.
The Company accrues the costs of remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on current law and regulatory requirements. The nature of such remediation can include management of soil and groundwater contamination. The accounting policies adopted to properly reflect the monetary impacts of environmental matters are discussed in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. To assess the impact on the financial statements, environmental experts review currently available facts to evaluate the probability and scope of potential liabilities. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and the ability to apply remediation technologies. These liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. The Company had an accrued liability of $790 million at December 31, 2025, related to the remediation of current or former Dow-owned sites. At December 31, 2024, the liability related to remediation was $879 million.
In addition to current and former Dow-owned sites, under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA") and equivalent state laws (hereafter referred to collectively as "Superfund Law"), the Company is liable for remediation of other hazardous waste sites where the Company allegedly disposed of, or arranged for the treatment or disposal of, hazardous substances. Because Superfund Law imposes joint and several liability upon each party at a site, the Company has evaluated its potential liability in light of the number of other companies that have also been named potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) at each site, the estimated apportionment of costs among all PRPs, and the financial ability and commitment of each to pay its
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expected share. The Company’s remaining liability for the remediation of Superfund sites was $221 million at December 31, 2025 ($234 million at December 31, 2024). The Company has not recorded any third-party recovery related to these sites as a receivable.
Information regarding environmental sites is provided below:
| Environmental Sites | Dow-owned Sites 1 | Superfund Sites 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | ||||
| Number of sites at Jan 1 | 156 | 154 | 131 | 133 | |||
| Sites added during year | — | 2 | 7 | 1 | |||
| Sites closed during year | (10) | — | (6) | (3) | |||
| Number of sites at Dec 31 | 146 | 156 | 132 | 131 |
1.Dow-owned sites are sites currently or formerly owned by the Company. In the United States, remediation obligations are imposed by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act or analogous state law. At December 31, 2025, 24 of these sites (25 sites at December 31, 2024) were formerly owned by Dowell Schlumberger, Inc., a group of companies in which the Company previously owned a 50 percent interest. The Company sold its interest in Dowell Schlumberger in 1992.
2.Superfund sites are sites, including sites not owned by the Company, where remediation obligations are imposed by Superfund Law.
Additional information is provided below for the Company’s Midland, Michigan, manufacturing site and Midland off-site locations (collectively, the "Midland sites"), as well as a Superfund site in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, the locations for which the Company has the largest potential environmental liabilities.
In the early days of operations at the Midland manufacturing site, wastes were usually disposed of on-site, resulting in soil and groundwater contamination, which has been contained and managed on-site under a series of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permits and regulatory agreements. The Hazardous Waste Operating License for the Midland manufacturing site, issued in 2003, and renewed and replaced in September 2015, also included provisions for the Company to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and extent of off-site contamination from historic Midland manufacturing site operations. In January 2010, the Company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the State of Michigan ("State") entered into an Administrative Order on Consent that requires the Company to conduct a remedial investigation, a feasibility study and a remedial design for the Tittabawassee River, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay, and pay the oversight costs of the EPA and the State under the authority of CERCLA. See Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information relating to Midland off-site environmental matters.
Rohm and Haas, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a PRP at the Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, Ventron/Velsicol Superfund Site, and the adjacent Berry’s Creek Study Area ("BCSA") (collectively, the "Wood-Ridge sites"). Rohm and Haas is a successor in interest to a company that owned and operated a mercury processing facility, where wastewater and waste handling resulted in contamination of soils and adjacent creek sediments. In 2018, the Berry’s Creek Study Area Potentially Responsible Party Group (“PRP Group”), consisting of over 100 PRPs, completed a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for the BCSA. During that time, the EPA concluded that an “iterative or adaptive approach” was appropriate for cleaning up the BCSA. Thus, each phase of remediation will be followed by a period of monitoring to assess its effectiveness and determine if there is a need for more work. In September 2018, the EPA signed a Record of Decision ("ROD 1") which describes the initial phase of the EPA’s plan to clean-up the BCSA. ROD 1 will remediate waterways and major tributaries in the most contaminated part of the BCSA. The PRP Group has signed agreements with the EPA to design the selected remedy. Although there is currently much uncertainty as to what will ultimately be required to remediate the BCSA and Rohm and Haas's share of these costs has yet to be determined, the range of activities that are required in the interim Record of Decision is known in general terms. The PRP Group is engaged in discussions with the EPA and the State of New Jersey regarding a Remedial Action Consent Decree to implement the ROD 1 remedy for the BCSA. The EPA has approved the 100 percent design for the ROD 1 remedy.
At December 31, 2025, the Company had accrued liabilities totaling $277 million ($303 million at December 31, 2024) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites. In 2025, the Company spent $40 million ($45 million in 2024) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites.
In total, the Company’s accrued liability for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs was $1,011 million at December 31, 2025, compared with $1,113 million at December 31, 2024. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the
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Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. Consequently, it is reasonably possible that environmental remediation and restoration costs in excess of amounts accrued could have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. It is the opinion of the Company’s management, however, that the possibility is remote that costs in excess of the range disclosed will have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to environmental remediation totaled $63 million in 2025 and $197 million in 2024. The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to operating the Company's current pollution abatement facilities, excluding internal recharges, totaled $819 million in 2025 and $823 million in 2024. Capital expenditures for environmental protection were $226 million in 2025 and $208 million in 2024.
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past several decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem. In many cases, plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate that they have suffered any compensable loss as a result of such exposure, or that injuries incurred in fact resulted from exposure to Union Carbide’s products.
For comparison of asbestos-related matters of Union Carbide Corporation for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2025.
The table below provides information regarding asbestos-related claims pending against Union Carbide and Amchem based on criteria developed by Union Carbide and its external consultants:
| Asbestos-Related Claim Activity | 2025 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claims unresolved at Jan 1 | 5,813 | 6,367 | |
| Claims filed | 4,615 | 4,568 | |
| Claims settled, dismissed or otherwise resolved | (3,270) | (5,122) | |
| Claims unresolved at Dec 31 | 7,158 | 5,813 | |
| Claimants with claims against both Union Carbide and Amchem | (1,277) | (1,005) | |
| Individual claimants at Dec 31 | 5,881 | 4,808 |
Plaintiffs’ lawyers often sue numerous defendants in individual lawsuits or on behalf of numerous claimants. As a result, the damages alleged are not expressly identified as to Union Carbide, Amchem or any other particular defendant, even when specific damages are alleged with respect to a specific disease or injury. For these reasons and based upon Union Carbide’s litigation and settlement experience, Union Carbide does not consider the damages alleged against Union Carbide and Amchem to be a meaningful factor in its determination of any potential asbestos-related liability.
For additional information see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings and Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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MD&A history
Prior-year 10-K MD&A spans are extracted from SEC filings with the same bounded parser used for the latest filing. The latest 10-K appears above; prior years are below.
FY 2024 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001751788-25-000012.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
STATEMENT ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES
The Company's global business operations give rise to market risk exposure related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and international capital flows that may be affected by extensive regulations and controls, especially in developing or highly inflationary countries such as Argentina. The Company continues to monitor these situations and take appropriate actions as necessary to manage the financial impact pursuant to established guidelines and policies. If the Company is unable to manage certain exposures in a cost-effective manner it could have a significant negative impact on its future results of operations and cash flows. A detailed discussion of these and other principal risks and uncertainties, which may negatively impact the future results of the Company, are included in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.
| Table of Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| About Dow | 32 |
| Overview | 33 |
| Results of Operations | 35 |
| Segment Results | 38 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | 39 |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | 39 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | 40 |
| Corporate | 40 |
| Outlook | 41 |
| Liquidity and Capital Resources | 42 |
| Other Matters | 50 |
| Critical Accounting Estimates | 50 |
| Environmental Matters | 53 |
| Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation | 60 |
ABOUT DOW
Dow is one of the world’s leading materials science companies, serving customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. The Company's global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation, leading business positions and commitment to sustainability enables the Company to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. Dow operates manufacturing sites in 30 countries and employs approximately 36,000 people.
In 2024, the Company had net sales of $43 billion, of which 38 percent were to customers in the U.S. & Canada; 33 percent were in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India ("EMEAI"); while the remaining 29 percent were to customers in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
In 2024, the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries did not operate in countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions and export controls as imposed by the U.S. State Department or in countries designated by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terrorism, including Cuba, Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Syria. The Company has policies and procedures in place designed to ensure that it and its consolidated subsidiaries remain in compliance with applicable U.S. laws and regulations.
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OVERVIEW
The following is a summary of the results for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2024:
The Company reported net sales in 2024 of $43 billion, down 4 percent from $45 billion in 2023, with decreases across all geographic regions, and driven by a decrease in local price of 4 percent. Net sales decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 6 percent) and Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 5 percent), partially offset by an increase in Performance Materials & Coatings (up 1 percent).
Local price decreased 4 percent compared with 2023, with decreases in all operating segments and geographic regions. Local price decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 4 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 6 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 3 percent).
Volume was flat compared with 2023 and mixed by operating segment, with a decrease in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 2 percent) offset by increases in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (up 1 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 5 percent). Volume increased in the U.S. & Canada (up 2 percent), decreased in Latin America (down 1 percent), and was flat in EMEAI and Asia Pacific.
The impact of currency on net sales was flat compared with 2023.
Restructuring and asset related charges - net were $103 million in 2024 compared with $528 million in 2023, primarily reflecting restructuring actions approved by the Board in January 2023. The restructuring charges recognized in 2024 consisted of severance and related benefit costs of $41 million, asset write-downs and write-offs of $16 million and costs associated with exit and disposal activities of $9 million. In addition, the Company recognized pretax impairment charges of $37 million related to assets included in the divestiture of the Company's flexible packaging laminating adhesives business.
Equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates was $6 million in 2024, compared with losses of $119 million in 2023, primarily driven by improved equity earnings at the Kuwait joint ventures driven from higher prices and volumes, improved results at the Sadara joint venture, partially offset by continued margin compression at the Thai joint ventures.
Sundry income (expense) - net for Dow Inc. and TDCC was income of $415 million and $404 million, respectively, in 2024, compared with expense of $280 million and $327 million, respectively, in 2023. Sundry income (expense) - net increased primarily due to lower foreign currency exchange losses and the absence of a one-time non-cash settlement charge related to the Company's pension de-risking activities in 2023.
Net income available for Dow Inc. and TDCC common stockholder(s) was $1,116 million and $1,127 million, respectively, in 2024, compared with $589 million and $556 million, respectively, in 2023. Earnings per share for Dow Inc. was $1.57 per share in 2024, compared with $0.82 per share in 2023.
In 2024, Dow Inc. declared and paid dividends to common stockholders of $2.80 per share ($1,966 million).
In 2024, Dow Inc. repurchased $494 million of the Company's common stock.
Other notable events and highlights from the year ended December 31, 2024 include:
•On January 25, 2024, the Company published its Green Finance Framework and related Second Party Opinion on its website, to support the execution of its sustainability strategy.
•On February 1, 2024, Andrea L. Dominowski became Controller and Vice President of Controllers.
•On February 9, 2024, TDCC issued $1.25 billion of senior unsecured notes in connection with the Company's Green Finance Framework.
•On April 2, 2024, the Company announced that Mauro Gregorio, President of Performance Materials & Coatings, elected to retire in the third quarter of 2024 after 40 years of service.
•On April 2, 2024, the Company announced that Brendy Lange, business vice president of Dow Industrial Solutions, was named President of Performance Materials & Coatings.
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•On May 16, 2024, the Company announced it will expand its Protect the Climate targets by setting distinct milestones for climate change mitigation that focus on water and nature conservation. Additional information can be found on the Company's website.
•On June 18, 2024, Dow Inc. released its INtersections Report, highlighting how the Company is advancing its ambition to be the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Additional information can be found on the Company's website.
•On July 1, 2024, Ronald C. Edmonds, former Controller and Vice President of Controllers and Tax, elected to retire after 31 years of service.
•On July 1, 2024, Fitch Ratings affirmed TDCC's BBB+ and F1 rating, and its outlook of stable. Additionally, on July 1, 2024, Standard & Poor's affirmed TDCC's BBB and A-2 rating, and its outlook of stable.
•On August 1, 2024, the Company acquired Circulus Holdings, LLC, a U.S. mechanical recycling company that converts plastic waste into post-consumer resin, for approximately $130 million.
•On August 6, 2024, Moody's Ratings affirmed TDCC's Baa1 and P-2 rating, and its outlook of stable.
•On October 24, 2024, the Company announced that it will complete a strategic review of select assets in Europe, primarily certain polyurethanes assets within the Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure segment, as part of an effort to continue to optimize its global asset footprint.
•On October 28, 2024, Moody's Ratings re-affirmed TDCC's Baa1 and P-2 rating and revised its outlook to negative from stable.
•On December 2, 2024, the Company completed the sale of its flexible packaging laminating adhesives business, within the Packaging & Specialty Plastics segment, to Arkema S.A. for cash proceeds of $115 million, net of working capital adjustments, costs to sell and other transaction expenses and subject to customary post-closing adjustments.
•On December 3, 2024, the Company announced that Karen Carter, President of Packaging & Specialty Plastics, had been named Chief Operating Officer.
•On December 4, 2024, the Company announced that Keith Cleason had been named President of Packaging & Specialty Plastics.
•On December 4, 2024, the Company announced that Jane Palmieri, President of Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, had elected to retire in March 2025 after 30 years of service with Dow.
•On December 4, 2024, the Company announced that Marco ten Bruggencate had been named President of Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure.
•On December 8, 2024, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to sell a 40 percent equity stake in select U.S. Gulf Coast infrastructure assets to a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management in exchange for cash proceeds of approximately $2.4 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Macquarie Asset Management has the option to purchase up to an additional 9 percent equity stake in exchange for additional cash proceeds of up to $600 million.
•On December 9, 2024, Standard & Poor's re-affirmed TDCC's BBB and A-2 rating, and its outlook of stable.
•Dow was named on the Top 100 Global Innovators™ list for the 13th consecutive year.
•Dow received a record-setting 12 2024 Edison Awards™ (three gold, five silver and four bronze), once again earning more awards than any other organization for the seventh consecutive year.
•Dow was named to the JUST 100 list, placing 35th overall, a 20-place improvement from last year, and securing the top spot for Customers in the Chemicals sector.
•Dow earned a spot in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook, recognizing the Company as a top industry performer.
•Dow received six 2024 BIG Innovation Awards from the Business Intelligence Group™, the most received in a single Business Intelligence Group™ Awards program by the Company.
•Dow was recognized with a 2024 CIO 100 Award, for the third consecutive year, for the Company's Integrated Data Hub.
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•Dow advanced to third place on the 2024 Fair360, formerly DiversityInc, Top 50 Companies for Diversity list making it the seventh consecutive year on the list. Dow was also included on 12 of Fair360's Specialty Lists including: Top Companies for Executive Fairness Councils, Top Companies for Board of Directors, Top Companies for Environmental, Social & Governance, Top Companies for Philanthropy, Top Companies for Supplier Fairness, Top Companies for Employee Resource Groups, Top Companies for Mentoring, Top Companies for Sponsorship, Top Companies for People with Disabilities, Top Companies for Latino Executives, Top Companies for Asian American Executives and Top Companies for LGBTQ+ Employees.
•Dow received six prestigious 2024 SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement and Leadership) Business Sustainability Awards. Dow's DOWSIL™ ACP-3089 Antifoam Compound and Dow's SILASTIC™ STT 2650 Self Sealing Silicone each received a SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award. Dow's DOWSIL™ 2080, DOWSIL™ IE-9100, DOWSIL™ 991 and SILASTIC™ STT 2650 each received a SEAL Sustainable Product Award.
•For the eighth consecutive year, Dow received a top score on the Disability Equality Index®, placing the Company among the Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion® for 2024.
•Dow was named one of the 2024 PEOPLE® Companies that Care by Great Place to Work® and PEOPLE® for the fifth consecutive year.
•Dow was honored by Great Place to Work® and Fortune as one of the World's Best Workplaces. Dow was also certified as a Great Place to Work® in 15 countries and ranked on eight national Best Workplaces lists, including the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list in the United States for the fourth consecutive year.
•Dow was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index by S&P Dow Jones Indices, the world's leading index provider focused on providing essential sustainability intelligence. This is the 24th year Dow has achieved this prestigious ranking.
•Dow received the first place spot on the Best Workplace in Manufacturing and Production list by Great Place to Work® and Fortune. This is the fourth consecutive year Dow has been named to this prestigious list and the first time atop the ranking.
In addition to the highlights above, the following events occurred subsequent to December 31, 2024:
•On January 27, 2025, the Dow Inc. Board approved targeted actions to further achieve the Company's cost reduction initiatives in response to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, including a workforce reduction of approximately 1,500 roles.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
For comparison of results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on January 31, 2024.
Net Sales
The following tables summarize net sales and sales variances by operating segment and geographic region from the prior year:
| Summary of Sales Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 42,964 | $ | 44,622 |
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| Sales Variances by Operating Segment and Geographic Region | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Percentage change from prior year | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | ||||||||||
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | (4) | % | — | % | (2) | % | (6) | % | (16) | % | — | % | (5) | % | (21) | % | ||
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | (6) | — | 1 | (5) | (14) | (1) | (9) | (24) | ||||||||||
| Performance Materials & Coatings | (3) | (1) | 5 | 1 | (15) | (1) | (5) | (21) | ||||||||||
| Total | (4) | % | — | % | — | % | (4) | % | (16) | % | — | % | (6) | % | (22) | % | ||
| Total, excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business | (5) | % | — | % | 3 | % | (2) | % | (15) | % | (1) | % | (4) | % | (20) | % | ||
| U.S. & Canada | (3) | % | — | % | 2 | % | (1) | % | (15) | % | — | % | (6) | % | (21) | % | ||
| EMEAI | (4) | — | — | (4) | (17) | — | (9) | (26) | ||||||||||
| Asia Pacific | (6) | (1) | — | (7) | (14) | (2) | (4) | (20) | ||||||||||
| Latin America | (5) | — | (1) | (6) | (17) | — | 4 | (13) | ||||||||||
| Total | (4) | % | — | % | — | % | (4) | % | (16) | % | — | % | (6) | % | (22) | % |
2024 Versus 2023
The Company reported net sales of $43.0 billion in 2024, down 4 percent from $44.6 billion in 2023, with local price down 4 percent, and volume and currency both flat. Net sales decreased across all operating segments except Performance Materials & Coatings, and across all geographic regions. Local price decreased in all operating segments and across all geographic regions driven by industry supply and demand dynamics and lower global energy and feedstock costs. Local price decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 4 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 6 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 3 percent). Volume increased 2 percent in the U.S. & Canada, decreased 1 percent in Latin America and was flat in EMEAI and Asia Pacific. Volume decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 2 percent) and increased in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (up 1 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 5 percent). Excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business, sales decreased 2 percent.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales ("COS") was $38.4 billion in 2024, compared with $39.7 billion in 2023. COS decreased in 2024 primarily due to lower raw material costs, lower global energy and feedstock costs, and the impact of structural cost improvements, partially offset by increased planned maintenance turnaround spending. COS as a percentage of net sales was 89.3 percent in 2024, compared with 89.1 percent in 2023. The increase in COS as a percentage of net sales was driven by the impact of lower local price on flat net sales volume.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development ("R&D") expenses were $810 million in 2024, compared with $829 million in 2023. R&D expenses decreased in 2024 primarily due to lower performance-based compensation costs.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses were $1,581 million in 2024, compared with $1,627 million in 2023. SG&A expenses decreased in 2024 primarily due to lower performance-based compensation costs, as well as lower fringe benefit expenses resulting from the U.S. pension plan freeze, which more than offset an increase in bad debt expense, including expense incurred as a result of a resolution of a customer dispute.
Amortization of Intangibles
Amortization of intangibles was $310 million in 2024, compared with $324 million in 2023. Amortization of intangibles decreased primarily due to the reduction in the intangible asset base, resulting primarily from the write-off of an intangible asset, certain intangible asset write-offs related to the divestiture of the Company's flexible packaging laminating adhesives business and certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized in 2024. See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on intangible assets.
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Restructuring and Asset Related Charges - Net
2023 Restructuring Program
On January 25, 2023, the Board approved restructuring actions to achieve the Company's structural cost improvement initiatives in response to the continued economic impact from the global recessionary environment and to enhance its agility and long-term competitiveness across the economic cycle. These actions are expected to be substantially complete by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
As a result of these actions, in 2023 the Company recorded pretax restructuring charges of $535 million, consisting of severance and related benefit costs of $344 million and asset write-downs and write-offs of $191 million. The restructuring charges by segment were as follows: $1 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $50 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, $49 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $435 million in Corporate. These charges were partially offset by other asset related credit adjustments of $7 million in Corporate related to a prior restructuring program. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In 2024, the Company recorded pretax restructuring charges of $66 million, consisting of severance and related benefit costs of $41 million, asset write-downs and write-offs of $16 million and costs associated with exit and disposal activities of $9 million. The restructuring charges by segment were as follows: $8 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, $7 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $51 million in Corporate. In addition, the Company recognized pretax impairment charges of $37 million related to assets included in the divestiture of the Company's flexible packaging laminating adhesives business and related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Equity in Earnings (Losses) of Nonconsolidated Affiliates
The Company’s share of equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates was $6 million in 2024, compared with losses of $119 million in 2023, driven primarily by improved equity earnings at the Kuwait joint ventures from higher prices and volumes and improved results at the Sadara joint venture, partially offset by margin compression from softer demand at the Thai joint ventures.
Sundry Income (Expense) - Net
Sundry income (expense) – net includes a variety of income and expense items such as foreign currency exchange gains and losses, dividends from investments, gains and losses on sales of investments and assets, non-operating pension and other postretirement benefit plan credits or costs, losses on early extinguishment of debt and certain litigation matters.
Sundry income (expense) - net for 2024 was income of $415 million and $404 million for Dow Inc. and TDCC, respectively, compared with expense of $280 million and $327 million for Dow Inc. and TDCC, respectively, in 2023. In 2024, sundry income (expense) - net included non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits and gains on the sales of assets and investments, which were partially offset by foreign currency exchange losses. In 2023, sundry income (expense) - net included a $642 million non-cash settlement charge related to the purchase of nonparticipating group annuity contracts for certain pension plans (related to Corporate) and foreign currency exchange losses, including $109 million related to the December 2023 devaluation of the Argentine peso (related to Corporate), which were partially offset by non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits, a $106 million gain associated with a legal matter with Nova Chemicals Corporation (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics), and gains on the sales of assets and investments. See Notes 6, 15, 19 and 25, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In 2024 and 2023, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net for Dow Inc. included net gains of $13 million and $42 million, respectively, associated with agreements and matters with DuPont de Nemours, Inc. ("DuPont") and Corteva, Inc. ("Corteva") (related to Corporate).
Interest Expense and Amortization of Debt Discount
Interest expense and amortization of debt discount was $811 million in 2024, compared with $746 million in 2023. The increase in interest expense is primarily due to $1.25 billion of senior unsecured notes issued in connection with the Green Finance Framework in the first quarter of 2024 and borrowings outside of the United States. See Liquidity and Capital Resources in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to debt financing activity.
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Provision (Credit) for Income Taxes
The Company's effective tax rate fluctuates based on, among other factors, where income is earned, the level of income relative to tax attributes and the level of equity earnings, since most earnings from the Company's equity method investments are taxed at the joint venture level. The underlying factors affecting the Company's overall tax rate are summarized in Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The Company reported a tax provision of $399 million in 2024, resulting in an effective tax rate of 24.9 percent, compared with a tax credit of $4 million in 2023, resulting in an effective tax rate of negative 0.6 percent. The provision for income taxes and higher effective tax rate for 2024 was primarily due to the geographic mix of earnings, partially offset by adjustments and the reassessment of interest and penalties on a tax matter in foreign jurisdictions.
The credit for income taxes and lower effective tax rate in 2023 were primarily due to low pretax income, the geographic mix of earnings and increases in tax basis in assets located in foreign jurisdictions, partially offset by changes in uncertain tax positions in various jurisdictions.
The Company continues to monitor and evaluate legislative developments related to the Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal ("GloBE") established by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s ("OECD") Pillar Two framework. Several countries in which the Company operates have adopted those rules into their legislation and several others are expected to implement in the future. To date, such legislation has not materially impacted the Company's effective tax rate. The Company continues to evaluate impacts as further guidance is released.
Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was $85 million in 2024, compared with $71 million in 2023. See Notes 18 and 23 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Net Income Available for Common Stockholder(s)
Dow Inc.
Net income available for Dow Inc. common stockholders was $1,116 million in 2024, compared with $589 million in 2023. Earnings per share of Dow Inc. was $1.57 per share in 2024, compared with $0.82 per share in 2023. See Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for details on Dow Inc.'s earnings per share calculations.
TDCC
Net income available for the TDCC common stockholder was $1,127 million in 2024, compared with $556 million in 2023. TDCC's common shares are owned solely by Dow Inc.
SEGMENT RESULTS
The Company conducts its worldwide operations through six global businesses which are organized into the following operating segments: Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and Performance Materials & Coatings. Corporate contains the reconciliation between the totals for the operating segments and the Company's totals. The Company did not aggregate any operating segments when determining its reportable segments. The Company reports geographic information for the following regions: U.S. & Canada, EMEAI, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company transfers ethylene to its downstream derivative businesses at market prices. See Part I, Item 1. Business for further discussion of the Company's segments.
Dow’s measure of profit/loss for segment reporting purposes is Operating EBIT as this is the manner in which the chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, general counsel and corporate secretary, and senior vice president of corporate development, together the "executive committee" and chief operating decision maker ("CODM"), assesses performance and allocates resources. The CODM compares quarterly results to both the year-ago and sequential periods to assess performance and allocate resources to each segment. The Company defines Operating EBIT as earnings (i.e., "Income before income taxes") before interest, excluding the impact of significant items. Operating EBIT by segment includes all operating items relating to the businesses; items that principally apply to Dow as a whole are assigned to Corporate. See Note 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for reconciliations of these measures.
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For comparison of segment results for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on January 31, 2024.
PACKAGING & SPECIALTY PLASTICS
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 21,776 | $ | 23,149 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 2,373 | $ | 2,700 | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 81 | $ | 130 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2024 | 2023 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (4) | % | (16) | % |
| Currency | — | — | ||
| Volume | (2) | (5) | ||
| Total | (6) | % | (21) | % |
2024 Versus 2023
Packaging & Specialty Plastics net sales were $21,776 million in 2024, down 6 percent from net sales of $23,149 million in 2023, with local price down 4 percent, volume down 2 percent and currency flat. Local price decreased in Packaging and Specialty Plastics in all geographic regions, primarily driven by lower pricing of downstream polymers. Local price was flat in Hydrocarbons & Energy. Volume increased in Packaging and Specialty Plastics, primarily in EMEAI and the U.S. & Canada, due to higher downstream polymers and polyethylene demand. Volume decreased in Hydrocarbons & Energy in all geographic regions, led by EMEAI, primarily driven by higher internal derivative demand and lighter feedslate cracking.
Operating EBIT was $2,373 million in 2024, down $327 million from Operating EBIT of $2,700 million in 2023. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to lower selling prices, lower volumes in Hydrocarbons & Energy, higher planned maintenance costs, and the impact of an unplanned ethylene facility outage, which were partially offset by lower raw material, energy and feedstock costs.
INDUSTRIAL INTERMEDIATES & INFRASTRUCTURE
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 11,869 | $ | 12,538 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 125 | $ | 124 | |
| Equity losses | $ | (102) | $ | (276) |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2024 | 2023 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (6) | % | (14) | % |
| Currency | — | (1) | ||
| Volume | 1 | (9) | ||
| Total | (5) | % | (24) | % |
2024 Versus 2023
Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure net sales were $11,869 million in 2024, down 5 percent from $12,538 million in 2023, with local price down 6 percent, volume up 1 percent and currency flat. Local price
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decreased in both businesses and across all geographic regions, led by industrial and building and construction applications. Volume in Industrial Solutions increased, led by industrial and coatings applications, and in all geographic regions except the U.S. & Canada, which was flat, reflecting the impacts of an outage in 2023 at the Louisiana Operations Glycol-2 unit in Plaquemine, Louisiana, which successfully restarted in June 2024. Volume in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals decreased in all geographic regions, except EMEAI, driven by lower demand, particularly in consumer durables and industrial applications, which were partially offset by an increase in building and construction applications.
Operating EBIT was $125 million in 2024, up $1 million from Operating EBIT of $124 million in 2023. Operating EBIT increased primarily due to lower raw material and feedstock costs and improved results at the EQUATE and Sadara joint ventures, which were offset by lower selling prices in both businesses and the impact of an outage in 2023 at the Louisiana Operations Glycol-2 unit in Plaquemine, Louisiana, which successfully restarted in June 2024.
PERFORMANCE MATERIALS & COATINGS
| Performance Materials & Coatings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 8,574 | $ | 8,497 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 318 | $ | 219 | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 11 | $ | 20 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2024 | 2023 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (3) | % | (15) | % |
| Currency | (1) | (1) | ||
| Volume | 5 | (5) | ||
| Total | 1 | % | (21) | % |
2024 Versus 2023
Performance Materials & Coatings net sales were $8,574 million in 2024, up 1 percent from net sales of $8,497 million in 2023, with volume up 5 percent, local price down 3 percent and an unfavorable currency impact of 1 percent. Volume increased in both businesses. In Coatings & Performance Monomers, volume increased in all geographic regions except EMEAI, led by acrylic monomers. Volume increased in Consumer Solutions in all geographic regions, primarily in downstream silicones, led by consumer and electronics and home and personal care applications. Local price decreased in both businesses and was broad-based. In Coatings & Performance Monomers, local price decreased in all geographic regions except Asia Pacific, and in Consumer Solutions local price decreased in all geographic regions. Currency was flat in Coatings & Performance Monomers and had an unfavorable impact on sales in Consumer Solutions, driven by Asia Pacific.
Operating EBIT was $318 million in 2024, up $99 million from Operating EBIT of $219 million in 2023. Operating EBIT increased primarily due to improved demand and higher operating rates, which were partially offset by lower selling prices and higher raw material costs.
CORPORATE
| Corporate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 745 | $ | 438 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | (228) | $ | (265) | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 4 | $ | 7 |
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2024 Versus 2023
Net sales for Corporate, which primarily relate to the Company's insurance operations, were $745 million in 2024, up from net sales of $438 million in 2023, largely driven by premiums received for insurance policies covering third parties.
Operating EBIT was a loss of $228 million in 2024, compared with a loss of $265 million in 2023. Operating EBIT improved primarily due to lower environmental costs and increased income from insurance operations.
OUTLOOK
Operating Segments & End-Market Expectations
The Company remains confident that it will benefit from the completion of its near-term incremental growth projects and an enhanced focus on operational discipline in 2025. In addition, the Company is optimistic that it will see further demand growth in attractive end-markets such as packaging, energy and electronics. Dow's differentiated portfolio and strong balance sheet enables it to deliver on all of its capital allocation priorities, including an industry-leading dividend. Until there are more definitive indications of a true recovery taking hold, and in order to deliver improved margins, the Company is taking actions to reduce its costs by approximately $1 billion and capital expenditures plan by $300 million to $500 million. Dow will complete these actions while staying the course on its long-term strategic priorities. The Company's proactive interventions are necessary for it to continue to successfully navigate this economic downcycle.
In Packaging & Specialty Plastics, supply improvements driven by new polyethylene capacity coming online during 2025, combined with improved reliability, will allow the Company to continue to drive volume growth and improve margins. Local prices are expected to be impacted by market supply and demand dynamics as well as volatility in feedstocks due to sensitivity to external economic and geopolitical factors. The Company’s feedstock flexibility and advantaged regional footprint will continue to position the segment well to navigate market dynamics throughout the year. In-region presence and superior derivative flexibility will allow the segment to continue to optimize price and volume mix.
In Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, improved demand is expected based on improving fiscal conditions resulting from interest rate cuts across several regions. The Company will benefit from the full-year impact of resumed production at the Louisiana Operations Glycol-2 unit in Plaquemine, Louisiana, which successfully restarted in June 2024. Recent and in-flight growth investments in specialty amines and alkoxylation capacity are expected to support long-term, above GDP volume growth in key markets including energy transition, pharmaceuticals and consumer health, and sustainable surfactants.
In Performance Materials & Coatings, the Company will continue to prioritize key end-markets in performance silicones in which its innovation and footprint can drive value and volume growth above GDP. Pricing for specialty products is expected to remain relatively stable, with anticipated modest but steady economic expansion. Volume growth is expected in feedstocks and intermediates on improved regional supply and demand dynamics, and while competitive pressures in the market impacting local price persist, lower interest rates are expected to drive improved demand and local price. Market conditions impacting sales of coatings are expected to improve compared with recent years based on lower interest rates and an increase in residential spending.
Projected Sources and Uses of Cash
Items that may impact the consolidated statements of cash flows in 2025 include:
•Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $3 billion to $3.2 billion.
•Cash inflows related to the Company's sale of a 40 percent ownership stake in its Dow InfraCo, LLC subsidiary are expected to be approximately $2.4 billion.
•Cash dividends from equity companies are expected to be approximately $300 million.
•Cash contributions to pension plans are expected to be approximately $175 million.
•Cash outflows related to the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program, including restructuring implementation costs, are expected to be approximately $100 million.
•Cash outflows related to the Company's targeted actions to further achieve its cost reduction initiatives, including implementation costs, are expected to be $100 million to $150 million.
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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
The Company had cash and cash equivalents of $2,189 million at December 31, 2024 and $2,987 million at December 31, 2023, of which $1,427 million at December 31, 2024 and $1,984 million at December 31, 2023, was held by subsidiaries in foreign countries, including U.S. territories. For each of its foreign subsidiaries, the Company makes an assertion regarding the amount of earnings intended for permanent reinvestment, with the balance available to be repatriated to the United States.
Cash held by foreign subsidiaries for permanent reinvestment is generally used to finance the subsidiaries' operational activities and future foreign investments. Dow has the ability to repatriate additional funds to the United States, which could result in an adjustment to the tax liability for foreign withholding taxes, foreign and/or U.S. state income taxes and the impact of foreign currency movements. At December 31, 2024, management believed that sufficient liquidity was available in the United States. The Company has and expects to continue repatriating certain funds from its non-U.S. subsidiaries that are not needed to finance local operations; however, these particular repatriation activities have not and are not expected to result in a significant incremental tax liability to the Company.
For comparison of cash flows for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on January 31, 2024.
The Company’s cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities, as reflected in the consolidated statements of cash flows, are summarized in the following table:
| Cash Flow Summary | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||
| Cash provided by (used for): | ||||||||||||
| Operating activities - continuing operations | $ | 2,903 | $ | 5,164 | $ | 2,939 | $ | 5,109 | ||||
| Operating activities - discontinued operations | 11 | 32 | — | — | ||||||||
| Operating activities | $ | 2,914 | $ | 5,196 | $ | 2,939 | $ | 5,109 | ||||
| Investing activities | $ | (2,368) | $ | (2,928) | $ | (2,368) | $ | (2,928) | ||||
| Financing activities | $ | (1,168) | $ | (3,115) | $ | (1,193) | $ | (3,028) |
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2024 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings and dividends from equity method investments, which were partially offset by cash used for working capital, performance-based compensation payments, pension contributions and severance payments related to the 2023 Restructuring Program. Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2023 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings, dividends from equity method investments and cash provided by working capital, which were partially offset by performance-based compensation payments, severance payments related to the 2023 Restructuring Program and pension contributions.
| Net Working Capital and Current Ratio at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Current assets | $ | 16,590 | $ | 17,614 | $ | 16,565 | $ | 17,676 | |||
| Current liabilities | 10,288 | 9,957 | 10,210 | 9,849 | |||||||
| Net working capital | $ | 6,302 | $ | 7,657 | $ | 6,355 | $ | 7,827 | |||
| Current ratio | 1.61:1 | 1.77:1 | 1.62:1 | 1.79:1 |
| Working Capital Metrics | Twelve Months Ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | ||||||
| Days sales outstanding in trade receivables | 40 | 42 | |||||
| Days sales in inventory | 60 | 60 | |||||
| Days payables outstanding | 60 | 64 |
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Cash provided by operating activities from discontinued operations reflected cash payments and receipts for certain agreements and matters related to the Company's separation from DowDuPont Inc.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities in 2024 and 2023 was primarily for capital expenditures and purchases of investments, which were partially offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of investments. In addition, 2024 included a cash inflow for the sale of the flexible packaging laminating adhesives business and a cash outflow for the acquisition of Circulus Holdings, LLC, a U.S. mechanical recycling company.
The Company's capital expenditures were $2,940 million in 2024 and $2,356 million in 2023. Capital spending was higher in 2024 as the Company continued the ramp up of investments in its higher return, lower risk and quicker payback incremental growth projects, and also included ramp up of the construction of the Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project aligned to the Company's Decarbonize & Grow strategy. The Company expects capital spending in 2025 to be approximately $3 billion to $3.2 billion, which includes construction of the Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project. The Company expects capital spending for this key growth project to average approximately $1 billion annually through 2029. Enterprise-wide capital spending is expected to exceed depreciation and amortization through 2027, during the first phase of the project, and average depreciation and amortization over the economic cycle. As evidenced across prior economic cycles, the Company will adjust its spending as economic conditions evolve.
Capital spending in recent years has included the addition of an integrated methylene diphenyl diisocyanate distillation and prepolymers facility in Freeport, Texas, which was completed in 2023; construction of a world-scale polyethylene unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast, which is expected to be completed in 2025; and construction of the world's first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide equivalent ("CO2e") emissions integrated ethylene and derivatives complex in Alberta, Canada.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Cash used for financing activities in 2024 for Dow Inc. was primarily related to dividends paid to stockholders, purchases of treasury stock and payments on long-term debt, which were partially offset by proceeds from the issuance of long-term debt. TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. Cash used for financing activities in 2023 was primarily for debt related activities. In addition, Dow Inc. included cash outflows for dividends paid to stockholders and purchases of treasury stock. TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. See Notes 14 and 17 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to the issuance and retirement of debt and the Company's share repurchases and dividends.
Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures
Free Cash Flow
Dow defines Free Cash Flow as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," less capital expenditures. Under this definition, Free Cash Flow represents the cash generated by Dow from operations after investing in its asset base. Free Cash Flow, combined with cash balances and other sources of liquidity, represents the cash available to fund obligations and provide returns to shareholders. Free Cash Flow is an integral financial measure used in the Company's financial planning process.
Operating EBITDA
Dow defines Operating EBITDA as earnings (i.e., "Income before income taxes") before interest, depreciation and amortization, excluding the impact of significant items.
Cash Flow Conversion (Cash Flow From Operations to Operating EBITDA)
Dow defines Cash Flow Conversion (Cash flow from operations to Operating EBITDA) as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," divided by Operating EBITDA. Management believes Cash Flow Conversion is an important financial metric as it helps the Company determine how efficiently it is converting its earnings into cash flow.
These financial measures are not recognized in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and should not be viewed as alternatives to GAAP financial measures of performance. All companies do not calculate non-GAAP financial measures in the same manner and, accordingly, Dow's definitions may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies.
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| Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures | Dow Inc. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | |||
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 2,903 | $ | 5,164 | |
| Capital expenditures | (2,940) | (2,356) | |||
| Free Cash Flow (non-GAAP) | $ | (37) | $ | 2,808 |
| Reconciliation of Cash Flow Conversion (Cash Flow From Operations to Operating EBITDA) | Dow Inc. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | ||
| Net income (GAAP) | $ | 1,201 | $ | 660 |
| + Provision (credit) for income taxes | 399 | (4) | ||
| Income before income taxes | $ | 1,600 | $ | 656 |
| - Interest income | 200 | 229 | ||
| + Interest expense and amortization of debt discount | 811 | 746 | ||
| - Significant items 1 | (377) | (1,605) | ||
| Operating EBIT (non-GAAP) | $ | 2,588 | $ | 2,778 |
| + Depreciation and amortization | 2,894 | 2,611 | ||
| Operating EBITDA (non-GAAP) | $ | 5,482 | $ | 5,389 |
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 2,903 | $ | 5,164 |
| Cash flow from operations to net income (GAAP) | 241.7 | % | 782.4 | % |
| Cash Flow Conversion (Cash flow from operations to Operating EBITDA) (non-GAAP) | 53.0 | % | 95.8 | % |
1.The year ended December 31, 2024, includes restructuring charges and implementation and efficiency costs associated with the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program, gains associated with a previously impaired equity investment, impairment charges related to the write-down of certain manufacturing assets, a charge related to an arbitration settlement agreement for historical product claims from a divested business and activity related to the separation from DowDuPont. The year ended December 31, 2023, includes restructuring charges and implementation and efficiency costs associated with the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program, certain gains and losses associated with previously impaired equity investments, a loss associated with legacy agricultural products groundwater contamination matters, a gain associated with a legal matter with Nova Chemicals Corporation, foreign currency losses and inventory valuation impacts related to the devaluation of the Argentine peso, non-cash settlement charges related to the purchase of nonparticipating group annuity contracts for certain Company pension plans in the United States and Canada and activity related to the separation from DowDuPont. See Note 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Liquidity & Financial Flexibility
The Company’s primary source of incremental liquidity is cash flows from operating activities. The generation of cash from operations and the Company's ability to access capital markets is expected to meet the Company’s cash requirements for working capital, capital expenditures, debt maturities, contributions to pension plans, dividend distributions to stockholders, share repurchases and other needs. In addition to cash from operating activities, the Company’s current liquidity sources also include TDCC's U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs, committed and uncommitted credit facilities, committed and uncommitted accounts receivable facilities, a medium-term notes program, a U.S. retail note program (“InterNotes®”) and other debt markets.
The Company continues to maintain a strong financial position with all of its committed credit facilities undrawn and fully available at December 31, 2024. Cash and committed and available forms of liquidity were $12.0 billion at December 31, 2024, a decrease of $800 million from December 31, 2023. The Company also has no substantive long-term debt maturities due until 2027. Additional details on sources of liquidity are as follows:
Commercial Paper
TDCC issues promissory notes under its U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs. TDCC had no commercial paper outstanding at December 31, 2024 and 2023. TDCC maintains access to the commercial paper market at competitive rates. Amounts outstanding under TDCC's commercial paper programs during the period may be greater or less than the amount reported at the end of the period. Subsequent to December 31, 2024, TDCC issued commercial paper and had approximately $2.1 billion of commercial paper outstanding at February 4, 2025.
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Committed Credit Facilities
The Company also has the ability to access liquidity through TDCC's committed and available credit facilities. At December 31, 2024, TDCC had total committed and available credit facilities of $8.4 billion. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on committed and available credit facilities.
Uncommitted Credit Facilities
The Company has entered into various uncommitted bilateral credit arrangements as a potential source of excess liquidity. These lines can be used to support short-term liquidity needs and for general purposes. The Company had no drawdowns outstanding at December 31, 2024.
Accounts Receivable Securitization Facilities
In addition to the above credit facilities, the Company maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in the United States where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to $900 million, may be sold at any point in time. The Company also maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in Europe where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to €500 million, may be sold at any point in time. In 2024, there were $290 million in sales of receivables under the U.S. and Europe committed accounts receivable facilities ($39 million in sales of receivables in 2023). At December 31, 2024, no material balances of sold receivables remained outstanding ($5 million remained outstanding at December 31, 2023).
In addition, the Company has an uncommitted accounts receivable facility in the United States providing additional liquidity. In 2024, sales of receivables under this facility were $378 million ($73 million in sales of receivables in 2023). At December 31, 2024, no material balances of sold receivables remained outstanding ($73 million remained outstanding at December 31, 2023). See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Early Settlement of Letters of Credit
The Company utilizes, from time-to-time, letters of credit discounting programs to manage and expedite the settlement of letters of credit in certain regions. These letters of credit are associated with accounts receivable and the Company retains no interest in the transferred letters of credit or receivables once sold.
Accounts Receivable Discounting Facilities
The Company has access to accounts receivable discounting facilities, under which receivables are transferred with limited recourse. The Company retains no interest in the transferred receivables once sold. In 2024, sales of receivables under these facilities were $865 million ($91 million in sales of receivables in 2023). At December 31, 2024, approximately $287 million of sold receivables were outstanding ($91 million remained outstanding at December 31, 2023). See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
The Company maintains these facilities and also participates in certain customers’ supply chain financing and other early pay programs as a routine source of working capital.
Letters of Credit
TDCC utilizes letters of credit to support commitments made in the ordinary course of business. While the terms and amounts of letters of credit change, TDCC generally has approximately $600 million of outstanding letters of credit at any given time.
Company-Owned Life Insurance
The Company has investments in company-owned life insurance ("COLI") policies, which are recorded at their cash surrender value as of each balance sheet date. The Company has the ability to monetize its investment in its COLI policies as an additional source of liquidity. The Company had no outstanding monetization of its existing COLI policies' surrender value at December 31, 2024 ($97 million at December 31, 2023). See Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Shelf Registration - United States
On June 13, 2022, Dow Inc. and TDCC filed a shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The shelf indicates that Dow Inc. may offer common stock; preferred stock; depositary shares; debt securities; guarantees; warrants to purchase common stock, preferred stock and debt securities; and stock purchase contracts and stock purchase units, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. The shelf also indicates that TDCC may offer debt securities, guarantees and warrants to purchase debt securities, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions.
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In 2022, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an undetermined amount of securities for issuance under InterNotes®. Also, in 2022, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an undetermined amount of securities for issuance under a medium-term notes program. In 2024, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register $1.25 billion of securities for issuance in connection with its Green Finance Framework. The shelf registration expires on June 13, 2025. The Company expects to renew the shelf registration.
Debt
As the Company continues to maintain its strong balance sheet and financial flexibility, management is focused on net debt (a non-GAAP financial measure), as the Company believes this is the best representation of its financial leverage at this point in time. As shown in the following table, net debt is equal to total gross debt minus "Cash and cash equivalents" and "Marketable securities."
| Total Debt at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||
| Notes payable | $ | 135 | $ | 62 | $ | 135 | $ | 62 |
| Long-term debt due within one year | 497 | 117 | 497 | 117 | ||||
| Long-term debt | 15,711 | 14,907 | 15,711 | 14,907 | ||||
| Gross debt | $ | 16,343 | $ | 15,086 | $ | 16,343 | $ | 15,086 |
| - Cash and cash equivalents | 2,189 | 2,987 | 2,189 | 2,987 | ||||
| - Marketable securities 1 | 383 | 1,300 | 383 | 1,300 | ||||
| Net debt (non-GAAP) | $ | 13,771 | $ | 10,799 | $ | 13,771 | $ | 10,799 |
| Total equity | $ | 17,851 | $ | 19,108 | $ | 18,032 | $ | 19,406 |
| Gross debt as a percentage of total capitalization | 47.8 | % | 44.1 | % | 47.5 | % | 43.7 | % |
| Net debt as a percentage of total capitalization (non-GAAP) | 43.5 | % | 36.1 | % | 43.3 | % | 35.8 | % |
1.Included in "Other current assets" in the consolidated balance sheets.
In the first quarter of 2024, the Company issued $1.25 billion of senior unsecured notes. This offering included $600 million aggregate principal amount of 5.150 percent notes due 2034 and $650 million aggregate principal amount of 5.600 percent notes due 2054. The issuance was completed in connection with the Company's Green Finance Framework. The Company distributed the proceeds toward projects that support the execution of its sustainability strategy and achieve its targets focused on climate protection and a circular economy, including applicable expenditures and investments related to the Company's Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project.
In the second quarter of 2024, the Company redeemed $10 million aggregate principal amount of 2.100 percent notes due November 2030, $30 million aggregate principal amount of 4.250 percent notes due October 2034, $8 million aggregate principal amount of 5.250 percent notes due November 2041 and $12 million aggregate principal amount of 4.375 percent notes due November 2042. As a result of the redemption, the Company recognized a pretax gain on the early extinguishment of debt of $5 million, included in "Sundry income (expense) - net" in the consolidated statements of income and related to Corporate.
In 2024, the Company issued an aggregate principal amount of $94 million of InterNotes®. The Company also issued $122 million of foreign currency loans. Additionally, the Company repaid $83 million of long-term debt at maturity.
The Company may at any time repurchase certain debt securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions subject to: the applicable terms under which any such debt securities were issued, certain internal approvals of the Company, and applicable laws and regulations of the relevant jurisdiction in which any such potential transactions might take place. This in no way obligates the Company to make any such repurchases nor should it be considered an offer to do so.
TDCC’s public debt instruments and primary, private credit agreements contain, among other provisions, certain customary restrictive covenant and default provisions. TDCC’s most significant debt covenant with regard to its financial position is the obligation to maintain the ratio of its consolidated indebtedness to consolidated capitalization at no greater than 0.70 to 1.00 at any time the aggregate outstanding amount of loans under the Five Year Competitive Advance and Revolving Credit Facility Agreement ("Revolving Credit Agreement") equals or exceeds
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$500 million. The ratio of TDCC’s consolidated indebtedness as defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement was 0.45 to 1.00 at December 31, 2024. Management believes TDCC was in compliance with all of its covenants and default provisions at December 31, 2024. For information on TDCC's debt covenants and default provisions, see Note 14. There were no material changes to the debt covenants and default provisions related to TDCC’s outstanding long-term debt and primary, private credit agreements in 2024.
Dow Inc. is obligated, substantially concurrently with the issuance of any guarantee in respect of outstanding or committed indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Agreement, to enter into a supplemental indenture with TDCC and the trustee under TDCC’s existing 2008 base indenture governing certain notes issued by TDCC. Under such supplemental indenture, Dow Inc. will guarantee all outstanding debt securities and all amounts due under such existing base indenture and will become subject to certain covenants and events of default under the existing base indenture.
In addition, the Revolving Credit Agreement includes an event of default which would be triggered in the event Dow Inc. incurs or guarantees third party indebtedness for borrowed money in excess of $250 million or engages in any material activity or directly owns any material assets, in each case, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. Dow Inc. may, at its option, cure the event of default by delivering an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee to the administrative agent within thirty days of the event or events giving rise to such event of default.
No such events have occurred or have been triggered at the time of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to TDCC’s notes payable and long-term debt activity and information on TDCC’s debt covenants and default provisions.
While taking into consideration the current economic environment, management expects that the Company will continue to have sufficient liquidity and financial flexibility to meet all of its business obligations.
Credit Ratings
TDCC's credit ratings at January 31, 2025 were as follows:
| Credit Ratings | Long-Term Rating | Short-Term Rating | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitch Ratings | BBB+ | F1 | Stable |
| Moody’s Ratings | Baa1 | P-2 | Negative |
| Standard & Poor’s | BBB | A-2 | Stable |
Fitch Ratings affirmed TDCC's BBB+ and F1 rating and its outlook of stable on July 1, 2024. Standard & Poor's affirmed TDCC's BBB and A-2 rating and its outlook of stable on July 1, 2024 and December 9, 2024. Moody's Ratings affirmed TDCC's Baa1 and P-2 rating and its outlook of stable on August 6, 2024, and re-affirmed TDCC's Baa1 and P-2 rating and revised its outlook to negative from stable on October 28, 2024. These credit agencies' decisions were made as part of their annual review process and reflect the Company's supportive financial policies, scale, liquidity and cost-advantaged footprint.
Dividends
Dow Inc.
Dow Inc. has paid dividends on a quarterly basis and expects to continue to do so, subject to approval by the Board. The dividends declared by the Board align to the Company's strategy announced in 2018 of returning approximately 45 percent of Operating Net Income to shareholders through dividends and total shareholder remuneration of approximately 65 percent, when including share repurchases, over the economic cycle. The Company defines Operating Net Income, a non-GAAP measure, as "Net income available for Dow Inc. common stockholders," excluding the impact of significant items. The following tables provide information on dividends declared and paid to common stockholders:
| Dividends Paid for the Years Ended Dec 31 | 2024 | 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions, except per share amounts | |||||
| Dividends paid, per common share | $ | 2.80 | $ | 2.80 | |
| Dividends paid to common stockholders | $ | 1,966 | $ | 1,972 |
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| Dow Inc. Cash Dividends Declared and Paid | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | Amount (per share) | |
| February 15, 2024 | February 29, 2024 | March 8, 2024 | $ | 0.70 |
| April 11, 2024 | May 31, 2024 | June 14, 2024 | $ | 0.70 |
| August 14, 2024 | August 30, 2024 | September 13, 2024 | $ | 0.70 |
| October 10, 2024 | November 29, 2024 | December 13, 2024 | $ | 0.70 |
TDCC
TDCC has committed to fund Dow Inc.'s dividends paid to common stockholders and share repurchases, as approved by the Board from time to time, as well as certain governance expenses. Funding is accomplished through intercompany loans. TDCC's Board of Directors reviews and determines a dividend distribution to Dow Inc. to settle the intercompany loans. For the year ended December 31, 2024, TDCC declared $2,578 million of dividends to Dow Inc. and paid $2,485 million of dividends to Dow, Inc. ($2,510 million for the year ended December 31, 2023). At December 31, 2024, TDCC's intercompany loan balance with Dow Inc. was insignificant. See Note 24 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Share Repurchase Program
On April 13, 2022, the Board approved a share repurchase program authorizing up to $3 billion for the repurchase of the Company's common stock, with no expiration date. The Company repurchased $494 million of its common stock in 2024. At December 31, 2024, approximately $931 million of the share repurchase program authorization remained available for repurchases. As previously announced, the Company intends to repurchase shares at a minimum to cover dilution over the economic cycle. The Company may from time to time expand its share repurchases beyond dilution, based on a number of factors including macroeconomic conditions, free cash flow generation, and the Dow share price. Any share repurchases, when coupled with the Company's dividends, are intended to implement the long-term strategy of targeting shareholder remuneration of approximately 65 percent over the economic cycle.
Pension Plans
The Company has both funded and unfunded defined benefit pension plans in the United States and a number of other countries. The Company’s funding policy is to contribute to funded plans when pension laws and/or economics either require or encourage funding. In 2024 and 2023, the Company contributed $121 million and $142 million to its pension plans, respectively, including contributions to fund benefit payments for its unfunded pension plans. Additionally, in the second quarter of 2024, the Company received a pension plan reversion of approximately $70 million (approximately $90 million in the second quarter of 2023) for a portion of the excess funding of one of its plans in Europe, included in "Other assets and liabilities, net" in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The Company expects to contribute approximately $175 million to its pension plans in 2025, inclusive of a plan contribution previously expected to be made in 2024, now expected to be contributed in 2025.
As announced in 2021, all U.S. pension plans were frozen for substantially all employees who participated in the U.S. defined benefit pension programs effective December 31, 2023. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company spun off a portion of each of the Company’s existing tax-qualified U.S defined benefit pension plans into new tax-qualified pension plans, which include the tax-qualified benefit obligations for substantially all employees hired after January 1, 2008. These employees earned benefits based on a set percentage of annual pay, plus interest, and the spin of these plans provides the Company the ability to separately manage the assets and obligations of these plans with like benefits. In the second quarter of 2024, as part of its ongoing pension de-risking initiatives, the Company initiated the termination of the new tax-qualified pension plans. As part of the plan termination process, the Company will offer participants of these plans annuity or lump sum distribution options. Final asset distributions are expected to be paid from plan assets in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Company anticipates that these asset distributions will result in pension settlement charges, with the amounts dependent on various factors, including interest rates, plan asset returns, annuity pricing and participant distribution elections.
See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to the Company’s pension plans.
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Restructuring
The actions related to the 2023 Restructuring Program are expected to result in additional cash expenditures of $60 million, primarily through the first quarter of 2025 and consist primarily of severance and related benefit costs. Restructuring implementation and efficiency costs, primarily decommissioning and demolition activities related to asset actions, and costs associated with the Company's productivity and efficiency actions, are expected to result in additional cash expenditures of approximately $40 million, primarily through the first quarter of 2025. Restructuring implementation and efficiency costs totaled $230 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 ($243 million for the year ended December 31, 2023).
The Company expects to incur additional costs in the future related to its restructuring activities, which will be recognized as incurred. The Company also expects to incur additional employee-related costs, including involuntary termination benefits related to its other optimization activities. These costs cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company's restructuring activities.
Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes the Company’s contractual obligations, commercial commitments and expected cash requirements for interest at December 31, 2024. Additional information related to these obligations can be found in Notes 14, 15, 16 and 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
| Contractual Obligations at Dec 31, 2024 | Payments Due In | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2025 | 2026-2027 | 2028-2029 | 2030 and beyond | Total | |||||||||
| Dow Inc. | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 495 | $ | 1,384 | $ | 2,156 | $ | 12,417 | $ | 16,452 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 804 | 1,472 | 1,380 | 8,608 | 12,264 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 223 | 398 | 404 | 3,402 | 4,427 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 365 | 511 | 284 | 388 | 1,548 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 2,520 | 3,167 | 2,003 | 6,345 | 14,035 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 687 | 509 | 1,931 | 3,127 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 4,407 | $ | 7,619 | $ | 6,736 | $ | 33,091 | $ | 51,853 | ||||
| TDCC | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 495 | $ | 1,384 | $ | 2,156 | $ | 12,417 | $ | 16,452 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 804 | 1,472 | 1,380 | 8,608 | 12,264 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 223 | 398 | 404 | 3,402 | 4,427 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 365 | 511 | 284 | 388 | 1,548 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 2,520 | 3,167 | 2,003 | 6,345 | 14,035 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 686 | 509 | 1,798 | 2,993 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 4,407 | $ | 7,618 | $ | 6,736 | $ | 32,958 | $ | 51,719 |
1.Excludes unamortized debt discount and issuance costs of $244 million. Includes finance lease obligations of $939 million.
2.Cash requirements for interest on long-term debt was calculated using current interest rates at December 31, 2024, and includes $165 million of various floating rate notes.
3.Includes imputed interest of $246 million.
4.Includes a $1.3 billion purchase commitment for the use of a water supply reservoir asset expected to commence in 2028, as discussed in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, and outstanding purchase orders and other commitments greater than $1 million obtained through a survey conducted within the Company.
5.Includes liabilities related to asbestos litigation, environmental remediation, legal matters and other noncurrent liabilities. In addition to these items, Dow Inc. includes liabilities related to noncurrent obligations with DuPont and Corteva. The table excludes uncertain tax positions due to uncertainties in the timing of the effective settlement of tax positions with the respective taxing authorities and deferred tax liabilities as it is impractical to determine whether there will be a cash impact related to these liabilities. The table also excludes deferred revenue as it does not represent future cash requirements arising from contractual payment obligations.
The Company expects to meet its contractual obligations through its normal sources of liquidity and believes it has the financial resources to satisfy these contractual obligations.
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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Off-balance sheet arrangements are obligations the Company has with nonconsolidated entities related to transactions, agreements or other contractual arrangements. The Company holds variable interests in joint ventures accounted for under the equity method of accounting. The Company is not the primary beneficiary of these joint ventures and therefore is not required to consolidate these entities (see Note 23 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). In addition, see Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the transfer of financial assets.
Guarantees arise during the ordinary course of business from relationships with customers, committed accounts receivable facilities and nonconsolidated affiliates when the Company undertakes an obligation to guarantee the performance of others if specific triggering events occur. Additional information related to guarantees can be found in the “Guarantees” section of Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Fair Value Measurements
See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to fair value measurements of pension and other postretirement benefit plan assets; see Note 21 for information related to other-than-temporary impairments; and, see Note 22 for additional information concerning fair value measurements.
OTHER MATTERS
Recent Accounting Guidance
See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of recent accounting guidance.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements describes the significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. Following are the Company’s accounting policies impacted by judgments, assumptions and estimates:
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past several decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem Products, Inc. ("Amchem"). Each year, Ankura Consulting Group, LLC ("Ankura") performs a review for Union Carbide based upon historical asbestos claims, resolution and asbestos-related defense and processing costs, through the terminal year of 2049. Union Carbide compares current asbestos claim and resolution activity, including asbestos-related defense and processing costs, to the results of the most recent Ankura study at each balance sheet date to determine whether the asbestos-related liability continues to be appropriate.
For additional information, see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings; Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; and Notes 1 and 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Environmental Matters
The Company determines the costs of environmental remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on evaluations of current law and existing technologies. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and emerging remediation technologies. The recorded liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress, or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. At December 31, 2024, the Company had accrued obligations of $1,113 million for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs, including $234 million for the remediation of Superfund sites. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. For further discussion, see Environmental Matters in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Notes 1 and 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
The amounts recognized in the consolidated financial statements related to pension and other postretirement benefits are determined from actuarial valuations. Inherent in these valuations are assumptions including expected return on plan assets, discount rates at which the liabilities could have been settled at December 31, 2024, rate of increase in future compensation levels, mortality rates and health care cost trend rates. These assumptions are updated annually and are disclosed in Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods and, therefore, affect expense recognized and obligations recorded in future periods. The U.S. pension plans represent 73 percent of the Company’s pension plan assets and 70 percent of the pension obligations. The U.S. pension plans were frozen effective December 31, 2023, and therefore, participants do not accrue additional benefits for future service and compensation.
The Company uses the spot rate approach to determine the discount rate utilized to measure the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit costs for the United States and other selected countries, as applicable. Under the spot rate approach, the Company calculates service cost and interest cost by applying individual spot rates from the Willis Towers Watson RATE:Link yield curve (based on high-quality corporate bond yields) for each selected country to the separate expected cash flow components of service cost and interest cost; service cost and interest cost for all other plans are determined on the basis of the single equivalent discount rates derived in determining those plan obligations.
The following information relates to the U.S. plans only; a similar approach is used for the Company’s non-U.S. plans.
The Company determines the expected long-term rate of return on assets by performing a detailed analysis of historical and expected returns based on the strategic asset allocation approved by the Company's Investment Committee and the underlying return fundamentals of each asset class. The Company’s historical experience with the pension fund asset performance is also considered. The expected return of each asset class is derived from a forecasted future return confirmed by historical experience. The expected long-term rate of return is an assumption and not what is expected to be earned in any one particular year. The weighted-average long-term rate of return assumption used for determining net periodic pension expense for 2024 was 7.07 percent. The weighted-average assumption to be used for determining 2025 net periodic pension expense is 7.04 percent. Future actual pension expense will depend on future investment performance, changes in future discount rates and various other factors related to the population of participants in the Company’s pension plans.
The discount rates utilized to measure the pension and other postretirement obligations of the U.S. plans are based on the yield on high-quality corporate fixed income investments at the measurement date. Future expected actuarially determined cash flows for the Company’s U.S. plans are individually discounted at the spot rates under the Willis Towers Watson U.S. RATE:Link 60-90 corporate yield curve (based on 60th to 90th percentile high-quality corporate bond yields) to arrive at the plan’s obligations as of the measurement date. The weighted average discount rate utilized to measure pension obligations increased to 5.74 percent at December 31, 2024, from 5.30 percent at December 31, 2023.
At December 31, 2024, the net underfunded status of the U.S. tax-qualified plans on a projected benefit obligation basis was $1,360 million. The net underfunded amount increased $168 million compared with December 31, 2023. The increase in the net underfunded amount in 2024 was primarily due to the unfavorable returns on plan assets partially offset by the market-related impact of higher discount rates. The Company uses a generational mortality table to determine the duration of its pension and other postretirement obligations.
The following discussion relates to the Company’s significant pension plans.
The Company bases the determination of pension expense on a market-related valuation of plan assets that reduces year-to-year volatility. This market-related valuation recognizes investment gains or losses over a five-year period from the year in which they occur. Investment gains or losses for this purpose represent the difference between the expected return calculated using the market-related value of plan assets and the actual return based on the market value of plan assets. Since the market-related value of plan assets recognizes gains or losses over a five-year period, the future value will be impacted when previously deferred gains or losses are recorded. Over the life of the plans, both gains and losses have been recognized and amortized. At December 31, 2024, net losses of $2,899 million remain to be recognized in the calculation of the market-related value of plan assets. These net
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losses will result in increases in future pension expense as they are recognized in the market-related value of assets.
The net decrease in the market-related value of assets due to the recognition of prior losses is presented in the following table:
| Net Decrease in Market-Related Asset Value Due to Recognition of Prior Losses | ||
|---|---|---|
| In millions | ||
| 2025 | $ | 1,126 |
| 2026 | 1,264 | |
| 2027 | 266 | |
| 2028 | 243 | |
| Total | $ | 2,899 |
Excluding the impact of the Company's 2024 one-time pension events, the Company expects net periodic benefit cost ("NPBC") credit to decrease in 2025 by approximately $88 million compared with 2024. The reduction in the NPBC credit is due to a smaller expected increase in assets and increased amortization, partially offset by reduced interest and service cost.
A 25 basis point increase or decrease in the long-term return on assets assumption would change the Company’s NPBC credit for 2025 by $48 million. A 25 basis point increase in the discount rate assumption would increase the Company's NPBC credit for 2025 by $9 million. A 25 basis point decrease in the discount rate assumption would decrease the Company's NPBC credit for 2025 by $8 million.
Income Taxes
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, applying enacted tax rates expected to be in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Based on the evaluation of available evidence, both positive and negative, the Company recognizes future tax benefits, such as net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards, to the extent that realizing these benefits is considered to be more likely than not.
At December 31, 2024, the Company had a net deferred tax asset balance of $865 million, after valuation allowances of $2,748 million.
In evaluating the ability to realize the deferred tax assets, the Company relies on, in order of increasing subjectivity, taxable income in prior carryback years, the future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, tax planning strategies and forecasted taxable income using historical and projected future operating results.
The Company files tax returns in multiple jurisdictions and is subject to examination by taxing authorities throughout the world. Tax authorities have the ability to review and challenge matters that could be subject to differing interpretation of applicable tax laws and regulations as they relate to the amount, character, timing or inclusion of revenue and expenses or the sustainability of tax attributes. The ultimate resolution of such uncertainties could last several years. When an uncertain tax position is identified, the Company considers and interprets complex tax laws and regulations in order to determine the need for recognizing a provision in its financial statements. Significant judgment is required in determining the timing and measurement of uncertain tax positions. The Company utilizes internal and external expertise in interpreting tax laws to support the Company's tax positions. The Company recognizes the financial statement effects of an uncertain income tax position when it is more likely than not, based on technical merits, that the position will be sustained upon examination. At December 31, 2024, the Company had uncertain tax positions for both domestic and foreign issues of $422 million and $327 million for interest and penalties.
Goodwill
The Company performs goodwill impairment testing at the reporting unit level. Reporting units are the level at which discrete financial information is available and reviewed by business management on a regular basis. The Company tests goodwill for impairment annually (in the fourth quarter), or more frequently when events or changes in circumstances indicate it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit has declined below its carrying value. Goodwill is evaluated for impairment using qualitative and/or quantitative testing procedures. At December 31, 2024, goodwill was carried by five out of six of the Company's reporting units.
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The Company has the option to first perform qualitative testing to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. Qualitative factors assessed at the Company level include, but are not limited to, GDP growth rates, long-term hydrocarbon and energy prices, equity and credit market activity, discount rates, foreign exchange rates and overall financial performance. Qualitative factors assessed at the reporting unit level include, but are not limited to, changes in industry and market structure, competitive environments, planned capacity and new product launches, cost factors such as raw material prices, and financial performance of the reporting unit. If the Company chooses not to complete a qualitative assessment for a given reporting unit or if the initial assessment indicates that it is more likely than not that the estimated fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, additional quantitative testing is required.
Quantitative testing requires the fair value of the reporting unit to be compared with its carrying value. If the reporting unit's carrying value exceeds its fair value, an impairment charge is recognized for the difference. The Company utilizes a discounted cash flow methodology to calculate the fair value of its reporting units. This valuation technique has been selected by management as the most meaningful valuation method due to the limited number of market comparables for the Company's reporting units. However, where market comparables are available, the Company includes EBIT/EBITDA multiples as part of the reporting unit valuation analysis. The discounted cash flow valuations are completed using the following key assumptions: projected revenue growth rates or compounded annual growth rates, discount rates, tax rates, terminal values, currency exchange rates, and forecasted long-term hydrocarbon and energy prices, by geographic region and by year, which include the Company's key feedstocks as well as natural gas and crude oil (due to its correlation to naphtha). Currency exchange rates and long-term hydrocarbon and energy prices are established for the Company as a whole and applied consistently to all reporting units, while revenue growth rates, discount rates and tax rates are established by reporting unit to account for differences in business fundamentals and industry risk. These key assumptions drive projected EBIT/EBITDA and EBIT/EBITDA margins, which are key elements of management’s internal control over the reporting unit valuation analysis.
2024 Goodwill Impairment Testing
In 2024, there were no events or changes in circumstances that warranted interim goodwill impairment testing. In the fourth quarter of 2024, qualitative testing was performed for all reporting units carrying goodwill. Based on the results of the qualitative testing, quantitative testing was performed on one reporting unit. For the qualitative assessments, management considered factors at both the Company level and the reporting unit level. Based on the qualitative assessments for the reporting units, management concluded it is more likely than not that the carrying value of the reporting unit is less than the fair value of the reporting unit. For the quantitative testing, the fair value exceeded the carrying value of the reporting unit.
Environmental Matters
Environmental Policies
Dow is committed to world-class environmental, health and safety (“EH&S”) performance, as demonstrated by industry-leading results, a long-standing commitment to the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® program, a strong commitment to achieve the Company's 2025 Sustainability Goals and Dow's drive to deliver against its targets around a circular economy and climate protection. These goals and targets set the standard for sustainability in the chemical industry, focusing on improvements in the Company’s local corporate citizenship and product stewardship, and by actively pursuing methods to reduce the Company's environmental impact.
To meet the Company’s public commitments, as well as the stringent laws and government regulations related to environmental protection and remediation to which its global operations are subject, the Company has well-defined policies, requirements and management systems. The Company's EH&S Management System (“EMS”) defines the “who, what, when and how” needed for the businesses to implement the Company’s policies and requirements and meet performance objectives, leadership expectations and public commitments. To ensure effective utilization, the EMS is integrated into a company-wide management system for EH&S, Operations, Quality and Human Resources.
The Company believes third-party verification and transparent public reporting are cornerstones of world-class EH&S performance and building public trust. Numerous Dow sites in EMEAI, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the U.S. & Canada have received third-party verification of the Company’s compliance with Responsible Care® and with outside specifications such as ISO-14001. The Company continues to be a global champion of Responsible Care® and has worked to broaden the application and impact of Responsible Care® around the world through engagement with peer companies, suppliers, customers and joint venture partners.
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Dow manages environmental data for reporting with a waste, water and emissions inventory system. All emitting manufacturing sites globally record their emissions and water use in the system. The data is reviewed at the facility level and then by global coordinators before being aggregated for corporate environmental reporting purposes.
Dow's EH&S policies help to ensure the Company achieves its annual health and safety performance targets and the Company seeks to continuously improve on these targets through process and personal safety project implementations. Improvement in these areas, as well as environmental compliance, remains a top management priority, as the Company continues to implement its 2025 Sustainability Goals and progressive, multi-decade sustainability targets that include advancing a circular economy and climate protection. Progress is reviewed annually by management and with the Environment, Health, Safety & Technology ("EHS&T") Committee of the Board.
Detailed information on Dow’s performance regarding environmental matters and goals is accessible through the Company's Science & Sustainability webpage at www.dow.com/sustainability. Dow's website and its content are not deemed incorporated by reference into this report.
Chemical Security
Public and political attention continues to be placed on the protection of critical infrastructure, including the chemical industry, from security threats. Sabotage, terrorism, war, natural disasters and cybersecurity incidents have increased global concerns about the security and safety of chemical production and distribution. Many, including the Company and the American Chemistry Council, have called for uniform risk-based and performance-based national standards for securing the U.S. chemical industry. The Company is subject to U.S. regulations with established risk-based and performance-based standards that must be met at U.S. Coast Guard-regulated facilities promulgated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Company is also subject to the requirements of the Rail Transportation Security Rule issued by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The Company continues to support uniform risk-based national standards for securing the chemical industry.
The Company maintains a comprehensive, multi-level security plan that focuses on security, emergency planning, preparedness and response. This plan, which has been activated in response to significant world and national events, is reviewed on an annual basis. The Company continues to improve its security plans, placing emphasis on the safety of Dow communities and people by being prepared to meet risks at any level and to address both internal and external identifiable risks. The security plan includes regular vulnerability assessments, security audits, mitigation efforts and physical security upgrades designed to reduce vulnerability. The Company’s security plans are also designed to avert interruptions of normal business operations that could materially and adversely affect the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The Company played a key role in the development and implementation of the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® Security Code ("Security Code"), which requires that all aspects of security – including facility, transportation and cyberspace – be assessed and gaps addressed. Through the global implementation of the Security Code, the Company has permanently heightened the level of security – not just in the United States, but worldwide. The Company employs several hundred employees and contractors in its Emergency Services and Security department worldwide. In 2019, the Company established its Global Security Operations Center ("GSOC") to provide 24-hour/day, 365-day/year real-time monitoring of global risks to Dow assets and people. The GSOC employs state-of-the-art social media monitoring, threat reporting and geo-fencing capabilities to analyze global risks and report those risks, facilitating decision-making and actions to prevent Dow crises.
Through the implementation of the Security Code, including voluntary security enhancements and upgrades, the Company is well-positioned to comply with U.S. chemical facility regulations and other regulatory security frameworks. The Company participates with the American Chemistry Council to periodically review and update the Security Code.
The Company continues to work collaboratively across the supply chain on Responsible Care®, supply chain design, emergency preparedness, shipment visibility and transportation of hazardous materials. The Company cooperated with public and private entities to lead the implementation of advanced tank car design, and track and trace technologies. Further, the Company’s Distribution Risk Review process addresses potential threats in all modes of transportation across the Company’s supply chain. To reduce vulnerabilities, the Company maintains security measures that meet or exceed regulatory and industry security standards in all areas in which they operate.
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The Company's initiatives relative to chemical security, emergency preparedness and response, Community Awareness and Emergency Response and crisis management are implemented consistently at all Dow sites on a global basis. Each Dow site has established outreach programs designed to engage community stakeholders with objectives centered around awareness of Dow operations, products, and efforts to protect worker and community health and the environment. These programs also educate community members on emergency planning and response, emissions and waste, future site plans to reduce waste and emissions, and process safety systems. Finally, these outreach efforts establish an opportunity for Dow site leaders to hear about community stakeholder expectations and address questions and concerns about safety, health, environmental or other issues. The Company participates with chemical associations globally and participates as an active member of the Global Congress on Chemical Security and Emerging Threats and in positions of leadership in the U.S. Chemical Sector Coordinating Council.
Climate Protection
Evaluation of climate-related risks and opportunities continues to be a catalyst for the development of the Company’s Decarbonize & Grow strategy (Dow’s climate transition plan), its broad water stewardship efforts and its new nature goal. Dow's science-based strategy includes a phased approach to decarbonize while meeting the growing demand for Dow's products and contributing to a low-emissions future through continued investment in new products, technologies and processes.
In 2020, Dow set a target to be carbon neutral by 2050 across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, plus product benefits. Dow’s Protect the Climate goals include reducing net annual GHG emissions by 5 million metric tons by 2030 versus its 2020 baseline, representing approximately a 15 percent reduction versus 2020 and a nearly 30 percent reduction since 2005. In 2021, Dow outlined a path to decarbonize its production processes (Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions), utilizing a phased approach in which end-of-life capacity is replaced with higher-efficiency, lower GHG emitting assets. In 2024, Dow continued near-term progression in its Decarbonize & Grow strategy by starting construction of its Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project which will be the world’s first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions ethylene complex, when completed, and will decarbonize approximately 20 percent of Dow’s global ethylene production capacity. Dow also continued to advance a project with X-energy, a nuclear energy innovation company, to commercialize an advanced small modular nuclear reactor that will generate GHG emissions-free process heat and energy at its site in Seadrift, Texas. In the near term, energy reduction and optimization projects will provide continuous progress toward Dow’s carbon-neutral ambitions.
Dow is also committed to advancing water stewardship within the Company's operations and supply chain and with downstream customers and to working collaboratively to enhance water management at the watershed level. In addition to Dow's target to reduce freshwater intake intensity at six key water-stressed sites by 20 percent from its 2015 baseline by the end of 2025, Dow announced in 2024 a robust new 2050 water resilience strategy as well as a 50,000 acre habitat conservation target to address these key elements of climate adaptation.
Despite these commitments, climate change-related risks and uncertainties, legal or regulatory responses to climate change, and failure to meet climate change commitments could negatively impact Dow’s results of operations, financial condition and/or reputation. Climate-related risks include both physical and transition risks.
Physical Risks
Climate-related physical risks include more frequent severe weather events, potential changes in precipitation patterns, water scarcity and extreme variability in weather patterns, which can disrupt the operations of the Company as well as those of its customers, partners and vendors.
To evaluate physical risks, Dow partnered with S&P Global Trucost (“Trucost”) to assess the Company’s exposure to physical risks based on the geographic location of its manufacturing operations. The risks assessed included water stress, flood, heat waves, cold waves, hurricanes, wildfires and sea level rise. The analysis included an assessment of the physical risks using a baseline year of 2020 with time periods for medium- (year 2030) and long-term (year 2050) using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change representative concentration pathways. These pathways represent varying degrees of global atmospheric GHG concentrations (low, medium and high), and thus different expectations on global temperature rise. Results will be incorporated into Dow’s long-term assessments of its manufacturing sites, which is a key input into Dow’s capital approval process.
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Transition Risks
Climate-related transition risks include the availability, development and affordability of lower GHG emissions technology, the effects of CO2e pricing, and changes in public sentiment, regulations, taxes, public mandates or requirements as they relate to CO2e, water or land use.
Climate-related risks, including both physical and transition risks, are assessed with input from internal and external sources including corporate, business, function and geographic leaders; subject matter experts; investors; and other stakeholders. The evaluation of climate-related risks and opportunities is integrated into an annual company-wide risk management process, known as enterprise risk management (“ERM”). ERM identifies significant or major risks to the Company and develops action plans to modify or mitigate risks.
Every few years, Dow also utilizes a robust scenario analysis to assess the long-term materiality and impact of climate-related risks and opportunities. Scenario analysis is used to challenge business-as-usual assumptions and strengthen the resiliency of the Company’s Decarbonize & Grow strategy. Scenarios are used to evaluate both physical and transition risk and are particularly useful in evaluating the potential and impact of emerging risks.
Managing Climate Risks
Management of climate risk is assigned to Dow’s Climate Steering Team (“CST”), which is accountable for developing and implementing plans to mitigate risk and for tracking actions and progress against those plans. With oversight and accountability by the CST, specific carbon-related risks are managed by Dow’s Climate Program Management Office (“PMO”). The PMO partners with subject matter experts to develop and implement strategies to mitigate or eliminate climate-related risks. The team develops specific action plans and ensures owners are assigned to drive forward progress in order to reduce Dow’s risk exposure. Risk mitigation status updates are provided to executive leaders on a regular basis and discussions include risk time horizons and/or magnitude of impact to confirm that the strategy remains solid.
Decarbonize & Grow
Dow’s Decarbonize & Grow strategy involves specific actions to mitigate identified climate-related physical and transition risks, while also advancing opportunities in several key areas. These include:
•Optimizing Manufacturing Facilities and Processes for Sustainability: In addition to implementing near-term growth and efficiency investments, Dow is phasing out inefficient assets, decarbonizing remaining assets and building best-in-class, net-zero assets, as well as investing in innovative technologies such as clean hydrogen, advanced nuclear and carbon capture and storage. Dow has committed to investing approximately $1 billion in annual capital across the economic cycle to decarbonize assets in a phased approach, while growing capacity.
•Increasing Use of Clean Energy and Steam: As a major user and producer of energy, Dow is committed to reducing the use of fossil fuels for energy production and increasing consumption of clean energy, including both renewable and net-zero-emissions sources.
•Developing Low-Emissions Products, Technologies and Services: As a leading materials science company, Dow products are capable of making important contributions to the reduction of GHG emissions, including products that facilitate energy efficiency, lightweighting, fuel transition, circularity, increased operational efficiency and resource reductions.
•Developing Next Generation, Low-Carbon Manufacturing Technologies: Dow is investing in longer-term, future-focused manufacturing technologies that will be critical in the decarbonization of the Company's manufacturing.
•Building a Value-Generating Scope 3 Decarbonization Pathway: Approximately 70 percent of Dow’s emissions footprint fall into Scope 3 categories and more than half of those emissions derive from the raw materials, transportation and other services purchased as a company. Dow is actively validating and developing Scope 3 emissions reduction and mitigation efforts. Collaboration with the Company’s partners along the entire value chain is key to lowering Scope 3 carbon emissions.
Water Stewardship
Water is Dow’s largest dependency on nature. Water-related risk considers water availability (too much, too little), water quality (intake and effluents), access to safe drinking water, health of ecosystems and reputational and regulatory challenges. Dow’s approach to identifying water-related risks and impacts includes identification of
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physical, regulatory and reputational risks. Dow’s methodology uses scientifically robust external tools such as WRI Aqueduct and the World Wildlife Fund water risk filter tool. Dow’s actions are also informed by the Trucost physical risk assessment, wherein water scarcity is recognized and addressed as the biggest climate-related threat to corporate assets with potential substantive financial or strategic impact on business.
Dow’s water risk management approach recognizes that every site and every business is accountable for water and certain watersheds require additional measures to address specific water stress challenges. Many Dow locations have specific water action plans to address local challenges, and Dow's new water strategy calls for water stewardship plans at its 20 water-dependent sites by 2030 and for all manufacturing sites by 2035. These action plans include mitigations for local water scarcity or quality issues and consider the needs of other local users for freshwater. Additionally, in 2015 Dow identified six sites, located in Texas (2); Bahia Blanca, Argentina; Terneuzen, The Netherlands; Böhlen, Germany; and Tarragona, Spain; where its operations are located in a water-stressed watershed, have local water quality issues, have competition among local users for water, or have some local knowledge of watershed challenges, and these six sites have since been the focus of Company actions. In 2024, the Company secured the use of a reservoir asset at one of its main U.S. Gulf Coast manufacturing sites, with a 35-year contract period that is expected to commence upon completion of construction in 2028.
In addition to site water stewardship efforts, Dow will work with suppliers to understand and mitigate water and biodiversity impacts and dependencies in its supply chain and will continue to innovate products that enable society to have reduced impacts on water bodies and other ecosystems.
Accountability for operational water stewardship begins at the site level where the operating permits exist. The Company's progress against its broader water and nature targets is reviewed regularly by management and with the EHS&T Committee of the Board.
Advancing a Circular Economy
Since Dow is only one part of the materials ecosystem, Dow advocates for the adoption of policies to accelerate the broader pathway to circularity. Circularity-enabling policies such as recycling mandates; mandates for recycled content in products; extended producer responsibility systems to finance state-of-the-art local access to collection, sorting and recycling; and policies to incentivize investments in innovative circular technologies are all critical to ensure that post-use products are diverted away from landfilling, incineration, open dumps and open burning and instead enter the circular economy. To accelerate the materials ecosystem, Dow is working toward its Transform the Waste target collectively with partners. The goal is to boost recycling rates for materials by developing the associated ecosystems to increase collection, sorting and recycling. As part of Dow’s sustainability targets, Dow intends to transform waste and alternative feedstocks to commercialize 3 million metric tons per year of circular and renewable solutions by 2030.
Although the volume base is fairly small today, circular products are seeing increasing promise with commercially attractive growth rates, and Dow expects this market to gain an increasingly larger market share over the coming decades, as supporting policies, technology and economics improve. Dow is partnering to build industrial ecosystems to collect, reuse or recycle waste and expand its portfolio to meet rapidly growing demand for circular solutions. Further, Dow is redesigning product formulations in order to use circular feedstocks such as waste and renewable materials, thereby reducing the reliance on virgin fossil feedstocks.
A circular economy requires embedding circularity in all parts of the value chains downstream from Dow. This includes product design for recyclability, accessible collection, sorting and recycling facilities, and appropriate economic incentives to make recycling economically viable. Through innovative developments, combined with partnerships and value chain collaboration, Dow is assisting its customers to design downstream applications for recyclability.
Developing Safer Materials
Chemistry-based products provide many benefits to society. Like any product, they must be managed responsibly to minimize any potential adverse effects on humans or the environment. Dow takes this responsibility seriously and works hard to ensure that its products are designed, stored, transported, used, disposed of, or recycled in a manner that shows high regard for human health, safety and environmental stewardship.
Dow utilizes the Company’s strong innovation pipeline to develop safer materials or reduce or eliminate priority substances in its products. Dow also invests in clean upstream manufacturing technologies to reduce facility emissions and, where necessary, restricts downstream uses of some substances.
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At Dow, material safety is a continuous journey made possible through innovation, design and more predictive, enabling technologies. Dow works to offer products that – if used properly and in the manner intended – pose low risk to the environment, health and safety, and seeks to optimize products so they use resources more efficiently and sustainably.
Dow is working to deliver a sustainable future through its materials science expertise and collaboration with its customers. By constantly innovating how it sources, manufactures and delivers material solutions, Dow helps customers achieve their goals and create a better tomorrow. Dow also transparently communicates information on substances to customers via safety data sheets, regulatory data sheets and, in some cases, product handling guides.
Dow is committed to demonstrating the value of chemistry and materials science to society and improving the way the world understands and considers science in decision-making to maximize benefits to businesses, society and the planet. Through Dow’s 2025 Safe Materials for a Sustainable Planet goal, the Company has made progress toward this vision by innovating sustainable materials of tomorrow, leading candid conversations about product safety and committing to the advancement of open and transparent chemistry with value chain partners, customers and the public.
Environmental Remediation
For comparison of environmental remediation-related matters for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on January 31, 2024.
The Company accrues the costs of remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on current law and regulatory requirements. The nature of such remediation can include management of soil and groundwater contamination. The accounting policies adopted to properly reflect the monetary impacts of environmental matters are discussed in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. To assess the impact on the financial statements, environmental experts review currently available facts to evaluate the probability and scope of potential liabilities. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and the ability to apply remediation technologies. These liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. The Company had an accrued liability of $879 million at December 31, 2024, related to the remediation of current or former Dow-owned sites. At December 31, 2023, the liability related to remediation was $939 million.
In addition to current and former Dow-owned sites, under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA") and equivalent state laws (hereafter referred to collectively as "Superfund Law"), the Company is liable for remediation of other hazardous waste sites where the Company allegedly disposed of, or arranged for the treatment or disposal of, hazardous substances. Because Superfund Law imposes joint and several liability upon each party at a site, the Company has evaluated its potential liability in light of the number of other companies that have also been named potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) at each site, the estimated apportionment of costs among all PRPs, and the financial ability and commitment of each to pay its expected share. The Company’s remaining liability for the remediation of Superfund sites was $234 million at December 31, 2024 ($241 million at December 31, 2023). The Company has not recorded any third-party recovery related to these sites as a receivable.
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Information regarding environmental sites is provided below:
| Environmental Sites | Dow-owned Sites 1 | Superfund Sites 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||
| Number of sites at Jan 1 | 154 | 171 | 133 | 130 | |||
| Sites added during year | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Sites closed during year | — | (23) | (3) | (1) | |||
| Number of sites at Dec 31 | 156 | 154 | 131 | 133 |
1.Dow-owned sites are sites currently or formerly owned by the Company. In the United States, remediation obligations are imposed by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act or analogous state law. At December 31, 2024, 25 of these sites (24 sites at December 31, 2023) were formerly owned by Dowell Schlumberger, Inc., a group of companies in which the Company previously owned a 50 percent interest. The Company sold its interest in Dowell Schlumberger in 1992.
2.Superfund sites are sites, including sites not owned by the Company, where remediation obligations are imposed by Superfund Law.
Additional information is provided below for the Company’s Midland, Michigan, manufacturing site and Midland off-site locations (collectively, the "Midland sites"), as well as a Superfund site in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, the locations for which the Company has the largest potential environmental liabilities.
In the early days of operations at the Midland manufacturing site, wastes were usually disposed of on-site, resulting in soil and groundwater contamination, which has been contained and managed on-site under a series of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permits and regulatory agreements. The Hazardous Waste Operating License for the Midland manufacturing site, issued in 2003, and renewed and replaced in September 2015, also included provisions for the Company to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and extent of off-site contamination from historic Midland manufacturing site operations. In January 2010, the Company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the State of Michigan ("State") entered into an Administrative Order on Consent that requires the Company to conduct a remedial investigation, a feasibility study and a remedial design for the Tittabawassee River, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay, and pay the oversight costs of the EPA and the State under the authority of CERCLA. See Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information relating to Midland off-site environmental matters.
Rohm and Haas, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a PRP at the Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, Ventron/Velsicol Superfund Site, and the adjacent Berry’s Creek Study Area ("BCSA") (collectively, the "Wood-Ridge sites"). Rohm and Haas is a successor in interest to a company that owned and operated a mercury processing facility, where wastewater and waste handling resulted in contamination of soils and adjacent creek sediments. In 2018, the Berry’s Creek Study Area Potentially Responsible Party Group (“PRP Group”), consisting of over 100 PRPs, completed a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for the BCSA. During that time, the EPA concluded that an “iterative or adaptive approach” was appropriate for cleaning up the BCSA. Thus, each phase of remediation will be followed by a period of monitoring to assess its effectiveness and determine if there is a need for more work. In September 2018, the EPA signed a Record of Decision ("ROD 1") which describes the initial phase of the EPA’s plan to clean-up the BCSA. ROD 1 will remediate waterways and major tributaries in the most contaminated part of the BCSA. The PRP Group has signed agreements with the EPA to design the selected remedy. Although there is currently much uncertainty as to what will ultimately be required to remediate the BCSA and Rohm and Haas's share of these costs has yet to be determined, the range of activities that are required in the interim Record of Decision is known in general terms. The PRP Group has been approached by the EPA to convene discussions for the Remedial Action Consent Decree the EPA is preparing for the Berry’s Creek Site. The group submitted the 95 percent design for EPA review and has identified and contracted with a Remedial Action contractor to support completion of the 100 percent design. Allocation remains incomplete.
At December 31, 2024, the Company had accrued liabilities totaling $303 million ($319 million at December 31, 2023) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites. In 2024, the Company spent $45 million ($48 million in 2023) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites.
In total, the Company’s accrued liability for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs was $1,113 million at December 31, 2024, compared with $1,180 million at December 31, 2023. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. Consequently, it is reasonably possible that environmental remediation and restoration costs in excess of amounts accrued could have a material impact on
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the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. It is the opinion of the Company’s management, however, that the possibility is remote that costs in excess of the range disclosed will have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to environmental remediation totaled $197 million in 2024 and $203 million in 2023. The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to operating the Company's current pollution abatement facilities, excluding internal recharges, totaled $823 million in 2024 and $758 million in 2023. Capital expenditures for environmental protection were $208 million in 2024 and $228 million in 2023.
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past several decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem. In many cases, plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate that they have suffered any compensable loss as a result of such exposure, or that injuries incurred in fact resulted from exposure to Union Carbide’s products.
For comparison of asbestos-related matters of Union Carbide Corporation for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on January 31, 2024.
The table below provides information regarding asbestos-related claims pending against Union Carbide and Amchem based on criteria developed by Union Carbide and its external consultants:
| Asbestos-Related Claim Activity | 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claims unresolved at Jan 1 | 6,367 | 6,873 | |
| Claims filed | 4,568 | 4,199 | |
| Claims settled, dismissed or otherwise resolved | (5,122) | (4,705) | |
| Claims unresolved at Dec 31 | 5,813 | 6,367 | |
| Claimants with claims against both Union Carbide and Amchem | (1,005) | (1,236) | |
| Individual claimants at Dec 31 | 4,808 | 5,131 |
Plaintiffs’ lawyers often sue numerous defendants in individual lawsuits or on behalf of numerous claimants. As a result, the damages alleged are not expressly identified as to Union Carbide, Amchem or any other particular defendant, even when specific damages are alleged with respect to a specific disease or injury. For these reasons and based upon Union Carbide’s litigation and settlement experience, Union Carbide does not consider the damages alleged against Union Carbide and Amchem to be a meaningful factor in its determination of any potential asbestos-related liability.
For additional information see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings and Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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FY 2023 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001751788-24-000010.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
STATEMENT ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES
The Company's global business operations give rise to market risk exposure related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and international capital flows that may be affected by extensive regulations and controls, especially in developing or highly inflationary countries such as Argentina. In December 2023, the Argentina government devalued the Argentine peso, which resulted in pretax charges for foreign currency exchange losses and inventory valuation impacts of $177 million ($52 million related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $16 million related to Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and $109 million related to Corporate). The Company continues to monitor these situations and take appropriate actions as necessary to manage the financial impact pursuant to established guidelines and policies. If the Company is unable to manage certain exposures in a cost-effective manner it could have a significant negative impact on its future results of operations and cash flows. A detailed discussion of these and other principal risks and uncertainties, which may negatively impact the future results of the Company, are included in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.
| Table of Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| About Dow | 30 |
| Overview | 31 |
| Results of Operations | 33 |
| Segment Results | 36 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | 36 |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | 37 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | 37 |
| Corporate | 38 |
| Outlook | 39 |
| Liquidity and Capital Resources | 39 |
| Other Matters | 48 |
| Critical Accounting Estimates | 48 |
| Environmental Matters | 50 |
| Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation | 56 |
ABOUT DOW
Dow is one of the world’s leading materials science companies, serving customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. The Company's global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation, leading business positions and commitment to sustainability enables the Company to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. Dow operates manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,900 people.
In 2023, the Company had annual sales of $45 billion, of which 37 percent were to customers in the U.S. & Canada; 33 percent were in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India ("EMEAI"); while the remaining 30 percent were to customers in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
In 2023, the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries did not operate in countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions and export controls as imposed by the U.S. State Department or in countries designated by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terrorism, including Cuba, Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Syria. The Company has policies and procedures in place designed to ensure that it and its consolidated subsidiaries remain in compliance with applicable U.S. laws and regulations.
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OVERVIEW
The following is a summary of the results for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2023:
The Company reported net sales in 2023 of $45 billion, down 22 percent from $57 billion in 2022, with decreases across all geographic regions and operating segments, and driven by a decrease in local price of 16 percent and a volume decrease of 6 percent.
Local price decreased 16 percent compared with 2022, with decreases in all operating segments and geographic regions, driven by slower global macroeconomic activity creating unfavorable supply and demand dynamics, industry supply additions and lower global energy and feedstocks costs. Local price decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 16 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 14 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 15 percent).
Volume decreased 6 percent compared with 2022, with decreases in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 5 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 9 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 5 percent). Volume decreased in the U.S. & Canada (down 6 percent), EMEAI (down 9 percent), and Asia Pacific (down 4 percent), which was partially offset by an increase in Latin America (up 4 percent).
Currency impact on net sales was flat compared with 2022.
Restructuring and asset related charges - net were $528 million in 2023 primarily reflecting restructuring actions approved by the Board in January 2023. The restructuring charges consisted of severance and related benefit costs of $344 million and asset write-downs and write-offs of $191 million and were partially offset by other asset related credit adjustments of $7 million related to a prior restructuring program.
Equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates was $119 million in 2023, compared with earnings of $268 million in 2022, primarily due to declines at Sadara and the Kuwait joint ventures.
Sundry income (expense) - net for Dow Inc. and TDCC was expense of $280 million and $327 million, respectively, in 2023, compared with income of $727 million and $714 million, respectively, in 2022. Sundry income (expense) - net decreased primarily due to a non-cash settlement charge related to the Company's pension de-risking activities and higher foreign currency exchange losses, which included the impact of the December 2023 devaluation of the Argentine peso. Income from the successful and final resolution and recognition of a long-running patent infringement award was included in 2022.
Net income available for Dow Inc. and TDCC common stockholder(s) was $589 million and $556 million, respectively, in 2023, compared with $4,582 million and $4,583 million, respectively, in 2022. Earnings per share for Dow Inc. was $0.82 per share in 2023, compared with $6.28 per share in 2022.
In 2023, Dow Inc. declared and paid dividends to common stockholders of $2.80 per share ($1,972 million).
In 2023, Dow Inc. repurchased $625 million of the Company's common stock.
Other notable events and highlights from the year ended December 31, 2023 include:
•On January 25, 2023, the Board approved restructuring actions ("2023 Restructuring Program") to achieve the Company's structural cost improvement initiatives in response to the continued economic impact from the global recessionary environment and to enhance its agility and long-term competitiveness across the economic cycle. This program included a global workforce cost reduction program, decreased turnaround spending and actions that rationalized the Company’s manufacturing assets, which included asset write-down and write-off charges and related contract termination fees.
•On April 25, 2023, the Company announced that it had selected Linde as its industrial gas partner for the supply of circular hydrogen and nitrogen for its Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero investment.
•On May 11, 2023, Dow Inc. announced Seadrift, Texas, as the location of its small modular nuclear reactor project as part of a joint development agreement with X-energy.
•On June 15, 2023, Fitch Ratings affirmed TDCC’s BBB+ long-term credit rating and announced a short-term credit rating upgrade to F1 from F2, and also revised its long-term outlook from positive to stable. On
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August 22, 2023, Standard and Poor's affirmed TDCC's BBB and A-2 rating, and revised its outlook from positive to stable. These credit agencies' decisions were made as part of their annual review process and reflect the Company's supportive financial policies and strong operating performance.
•On June 19, 2023, Dow Inc. released its INtersections Progress Report, demonstrating how the Company's continued focus and actions align to its ambition and goal to deliver value growth; best-in-class performance; and innovative, sustainable solutions to address global challenges.
•On July 14, 2023, an incident occurred that included an explosion and subsequent fire at Dow's Louisiana Operations Glycol-2 unit in Plaquemine, Louisiana. There were no injuries reported from the incident and it was limited to the Glycol-2 unit with minimal disruption to other site operations. The Company completed a root cause investigation and is executing a plan to restore operations. The Company's estimated impact on pretax earnings from the incident is $100 million per quarter. The Glycol-2 unit is expected to resume operations in the second quarter of 2024.
•On October 24, 2023, the Company announced that Howard Ungerleider, President and Chief Financial Officer, had elected to retire in January 2024 after 33 years of service with Dow.
•On October 24, 2023, the Company announced that Jeffrey L. Tate had been named Chief Financial Officer.
•On November 28, 2023, the Company announced the Board declared Final Investment Decision on the Company's Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero investment to build the world's first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives facility in Alberta, Canada.
•On December 18, 2023, the Company announced that Ronald C. Edmonds, Controller and Vice President of Controllers and Tax, had elected to retire in July 2024, after 31 years of service with Dow.
•On December 18, 2023, the Company announced that Andrea L. Dominowski had been named Controller and Vice President of Controllers effective February 1, 2024.
•Dow was named on the Top 100 Global Innovators™ list for the 12th consecutive year.
•Dow received a record-setting nine 2023 Edison Awards™ (five gold, three silver and one bronze), once again earning more awards than any other organization for the sixth consecutive year.
•Dow was named to the JUST 100 list, placing 55th overall, an 11-place improvement from last year, and securing the top spot for Communities in the Chemicals sector.
•Dow was named to Bloomberg’s 2022 Gender-Equality Index for the third consecutive year.
•Dow earned a spot in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook, recognizing the Company as a top industry performer.
•Dow was honored as a winner of a 2023 Artificial Intelligence Award for the development of technology that identifies and predicts corrosion failures in metal coatings.
•Dow received five 2023 BIG Innovation Awards from the Business Intelligence Group™, the most received in a single Business Intelligence Group™ Awards program by the Company.
•Dow was recognized with a 2023 CIO 100 Award for its successful Smart Search tool, powered by CAS.
•Dow was titled a Supplier Engagement Leader by CDP, a result of actions taken by the Company to address climate change.
•Dow advanced to seventh place on the 2023 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list making it the sixth consecutive year on the list. Dow was also included on 15 of DiversityInc's Specialty Lists including: Top Companies for Executive Diversity Councils, Top Companies for People with Disabilities, Top Companies for Black Executives, Top Companies for Latino Executives, Top Companies for Executive Women, Top Companies for Employee Resource Groups and Top Companies for Environmental, Social and Governance.
•Dow's EVOWASH™ Antifoam Agents and Readily Biodegradable Detergents and Dow's LuxSense™ Silicone Leather each received a SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement & Leadership) Sustainable Innovation Award. Dow's SYL-OFF™ EM-7920NF Emulsion Coating was a winner of the SEAL Sustainable Product Award.
•Dow received five awards (Overall Winner, three golds, one silver) at the annual U.S Customer Experience Awards.
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•For the seventh consecutive year, Dow received a top score on the Disability Equality Index™, placing the Company among the Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion™ for 2023.
•Dow Technology won the 2023 ICIS Innovation Award which recognizes companies that are paving the way in product, process, and sustainability innovations across the chemicals industry.
•Dow was named one of the 2023 PEOPLE® Companies that Care by Great Place to Work® and PEOPLE® for the fourth consecutive year.
•Dow was honored by Great Place to Work® and Fortune as one of the World's Best Workplaces. Dow was also certified as a Great Place to Work® in 13 countries and ranked on 10 national Best Workplaces lists, including the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list in the United States for the third consecutive year.
•Dow was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index by S&P Dow Jones Indices, the world's leading index provider focused on providing essential sustainability intelligence.
In addition to the highlights above, the following events occurred subsequent to December 31, 2023:
•On January 19, 2024, Moody's Investors Service affirmed TDCC's Baa1 and P-2 rating, and affirmed its outlook of stable.
•On January 25, 2024, the Company published its Green Finance Framework and related Second Party Opinion on its website, to support the execution of its sustainability strategy.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
For comparison of results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 1, 2023.
Net Sales
The following tables summarize net sales and sales variances by operating segment and geographic region from the prior year:
| Summary of Sales Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 44,622 | $ | 56,902 |
| Sales Variances by Operating Segment and Geographic Region | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||
| Percentage change from prior year | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | ||||||||||
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | (16) | % | — | % | (5) | % | (21) | % | 7 | % | (3) | % | — | % | 4 | % | ||
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | (14) | (1) | (9) | (24) | 11 | (5) | (7) | (1) | ||||||||||
| Performance Materials & Coatings | (15) | (1) | (5) | (21) | 21 | (4) | (6) | 11 | ||||||||||
| Total | (16) | % | — | % | (6) | % | (22) | % | 11 | % | (4) | % | (3) | % | 4 | % | ||
| Total, excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business | (15) | % | (1) | % | (4) | % | (20) | % | 10 | % | (4) | % | (5) | % | 1 | % | ||
| U.S. & Canada | (15) | % | — | % | (6) | % | (21) | % | 6 | % | — | % | 1 | % | 7 | % | ||
| EMEAI | (17) | — | (9) | (26) | 18 | (9) | (10) | (1) | ||||||||||
| Asia Pacific | (14) | (2) | (4) | (20) | 6 | (3) | — | 3 | ||||||||||
| Latin America | (17) | — | 4 | (13) | 6 | — | 1 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Total | (16) | % | — | % | (6) | % | (22) | % | 11 | % | (4) | % | (3) | % | 4 | % |
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2023 Versus 2022
The Company reported net sales of $44.6 billion in 2023, down 22 percent from $56.9 billion in 2022, with local price down 16 percent, volume down 6 percent, and currency flat. Net sales decreased by double digits in all operating segments and across all geographic regions, primarily driven by lower prices and demand due to slower global macroeconomic activity. Local price decreased in all operating segments and across all geographic regions driven by industry supply additions and lower global energy and feedstock costs. Local price decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 16 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 14 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 15 percent). Volume decreased in all operating segments and geographic regions, except Latin America (up 4 percent). Volume decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 5 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 9 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 5 percent). Excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business, sales decreased 20 percent.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales ("COS") was $39.7 billion in 2023, compared with $48.3 billion in 2022. COS decreased in 2023 primarily due to lower raw material costs on lower volume, lower global energy and feedstock costs and the impact of structural cost improvements. COS as a percentage of net sales was 89.1 percent in 2023, compared with 84.9 percent in 2022.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development ("R&D") expenses were $829 million in 2023, compared with $851 million in 2022. R&D expenses decreased in 2023 primarily due to the impact of structural cost improvements as well as lower performance-based compensation costs.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses were $1,627 million in 2023, compared with $1,675 million in 2022. SG&A expenses decreased in 2023 primarily due to lower bad debt expense, the impact of structural cost improvements and lower performance-based compensation costs, which more than offset increases associated with the Company's restructuring implementation and efficiency actions and fringe benefit expenses tied to stock market changes.
Amortization of Intangibles
Amortization of intangibles was $324 million in 2023, compared with $336 million in 2022. Amortization of intangibles decreased primarily due to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized. See Note 11 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on intangible assets.
Restructuring and Asset Related Charges - Net
2023 Restructuring Program
On January 25, 2023, the Board approved restructuring actions to achieve the Company's structural cost improvement initiatives in response to the continued economic impact from the global recessionary environment and to enhance its agility and long-term competitiveness across the economic cycle. These actions are expected to be substantially complete by the end of 2024.
As a result of these actions, in 2023 the Company recorded pretax restructuring charges of $535 million, consisting of severance and related benefit costs of $344 million and asset write-downs and write-offs of $191 million. The restructuring charges by segment were as follows: $1 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $50 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, $49 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $435 million in Corporate. These charges were partially offset by other asset related credit adjustments of $7 million in Corporate related to a prior restructuring program. See Note 4 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Equity in Earnings (Losses) of Nonconsolidated Affiliates
The Company’s share of equity in losses of nonconsolidated affiliates was $119 million in 2023, compared with earnings of $268 million in 2022, with lower equity earnings at all principal joint ventures and primarily due to margin compression at Sadara and the Kuwait joint ventures as a result of lower local prices and demand.
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Sundry Income (Expense) - Net
Sundry income (expense) – net includes a variety of income and expense items such as foreign currency exchange gains and losses, dividends from investments, gains and losses on sales of investments and assets, non-operating pension and other postretirement benefit plan credits or costs, losses on early extinguishment of debt and certain litigation matters.
TDCC
Sundry income (expense) - net for 2023 was expense of $327 million, compared with income of $714 million in 2022.
In 2023, sundry income (expense) - net included a $642 million non-cash settlement charge related to the purchase of nonparticipating group annuity contracts for certain pension plans (related to Corporate) and foreign currency exchange losses, including $109 million related to the December 2023 devaluation of the Argentine peso (related to Corporate). These were partially offset by non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits, a $106 million gain associated with a legal matter with Nova Chemicals Corporation (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics), and gains on the sales of assets and investments. See Notes 5, 14, 18 and 24, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In 2022, sundry income (expense) - net included a $321 million gain related to the successful and final resolution and recognition of a long-running patent infringement award (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics), a $60 million gain related to an adjustment to the Dow Silicones breast implant liability (related to Corporate), non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits and gains on the sales of assets and investments. These were partially offset by foreign currency exchange losses and an $8 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt (related to Corporate). See Notes 5, 13, 14, 18 and 24, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Dow Inc.
Sundry income (expense) - net for 2023 was expense of $280 million, compared with income of $727 million in 2022.
In 2023, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net included a $42 million net gain associated with agreements and matters with DuPont de Nemours, Inc. ("DuPont") and Corteva, Inc. ("Corteva") (related to Corporate).
In 2022, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net included a $4 million net gain associated with agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution (related to Corporate).
Interest Expense and Amortization of Debt Discount
Interest expense and amortization of debt discount was $746 million in 2023, compared with $662 million in 2022. The increase in interest expense is primarily due to $1.5 billion of senior unsecured notes issued in the fourth quarter of 2022 and local country borrowings outside the United States in 2023. See Liquidity and Capital Resources in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to debt financing activity.
Provision for Income Taxes
The Company's effective tax rate fluctuates based on, among other factors, where income is earned, the level of income relative to tax attributes and the level of equity earnings, since most earnings from the Company's equity method investments are taxed at the joint venture level. The underlying factors affecting the Company's overall tax rate are summarized in Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The Company reported a tax credit of $4 million in 2023, resulting in an effective tax rate of negative 0.6 percent, compared with a tax provision of $1,450 million in 2022, resulting in an effective tax rate of 23.8 percent. The credit for income taxes and the lower effective tax rate in 2023 compared with 2022 were primarily due to a decrease in pretax income, changes to geographic mix of earnings, increases in tax basis in assets located in foreign jurisdictions, partially offset by changes in uncertain tax positions in various jurisdictions.
The Company continues to monitor and evaluate legislative developments related to the Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal ("GloBE") established by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s ("OECD") Pillar
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Two framework. Several countries in which the Company operates have adopted those rules into their legislation and several others are expected to implement in the future. The Company continues to evaluate impacts as further guidance is released.
Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was $71 million in 2023, compared with $58 million in 2022. See Notes 17 and 22 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Net Income Available for the Common Stockholder(s)
Dow Inc.
Net income available for Dow Inc. common stockholders was $589 million in 2023, compared with $4,582 million in 2022. Earnings per share of Dow Inc. was $0.82 per share in 2023, compared with $6.28 per share in 2022. See Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for details on Dow Inc.'s earnings per share calculations.
TDCC
Net income available for TDCC common stockholder was $556 million in 2023, compared with $4,583 million in 2022. TDCC's common shares are owned solely by Dow Inc.
SEGMENT RESULTS
The Company conducts its worldwide operations through six global businesses which are organized into the following operating segments: Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and Performance Materials & Coatings. Corporate contains the reconciliation between the totals for the operating segments and the Company's totals. The Company did not aggregate any operating segments when determining its reportable segments. The Company reports geographic information for the following regions: U.S. & Canada, EMEAI, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company transfers ethylene to its downstream derivative businesses at market prices. See Part I, Item 1. Business for further discussion of the Company's segments.
The Company’s measure of profit/loss for segment reporting purposes is Operating EBIT as this is the manner in which the Company's chief operating decision maker ("CODM") assesses performance and allocates resources. The Company defines Operating EBIT as earnings (i.e., "Income before income taxes") before interest, excluding the impact of significant items. Operating EBIT by segment includes all operating items relating to the businesses; items that principally apply to Dow as a whole are assigned to Corporate. See Note 24 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for reconciliations of these measures.
For comparison of segment results for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 1, 2023.
PACKAGING & SPECIALTY PLASTICS
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 23,149 | $ | 29,260 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 2,700 | $ | 4,110 | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 130 | $ | 359 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2023 | 2022 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (16) | % | 7 | % |
| Currency | — | (3) | ||
| Volume | (5) | — | ||
| Total | (21) | % | 4 | % |
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2023 Versus 2022
Packaging & Specialty Plastics net sales were $23,149 million in 2023, down 21 percent from net sales of $29,260 million in 2022, with local price down 16 percent, volume down 5 percent and currency flat. Local price decreased in Packaging and Specialty Plastics, in all geographic regions, primarily driven by lower polyethylene prices due to unfavorable industry supply and demand dynamics. Local price decreased in Hydrocarbons & Energy, in all geographic regions, as prices for co-products are generally correlated to Brent crude oil prices, which, on average, decreased 17 percent compared with 2022. Volume was flat in Packaging and Specialty Plastics, with an increase in Latin America offset by decreases in all other geographic regions. Volume decreased in Hydrocarbons & Energy, primarily in EMEAI and the U.S. & Canada, driven by lower sales of olefins and aromatics.
Operating EBIT was $2,700 million in 2023, down $1,410 million from Operating EBIT of $4,110 million in 2022. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to lower selling prices, which was partially offset by lower raw material, energy and feedstock costs and the impact of structural cost improvements.
INDUSTRIAL INTERMEDIATES & INFRASTRUCTURE
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 12,538 | $ | 16,606 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 124 | $ | 1,418 | |
| Equity losses | $ | (276) | $ | (91) |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2023 | 2022 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (14) | % | 11 | % |
| Currency | (1) | (5) | ||
| Volume | (9) | (7) | ||
| Total | (24) | % | (1) | % |
2023 Versus 2022
Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure net sales were $12,538 million in 2023, down 24 percent from $16,606 million in 2022, with local price down 14 percent, volume down 9 percent and an unfavorable currency impact of 1 percent. Local price decreased in both businesses and across all geographic regions, driven by unfavorable supply and demand dynamics. Volume in Industrial Solutions decreased in all geographic regions, driven primarily by industrial, coatings and agricultural applications as well as a significant unplanned event at the Louisiana Operations Glycol-2 unit in Plaquemine, Louisiana. Volume in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals decreased in all geographic regions, largely driven by lower demand, particularly in consumer durables and building and construction applications. Currency unfavorably impacted sales in both businesses, driven by Asia Pacific and EMEAI.
Operating EBIT was $124 million in 2023, down $1,294 million from Operating EBIT of $1,418 million in 2022. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to lower selling prices and volume due to lower global demand and lower equity earnings at the Sadara and EQUATE joint ventures, which were partially offset by the impact of structural cost improvements.
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PERFORMANCE MATERIALS & COATINGS
| Performance Materials & Coatings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 8,497 | $ | 10,764 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 219 | $ | 1,328 | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 20 | $ | 10 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2023 | 2022 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | (15) | % | 21 | % |
| Currency | (1) | (4) | ||
| Volume | (5) | (6) | ||
| Total | (21) | % | 11 | % |
2023 Versus 2022
Performance Materials & Coatings net sales were $8,497 million in 2023, down 21 percent from net sales of $10,764 million in 2022, with local price down 15 percent, volume down 5 percent and an unfavorable currency impact of 1 percent. Local price decreased in both businesses and across all geographic regions. Consumer Solutions local price decreased primarily due to unfavorable supply and demand dynamics in upstream siloxanes. Local price decreased in Coatings & Performance Monomers primarily in acrylic monomers and architectural coatings and was driven by lower raw material prices and unfavorable supply and demand dynamics. Volume decreased in Consumer Solutions in all regions, except for Asia Pacific, which was flat, driven by lower demand for upstream siloxanes, industrial and chemical processing and personal care applications, partially offset by higher demand in building and construction applications. Volume decreased in Coatings & Performance Monomers in all geographic regions and was driven by lower demand in residential construction applications. The unfavorable currency impact was driven by Asia Pacific.
Operating EBIT was $219 million in 2023, down $1,109 million from Operating EBIT of $1,328 million in 2022. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to lower selling prices and lower demand in both businesses, which were partially offset by lower raw material costs and the impact of structural cost improvements.
CORPORATE
| Corporate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 438 | $ | 272 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | (265) | $ | (266) | |
| Equity earnings (losses) | $ | 7 | $ | (10) |
2023 Versus 2022
Net sales for Corporate, which primarily relate to the Company's insurance operations, were $438 million in 2023, up from net sales of $272 million in 2022.
Operating EBIT was a loss of $265 million in 2023, compared with a loss of $266 million in 2022. Improvements in insurance operations and equity earnings were offset by increased environmental costs.
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OUTLOOK
Operating Segments & End-Market Expectations
In 2024, Dow is expected to maintain its commitment to financial and operational discipline while navigating dynamic market conditions. While the Company expects softness in industrial and durable goods demand to continue in the first quarter, early positive signals in areas including construction, automotive and consumer electronics are encouraging. The Company's strong balance sheet and cash generation provide flexibility to cover all capital allocation priorities as the Company progresses through the economic cycle and advances its Decarbonize & Grow and Transform the Waste strategies. A cost-advantaged footprint, leadership in attractive end-markets, and strategic growth investments position the Company well to create long-term value.
In Packaging & Specialty Plastics, moderately improving macroeconomic conditions are expected to support demand growth, notably in higher-value functional polymers and flexible food and specialty packaging. Integrated margins are expected to improve in the second half of the year on industry operating rate recoveries. The Company’s feedstock flexibility and advantaged regional footprint will continue to position the segment well to navigate market dynamics throughout the year. In-region presence and superior derivative flexibility will allow the segment to continue to optimize price and volume mix.
In Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, market fundamentals are expected to remain pressured for propylene oxide, polyols, isocyanates, construction chemicals and derivatives, largely driven by recent industry capacity additions. Resilient demand is expected in food and pharma end-markets, and the Company will benefit from its multi-year growth project that will expand propylene glycol production at its Map Ta Phut site, which is expected to come online in 2024. Additionally, the Glycol-2 unit at Dow's Louisiana Operations in Plaquemine, Louisiana, is expected to resume operations in the second quarter of 2024. Recent and soon-to-be-completed investments in specialty amines and alkoxylation capacity are expected to serve resilient consumer demand in home care, pharmaceuticals and energy transition. While sales are expected to be relatively flat, the Company will focus on capturing volume growth in key markets.
In Performance Materials & Coatings, performance silicone products are well-positioned to deliver volume growth in key markets. Volume growth is expected in feedstocks and intermediates as well as modest price increases, driven by moderately improved industry supply and demand dynamics. Demand and local prices in architectural and industrial coatings face uncertainty given their correlation with the building and construction market as well as interest rates.
Other factors impacting operating segment profitability include an expected increase in planned maintenance turnaround spending of approximately $200 million compared with 2023.
Projected Uses of Cash
Items that may impact the consolidated statements of cash flows in 2024 include:
•Cash contributions to pension plans are expected to be approximately $150 million.
•Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $3 billion.
•Cash dividends from equity companies are expected to be approximately $200 million.
•Cash outflows related to the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program, including restructuring implementation costs, are expected to be approximately $400 million.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
The Company had cash and cash equivalents of $2,987 million at December 31, 2023 and $3,886 million at December 31, 2022, of which $1,984 million at December 31, 2023 and $1,789 million at December 31, 2022, was held by subsidiaries in foreign countries, including U.S. territories. For each of its foreign subsidiaries, the Company makes an assertion regarding the amount of earnings intended for permanent reinvestment, with the balance available to be repatriated to the United States.
Cash held by foreign subsidiaries for permanent reinvestment is generally used to finance the subsidiaries' operational activities and future foreign investments. Dow has the ability to repatriate additional funds to the United States, which could result in an adjustment to the tax liability for foreign withholding taxes, foreign and/or U.S. state income taxes and the impact of foreign currency movements. At December 31, 2023, management believed that sufficient liquidity was available in the United States. The Company has and expects to continue repatriating certain funds from its non-U.S. subsidiaries that are not needed to finance local operations; however, these particular repatriation activities have not and are not expected to result in a significant incremental tax liability to the Company.
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For comparison of cash flows for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 1, 2023.
The Company’s cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities, as reflected in the consolidated statements of cash flows, are summarized in the following table:
| Cash Flow Summary | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||||||
| Cash provided by (used for): | ||||||||||||
| Operating activities - continuing operations | $ | 5,164 | $ | 7,486 | $ | 5,109 | $ | 7,519 | ||||
| Operating activities - discontinued operations | 32 | (11) | — | — | ||||||||
| Operating activities | $ | 5,196 | $ | 7,475 | $ | 5,109 | $ | 7,519 | ||||
| Investing activities | $ | (2,928) | $ | (2,970) | $ | (2,928) | $ | (2,970) | ||||
| Financing activities | $ | (3,115) | $ | (3,361) | $ | (3,028) | $ | (3,405) |
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2023 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings, dividends from equity method investments and cash provided by working capital, which were partially offset by performance-based compensation payments, severance payments related to the 2023 Restructuring Program and pension contributions. Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2022 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings, dividends from equity method investments and cash provided by working capital, which were partially offset by performance-based compensation payments and pension contributions.
| Net Working Capital and Current Ratio at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| Current assets | $ | 17,614 | $ | 20,477 | $ | 17,676 | $ | 20,511 | |||
| Current liabilities | 9,957 | 11,331 | 9,849 | 11,247 | |||||||
| Net working capital | $ | 7,657 | $ | 9,146 | $ | 7,827 | $ | 9,264 | |||
| Current ratio | 1.77:1 | 1.81:1 | 1.79:1 | 1.82:1 |
| Working Capital Metrics | Twelve Months Ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2022 | ||||||
| Days sales outstanding in trade receivables | 42 | 40 | |||||
| Days sales in inventory | 60 | 54 | |||||
| Days payables outstanding | 64 | 60 |
Cash used for operating activities from discontinued operations reflected cash payments and receipts for certain agreements and matters related to the Company's separation from DowDuPont Inc.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities in 2023 and 2022 was primarily for capital expenditures and purchases of investments, which were partially offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of investments.
The Company's capital expenditures were $2,356 million in 2023 and $1,823 million in 2022. Capital spending was higher in 2023 as the Company continued the ramp up of investments in its higher return, lower risk and quick payback incremental growth projects. The Company expects capital spending in 2024 to be approximately $3 billion, which includes the ramp up of the construction of the Company's Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project. The Company expects capital spending to average $1 billion annually through 2029 for this key growth project. Enterprise-wide capital spending is expected to exceed depreciation and amortization through 2027, during the first phase of the project.
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Capital spending in recent years has included the retrofit of one of the Company's Louisiana steam crackers with Dow's proprietary fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation ("FCDh") technology to produce on-purpose propylene and the addition of a new specialty alkoxylation reactor in Plaquemine, Louisiana, which were both completed in 2022; the addition of an integrated methylene diphenyl diisocyanate ("MDI") distillation and prepolymers facility at its site in Freeport, Texas, which was completed in 2023; and construction of a world-scale polyethylene unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Cash used for financing activities in 2023 was primarily for debt related activities. In addition, Dow Inc. included cash outflows for dividends paid to stockholders and purchases of treasury stock. TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. Cash used for financing activities in 2022 included payments on long-term debt, which was more than offset by proceeds from issuance of long-term debt. In addition, Dow Inc. included cash outflows for dividends paid to stockholders and purchases of treasury stock. TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. See Notes 13 and 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to the issuance and retirement of debt and the Company's share repurchases and dividends.
Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures
Free Cash Flow
Dow defines Free Cash Flow as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," less capital expenditures. Under this definition, Free Cash Flow represents the cash generated by Dow from operations after investing in its asset base. Free Cash Flow, combined with cash balances and other sources of liquidity, represents the cash available to fund obligations and provide returns to shareholders. Free Cash Flow is an integral financial measure used in the Company's financial planning process.
Operating EBITDA
Dow defines Operating EBITDA as earnings (i.e., "Income before income taxes") before interest, depreciation and amortization, excluding the impact of significant items.
Cash Flow Conversion (Cash Flow From Operations to Operating EBITDA)
Dow defines Cash Flow Conversion (Cash flow from operations to Operating EBITDA) as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," divided by Operating EBITDA. Management believes Cash Flow Conversion is an important financial metric as it helps the Company determine how efficiently it is converting its earnings into cash flow.
These financial measures are not recognized in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and should not be viewed as alternatives to GAAP financial measures of performance. All companies do not calculate non-GAAP financial measures in the same manner and, accordingly, Dow's definitions may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies.
| Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures | Dow Inc. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | |||
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 5,164 | $ | 7,486 | |
| Capital expenditures | (2,356) | (1,823) | |||
| Free Cash Flow (non-GAAP) | $ | 2,808 | $ | 5,663 |
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| Reconciliation of Cash Flow Conversion (Cash Flow From Operations to Operating EBITDA) | Dow Inc. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | ||
| Net income (GAAP) | $ | 660 | $ | 4,640 |
| + Provision (credit) for income taxes | (4) | 1,450 | ||
| Income before income taxes | $ | 656 | $ | 6,090 |
| - Interest income | 229 | 173 | ||
| + Interest expense and amortization of debt discount | 746 | 662 | ||
| - Significant items 1 | (1,605) | (11) | ||
| Operating EBIT (non-GAAP) | $ | 2,778 | $ | 6,590 |
| + Depreciation and amortization | 2,611 | 2,758 | ||
| Operating EBITDA (non-GAAP) | $ | 5,389 | $ | 9,348 |
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 5,164 | $ | 7,486 |
| Cash flow from operations to net income (GAAP) | 782.4 | % | 161.3 | % |
| Cash Flow Conversion (Cash flow from operations to Operating EBITDA) (non-GAAP) | 95.8 | % | 80.1 | % |
1.The year ended December 31, 2023, includes restructuring charges and implementation and efficiency costs associated with the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program, certain gains and losses associated with previously impaired equity investments, a loss associated with legacy agricultural products groundwater contamination matters, a gain associated with a legal matter with Nova Chemicals Corporation, foreign currency losses and inventory valuation impacts related to the devaluation of the Argentine peso, non-cash settlement charges related to the purchase of nonparticipating group annuity contracts for certain Company pension plans in the United States and Canada and activity related to the separation from DowDuPont. The year ended December 31, 2022, includes costs associated with implementing the Company's Digital Acceleration program and 2020 Restructuring Program, asset related charges due to the Russia and Ukraine conflict, a gain related to a legal matter with Nova Chemicals Corporation, a gain related to an adjustment of the Dow Silicones breast implant liability, a loss on the early extinguishment of debt and activity related to the separation from DowDuPont. See Note 24 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Liquidity & Financial Flexibility
The Company’s primary source of incremental liquidity is cash flows from operating activities. The generation of cash from operations and the Company's ability to access capital markets is expected to meet the Company’s cash requirements for working capital, capital expenditures, debt maturities, contributions to pension plans, dividend distributions to stockholders, share repurchases and other needs. In addition to cash from operating activities, the Company’s current liquidity sources also include TDCC's U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs, committed and uncommitted credit facilities, committed and uncommitted accounts receivable facilities, a medium-term notes program, a U.S. retail note program (“InterNotes®”) and other debt markets.
The Company continues to maintain a strong financial position with all of its committed credit facilities undrawn and fully available at December 31, 2023. Cash and committed and available forms of liquidity were $12.8 billion at December 31, 2023, a decrease of $900 million from December 31, 2022. The Company also has no substantive long-term debt maturities due until 2027. Additional details on sources of liquidity are as follows:
Commercial Paper
TDCC issues promissory notes under its U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs. TDCC had no commercial paper outstanding at December 31, 2023 ($299 million at December 31, 2022). TDCC maintains access to the commercial paper market at competitive rates. Amounts outstanding under TDCC's commercial paper programs during the period may be greater or less than the amount reported at the end of the period. Subsequent to December 31, 2023, TDCC issued approximately $0 million of commercial paper.
Committed Credit Facilities
The Company also has the ability to access liquidity through TDCC's committed and available credit facilities. At December 31, 2023, TDCC had total committed and available credit facilities of $8.4 billion. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on committed and available credit facilities.
Uncommitted Credit Facilities
The Company has entered into various uncommitted bilateral credit arrangements as a potential source of excess liquidity. These lines can be used to support short-term liquidity needs and for general purposes. The Company had no drawdowns outstanding at December 31, 2023.
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Accounts Receivable Facilities
In addition to the above committed credit facilities, the Company maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in the United States where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to $900 million, may be sold at any point in time. The Company also maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in Europe where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to €500 million, may be sold at any point in time. Sales of receivables under these committed facilities were not material in 2023. At December 31, 2023, approximately $5 million of receivables remained unremitted. In addition, the Company has an uncommitted accounts receivable facility in the United States providing additional liquidity. Sales of receivables under this facility were not material in 2023. See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Early Settlement of Letters of Credit
The Company utilizes, from time-to-time, letters of credit discounting programs to manage and expedite the settlement of letters of credit in certain regions. These letters of credit are associated with accounts receivable and the Company retains no interest in the transferred letters of credit or receivables once sold.
Accounts Receivable Discounting Facilities
The Company has access to accounts receivable discounting facilities, under which receivables are transferred with limited recourse. The Company retains no interest in the transferred receivables once sold. The Company maintains these facilities and also participates in certain customers’ supply chain financing and other early pay programs as a routine source of working capital.
Letters of Credit
TDCC utilizes letters of credit to support commitments made in the ordinary course of business. While the terms and amounts of letters of credit change, TDCC generally has approximately $600 million of outstanding letters of credit at any given time.
Company-Owned Life Insurance
The Company has investments in company-owned life insurance ("COLI") policies, which are recorded at their cash surrender value as of each balance sheet date. The Company has the ability to monetize its investment in its COLI policies as an additional source of liquidity. At December 31, 2023, the Company had monetized $97 million of its existing COLI policies' surrender value. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Shelf Registration - United States
On June 13, 2022, Dow Inc. and TDCC filed a shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The shelf indicates that Dow Inc. may offer common stock; preferred stock; depositary shares; debt securities; guarantees; warrants to purchase common stock, preferred stock and debt securities; and stock purchase contracts and stock purchase units, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. The shelf also indicates that TDCC may offer debt securities, guarantees and warrants to purchase debt securities, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. In 2022, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an undetermined amount of securities for issuance under InterNotes®. Also, in 2022, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an undetermined amount of securities for issuance under a medium-term notes program.
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Debt
As the Company continues to maintain its strong balance sheet and financial flexibility, management is focused on net debt (a non-GAAP financial measure), as the Company believes this is the best representation of its financial leverage at this point in time. As shown in the following table, net debt is equal to total gross debt minus "Cash and cash equivalents" and "Marketable securities."
| Total Debt at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||
| Notes payable | $ | 62 | $ | 362 | $ | 62 | $ | 362 |
| Long-term debt due within one year | 117 | 362 | 117 | 362 | ||||
| Long-term debt | 14,907 | 14,698 | 14,907 | 14,698 | ||||
| Gross debt | $ | 15,086 | $ | 15,422 | $ | 15,086 | $ | 15,422 |
| - Cash and cash equivalents | 2,987 | 3,886 | 2,987 | 3,886 | ||||
| - Marketable securities 1 | 1,300 | 939 | 1,300 | 939 | ||||
| Net debt (non-GAAP) | $ | 10,799 | $ | 10,597 | $ | 10,799 | $ | 10,597 |
| Total equity | $ | 19,108 | $ | 21,247 | $ | 19,406 | $ | 21,489 |
| Gross debt as a percentage of total capitalization | 44.1 | % | 42.1 | % | 43.7 | % | 41.8 | % |
| Net debt as a percentage of total capitalization (non-GAAP) | 36.1 | % | 33.3 | % | 35.8 | % | 33.0 | % |
1.Included in "Other current assets" in the consolidated balance sheets.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company redeemed $23 million aggregate principal amount of 2.100 percent notes due November 2030, $14 million aggregate principal amount of 4.625 percent notes due October 2044, and $1 million aggregate principal amount of 4.375 percent notes due November 2042.
In 2023, the Company issued an aggregate principal amount of $80 million of InterNotes®. Additionally, the Company repaid $250 million of long-term debt at maturity.
The Company may at any time repurchase certain debt securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions subject to: the applicable terms under which any such debt securities were issued, certain internal approvals of the Company, and applicable laws and regulations of the relevant jurisdiction in which any such potential transactions might take place. This in no way obligates the Company to make any such repurchases nor should it be considered an offer to do so.
TDCC’s public debt instruments and primary, private credit agreements contain, among other provisions, certain customary restrictive covenant and default provisions. TDCC’s most significant debt covenant with regard to its financial position is the obligation to maintain the ratio of its consolidated indebtedness to consolidated capitalization at no greater than 0.70 to 1.00 at any time the aggregate outstanding amount of loans under the Five Year Competitive Advance and Revolving Credit Facility Agreement ("Revolving Credit Agreement") equals or exceeds $500 million. The ratio of TDCC’s consolidated indebtedness as defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement was 0.41 to 1.00 at December 31, 2023. Management believes TDCC was in compliance with all of its covenants and default provisions at December 31, 2023. For information on TDCC's debt covenants and default provisions, see Note 13. There were no material changes to the debt covenants and default provisions related to TDCC’s outstanding long-term debt and primary, private credit agreements in 2023.
Dow Inc. is obligated, substantially concurrently with the issuance of any guarantee in respect of outstanding or committed indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Agreement, to enter into a supplemental indenture with TDCC and the trustee under TDCC’s existing 2008 base indenture governing certain notes issued by TDCC. Under such supplemental indenture, Dow Inc. will guarantee all outstanding debt securities and all amounts due under such existing base indenture and will become subject to certain covenants and events of default under the existing base indenture.
In addition, the Revolving Credit Agreement includes an event of default which would be triggered in the event Dow Inc. incurs or guarantees third party indebtedness for borrowed money in excess of $250 million or engages in any material activity or directly owns any material assets, in each case, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. Dow Inc. may, at its option, cure the event of default by delivering an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee to the administrative agent within thirty days of the event or events giving rise to such event of default.
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No such events have occurred or have been triggered at the time of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to TDCC’s notes payable and long-term debt activity and information on TDCC’s debt covenants and default provisions.
While taking into consideration the current economic environment, management expects that the Company will continue to have sufficient liquidity and financial flexibility to meet all of its business obligations.
Credit Ratings
TDCC's credit ratings at January 31, 2024 were as follows:
| Credit Ratings | Long-Term Rating | Short-Term Rating | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitch Ratings | BBB+ | F1 | Stable |
| Moody’s Investors Service | Baa1 | P-2 | Stable |
| Standard & Poor’s | BBB | A-2 | Stable |
On June 15, 2023, Fitch Ratings affirmed TDCC’s BBB+ long-term credit rating and announced a short-term credit rating upgrade to F1 from F2, and also revised its long-term outlook from positive to stable. On August 22, 2023, Standard and Poor's affirmed TDCC's BBB and A-2 rating, and revised its outlook from positive to stable. Subsequent to 2023, on January 19, 2024, Moody's Investors Service affirmed TDCC's Baa1 and P-2 rating, and affirmed its outlook of stable. These credit agencies' decisions were made as part of their annual review process and reflect the Company's supportive financial policies and strong operating performance.
Dividends
Dow Inc.
Dow Inc. has paid dividends on a quarterly basis and expects to continue to do so, subject to approval by the Board. The dividends declared by the Board align to the Company's strategy announced in 2018 of returning approximately 45 percent of Operating Net Income to shareholders through dividends and total shareholder remuneration of approximately 65 percent, when including share repurchases, over the economic cycle. The Company defines Operating Net Income, a non-GAAP measure, as "Net income available for Dow Inc. common stockholders," excluding the impact of significant items. The following tables provide information on dividends declared and paid to common stockholders:
| Dividends Paid for the Years Ended Dec 31 | 2023 | 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions, except per share amounts | |||||
| Dividends paid, per common share | $ | 2.80 | $ | 2.80 | |
| Dividends paid to common stockholders | $ | 1,972 | $ | 2,006 |
| Dow Inc. Cash Dividends Declared and Paid | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | Amount (per share) | |
| February 9, 2023 | February 28, 2023 | March 10, 2023 | $ | 0.70 |
| April 13, 2023 | May 31, 2023 | June 9, 2023 | $ | 0.70 |
| August 9, 2023 | August 31, 2023 | September 8, 2023 | $ | 0.70 |
| October 12, 2023 | November 30, 2023 | December 8, 2023 | $ | 0.70 |
TDCC
TDCC has committed to fund Dow Inc.'s dividends paid to common stockholders and share repurchases, as approved by the Board from time to time, as well as certain governance expenses. Funding is accomplished through intercompany loans. TDCC's Board of Directors reviews and determines a dividend distribution to Dow Inc. to settle the intercompany loans. For the year ended December 31, 2023, TDCC declared and paid dividends to Dow Inc. of $2,510 million ($4,375 million for the year ended December 31, 2022). At December 31, 2023, TDCC's intercompany loan balance with Dow Inc. was insignificant. See Note 23 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
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Share Repurchase Program
On April 13, 2022, the Board approved a share repurchase program authorizing up to $3 billion for the repurchase of the Company's common stock, with no expiration date. The Company repurchased $625 million of its common stock in 2023. At December 31, 2023, approximately $1,425 million of the share repurchase program authorization remained available for repurchases. As previously announced, the Company intends to repurchase shares to cover dilution over the cycle. The Company may from time to time expand its share repurchases beyond dilution, based on a number of factors including macroeconomic conditions, free cash flow generation, and the Dow share price. Any share repurchases, when coupled with the Company's dividends, are intended to implement the long-term strategy of targeting shareholder remuneration of approximately 65 percent over the economic cycle.
Pension Plans
The Company has both funded and unfunded defined benefit pension plans in the United States and a number of other countries. On March 4, 2021, the Company announced changes to the design of its U.S. tax-qualified and non-qualified pension plans (collectively, the "U.S. Plans") and, effective December 31, 2023, the Company froze the pensionable compensation and credited service amounts used to calculate pension benefits for employees who participate in the U.S. Plans. In recent years, the Company had significantly increased funding of its U.S. plans while employing certain pension de-risking strategies. Accordingly, in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company’s pension plans in the United States and Canada purchased or converted to nonparticipating group annuity contracts, irrevocably transferring benefit obligations of $1,681 million for certain participants and $1,617 million of related plan assets to the insurers, requiring no additional cash funding from the Company, with no impact on the pension benefits of participants. These transactions resulted in non-cash pretax settlement charges of $642 million in 2023, related to the accelerated recognition of a portion of the accumulated actuarial losses of the plans.
The Company’s funding policy for its pension plans is to contribute to funded plans when pension laws and/or economics either require or encourage funding. In 2023 and 2022, the Company contributed $142 million and $235 million to its pension plans, respectively, including contributions to fund benefit payments for its unfunded pension plans. Additionally, in the second quarter of 2023, the Company received a pension asset reversion of approximately $90 million for a portion of the excess funding of one of its plans in Europe, which is included in "Other assets and liabilities, net" in the consolidated statements of cash flows. The Company expects to contribute approximately $150 million to its pension plans in 2024. See Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information concerning the Company’s pension plans.
Restructuring
The actions related to the 2023 Restructuring Program are expected to result in additional cash expenditures of $122 million, primarily through 2024 and consist primarily of severance and related benefit costs. Restructuring implementation and efficiency costs, primarily decommissioning and demolition activities related to asset actions, and costs associated with the Company's productivity and efficiency actions, are expected to result in additional cash expenditures of approximately $285 million, primarily through the end of 2024. Restructuring implementation and efficiency costs totaled $243 million in 2023.
The Company expects to incur additional costs in the future related to its restructuring activities, which will be recognized as incurred. The Company also expects to incur additional employee-related costs, including involuntary termination benefits related to its other optimization activities. These costs cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. See Note 4 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company's restructuring activities.
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Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes the Company’s contractual obligations, commercial commitments and expected cash requirements for interest at December 31, 2023. Additional information related to these obligations can be found in Notes 13, 14, 15 and 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
| Contractual Obligations at Dec 31, 2023 | Payments Due In | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2024 | 2025-2026 | 2027-2028 | 2029 and beyond | Total | |||||||||
| Dow Inc. | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 115 | $ | 563 | $ | 1,944 | $ | 12,660 | $ | 15,282 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 714 | 1,354 | 1,303 | 8,098 | 11,469 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 215 | 429 | 434 | 3,562 | 4,640 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 378 | 512 | 309 | 421 | 1,620 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 3,697 | 3,107 | 2,134 | 3,119 | 12,057 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 860 | 602 | 1,496 | 2,958 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 5,119 | $ | 6,825 | $ | 6,726 | $ | 29,356 | $ | 48,026 | ||||
| TDCC | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 115 | $ | 563 | $ | 1,944 | $ | 12,660 | $ | 15,282 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 714 | 1,354 | 1,303 | 8,098 | 11,469 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 215 | 429 | 434 | 3,562 | 4,640 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 378 | 512 | 309 | 421 | 1,620 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 3,697 | 3,107 | 2,134 | 3,119 | 12,057 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 757 | 602 | 1,457 | 2,816 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 5,119 | $ | 6,722 | $ | 6,726 | $ | 29,317 | $ | 47,884 |
1.Excludes unamortized debt discount and issuance costs of $258 million. Includes finance lease obligations of $873 million.
2.Cash requirements for interest on long-term debt was calculated using current interest rates at December 31, 2023, and includes $10 million of various floating rate notes.
3.Includes imputed interest of $259 million.
4.Includes outstanding purchase orders and other commitments greater than $1 million obtained through a survey conducted within the Company.
5.Includes liabilities related to asbestos litigation, environmental remediation, legal matters and other noncurrent liabilities. In addition to these items, Dow Inc. includes liabilities related to noncurrent obligations with DuPont and Corteva. The table excludes uncertain tax positions due to uncertainties in the timing of the effective settlement of tax positions with the respective taxing authorities and deferred tax liabilities as it is impractical to determine whether there will be a cash impact related to these liabilities. The table also excludes deferred revenue as it does not represent future cash requirements arising from contractual payment obligations.
The Company expects to meet its contractual obligations through its normal sources of liquidity and believes it has the financial resources to satisfy these contractual obligations.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Off-balance sheet arrangements are obligations the Company has with nonconsolidated entities related to transactions, agreements or other contractual arrangements. The Company holds variable interests in joint ventures accounted for under the equity method of accounting. The Company is not the primary beneficiary of these joint ventures and therefore is not required to consolidate these entities (see Note 22 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). In addition, see Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the transfer of financial assets.
Guarantees arise during the ordinary course of business from relationships with customers, committed accounts receivable facilities and nonconsolidated affiliates when the Company undertakes an obligation to guarantee the performance of others if specific triggering events occur. Additional information related to guarantees can be found in the “Guarantees” section of Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Fair Value Measurements
See Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to fair value measurements of pension and other postretirement benefit plan assets; see Note 20 for information related to other-than-temporary impairments; and, see Note 21 for additional information concerning fair value measurements.
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OTHER MATTERS
Recent Accounting Guidance
See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of recent accounting guidance.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements describes the significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. Following are the Company’s accounting policies impacted by judgments, assumptions and estimates:
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past four decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem Products, Inc. ("Amchem"). Each year, Ankura Consulting Group, LLC ("Ankura") performs a review for Union Carbide based upon historical asbestos claims, resolution and asbestos-related defense and processing costs, through the terminal year of 2049. Union Carbide compares current asbestos claim and resolution activity, including asbestos-related defense and processing costs, to the results of the most recent Ankura study at each balance sheet date to determine whether the asbestos-related liability continues to be appropriate.
For additional information, see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings; Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; and Notes 1 and 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Environmental Matters
The Company determines the costs of environmental remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on evaluations of current law and existing technologies. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and emerging remediation technologies. The recorded liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress, or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. At December 31, 2023, the Company had accrued obligations of $1,180 million for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs, including $241 million for the remediation of Superfund sites. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. For further discussion, see Environmental Matters in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Notes 1 and 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
The amounts recognized in the consolidated financial statements related to pension and other postretirement benefits are determined from actuarial valuations. Inherent in these valuations are assumptions including expected return on plan assets, discount rates at which the liabilities could have been settled at December 31, 2023, rate of increase in future compensation levels, mortality rates and health care cost trend rates. These assumptions are updated annually and are disclosed in Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods and, therefore, affect expense recognized and obligations recorded in future periods. The U.S. pension plans represent 72 percent of the Company’s pension plan assets and 70 percent of the pension obligations. The U.S. pension plans were frozen effective December 31, 2023, and therefore, participants will not accrue additional benefits for future service and compensation.
The Company uses the spot rate approach to determine the discount rate utilized to measure the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit costs for the United States and other selected countries. Under the spot rate approach, the Company calculates service cost and interest cost by applying individual spot rates from the Willis Towers Watson RATE:Link yield curve (based on high-quality corporate bond yields) for each selected country to the separate expected cash flow components of service cost and interest
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cost; service cost and interest cost for all other plans (including all plans prior to adoption) are determined on the basis of the single equivalent discount rates derived in determining those plan obligations.
The following information relates to the U.S. plans only; a similar approach is used for the Company’s non-U.S. plans.
The Company determines the expected long-term rate of return on assets by performing a detailed analysis of historical and expected returns based on the strategic asset allocation approved by the Company's Investment Committee and the underlying return fundamentals of each asset class. The Company’s historical experience with the pension fund asset performance is also considered. The expected return of each asset class is derived from a forecasted future return confirmed by historical experience. The expected long-term rate of return is an assumption and not what is expected to be earned in any one particular year. The weighted-average long-term rate of return assumption used for determining net periodic pension expense for 2023 was 7.46 percent. The weighted-average assumption to be used for determining 2024 net periodic pension expense is 7.07 percent. Future actual pension expense will depend on future investment performance, changes in future discount rates and various other factors related to the population of participants in the Company’s pension plans.
The discount rates utilized to measure the pension and other postretirement obligations of the U.S. plans are based on the yield on high-quality corporate fixed income investments at the measurement date. Future expected actuarially determined cash flows for the Company’s U.S. plans are individually discounted at the spot rates under the Willis Towers Watson U.S. RATE:Link 60-90 corporate yield curve (based on 60th to 90th percentile high-quality corporate bond yields) to arrive at the plan’s obligations as of the measurement date. The weighted average discount rate utilized to measure pension obligations decreased to 5.30 percent at December 31, 2023, from 5.64 percent at December 31, 2022.
At December 31, 2023, the net underfunded status of the U.S. tax-qualified plans on a projected benefit obligation basis was $1,192 million. The net underfunded amount increased $647 million compared with December 31, 2022. The increase in the net underfunded amount in 2023 was primarily due to the market-related impact of lower discount rates. The Company uses a generational mortality table to determine the duration of its pension and other postretirement obligations.
The following discussion relates to the Company’s significant pension plans.
The Company bases the determination of pension expense on a market-related valuation of plan assets that reduces year-to-year volatility. This market-related valuation recognizes investment gains or losses over a five-year period from the year in which they occur. Investment gains or losses for this purpose represent the difference between the expected return calculated using the market-related value of plan assets and the actual return based on the market value of plan assets. Since the market-related value of plan assets recognizes gains or losses over a five-year period, the future value will be impacted when previously deferred gains or losses are recorded. Over the life of the plans, both gains and losses have been recognized and amortized. At December 31, 2023, net losses of $2,661 million remain to be recognized in the calculation of the market-related value of plan assets. These net losses will result in increases in future pension expense as they are recognized in the market-related value of assets.
The net decrease in the market-related value of assets due to the recognition of prior losses is presented in the following table:
| Net Decrease in Market-Related Asset Value Due to Recognition of Prior Losses | ||
|---|---|---|
| In millions | ||
| 2024 | $ | 697 |
| 2025 | 902 | |
| 2026 | 1,038 | |
| 2027 | 24 | |
| Total | $ | 2,661 |
Exclusive of the one-time settlement charge recognized in 2023, the Company expects net periodic benefit cost ("NPBC") to decrease in 2024 by approximately $96 million. The decrease is primarily due to the freeze of pension
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benefits in the United States, effective December 31, 2023, and other de-risking activities, partially offset by discount rate decreases.
A 25 basis point increase or decrease in the long-term return on assets assumption would change the Company’s NPBC credit for 2024 by $53 million. A 25 basis point increase in the discount rate assumption would increase the Company's NPBC credit for 2024 by $7 million. A 25 basis point decrease in the discount rate assumption would decrease the Company's NPBC credit for 2024 by $16 million.
Income Taxes
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, applying enacted tax rates expected to be in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Based on the evaluation of available evidence, both positive and negative, the Company recognizes future tax benefits, such as net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards, to the extent that realizing these benefits is considered to be more likely than not.
At December 31, 2023, the Company had a net deferred tax asset balance of $1,087 million, after valuation allowances of $2,948 million.
In evaluating the ability to realize the deferred tax assets, the Company relies on, in order of increasing subjectivity, taxable income in prior carryback years, the future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, tax planning strategies and forecasted taxable income using historical and projected future operating results.
The Company files tax returns in multiple jurisdictions and is subject to examination by taxing authorities throughout the world. Tax authorities have the ability to review and challenge matters that could be subject to differing interpretation of applicable tax laws and regulations as they relate to the amount, character, timing or inclusion of revenue and expenses or the sustainability of tax attributes. The ultimate resolution of such uncertainties could last several years. When an uncertain tax position is identified, the Company considers and interprets complex tax laws and regulations in order to determine the need for recognizing a provision in its financial statements. Significant judgment is required in determining the timing and measurement of uncertain tax positions. The Company utilizes internal and external expertise in interpreting tax laws to support the Company's tax positions. The Company recognizes the financial statement effects of an uncertain income tax position when it is more likely than not, based on technical merits, that the position will be sustained upon examination. At December 31, 2023, the Company had uncertain tax positions for both domestic and foreign issues of $513 million and $561 million for interest and penalties.
Environmental Matters
Environmental Policies
Dow is committed to world-class environmental, health and safety (“EH&S”) performance, as demonstrated by industry-leading results, a long-standing commitment to the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® program, a strong commitment to achieve the Company's 2025 Sustainability Goals and Dow's drive to deliver against its targets around a circular economy and climate protection. These goals and targets set the standard for sustainability in the chemical industry, focusing on improvements in the Company’s local corporate citizenship and product stewardship, and by actively pursuing methods to reduce the Company's environmental impact.
To meet the Company’s public commitments, as well as the stringent laws and government regulations related to environmental protection and remediation to which its global operations are subject, the Company has well-defined policies, requirements and management systems. The Company's EH&S Management System (“EMS”) defines the “who, what, when and how” needed for the businesses to implement the Company’s policies and requirements and meet performance objectives, leadership expectations and public commitments. To ensure effective utilization, the EMS is integrated into a company-wide management system for EH&S, Operations, Quality and Human Resources.
The Company believes third-party verification and transparent public reporting are cornerstones of world-class EH&S performance and building public trust. Numerous Dow sites in Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the U.S. & Canada have received third-party verification of the Company’s compliance with Responsible Care® and with outside specifications such as ISO-14001. The Company continues to be a global champion of Responsible Care® and has worked to broaden the application and impact of Responsible Care® around the world through engagement with suppliers, customers and joint venture partners.
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Dow manages environmental data for reporting with a waste, water and emissions inventory system. All emitting manufacturing sites globally record their emissions and water use in the system. The data is reviewed at the facility level and then by global coordinators before being aggregated for corporate environmental reporting purposes.
Dow's EH&S policies help to ensure the Company achieves its annual health and safety performance targets and the Company seeks to continuously improve on these targets through process and personal safety project implementations. Improvement in these areas, as well as environmental compliance, remains a top management priority, as the Company continues to implement its 2025 Sustainability Goals and progressive, multi-decade sustainability targets that include advancing a circular economy and climate protection. Progress is reviewed annually by management and with the Environment, Health, Safety & Technology Committee of the Board.
Detailed information on Dow’s performance regarding environmental matters and goals is accessible through the Company's Science & Sustainability webpage at www.dow.com/sustainability. Dow's website and its content are not deemed incorporated by reference into this report.
Chemical Security
Public and political attention continues to be placed on the protection of critical infrastructure, including the chemical industry, from security threats. Sabotage, terrorism, war, natural disasters and cybersecurity incidents have increased global concerns about the security and safety of chemical production and distribution. Many, including the Company and the American Chemistry Council, have called for uniform risk-based and performance-based national standards for securing the U.S. chemical industry. The Company is subject to U.S. regulations with established risk-based and performance-based standards that must be met at U.S. Coast Guard-regulated facilities promulgated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Company is also subject to the requirements of the Rail Transportation Security Rule issued by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The Company continues to support uniform risk-based national standards for securing the chemical industry.
The Company maintains a comprehensive, multi-level security plan that focuses on security, emergency planning, preparedness and response. This plan, which has been activated in response to significant world and national events, is reviewed on an annual basis. The Company continues to improve its security plans, placing emphasis on the safety of Dow communities and people by being prepared to meet risks at any level and to address both internal and external identifiable risks. The security plan includes regular vulnerability assessments, security audits, mitigation efforts and physical security upgrades designed to reduce vulnerability. The Company’s security plans are also designed to avert interruptions of normal business operations that could materially and adversely affect the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The Company played a key role in the development and implementation of the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® Security Code ("Security Code"), which requires that all aspects of security – including facility, transportation and cyberspace – be assessed and gaps addressed. Through the global implementation of the Security Code, the Company has permanently heightened the level of security – not just in the United States, but worldwide. The Company employs several hundred employees and contractors in its Emergency Services and Security department worldwide. In 2019, the Company established its Global Security Operations Center ("GSOC") to provide 24-hour/day, 365-day/year real-time monitoring of global risks to Dow assets and people. The GSOC employs state-of-the-art social media monitoring, threat reporting and geo-fencing capabilities to analyze global risks and report those risks, facilitating decision-making and actions to prevent Dow crises.
Through the implementation of the Security Code, including voluntary security enhancements and upgrades, the Company is well-positioned to comply with U.S. chemical facility regulations and other regulatory security frameworks. The Company participates with the American Chemistry Council to periodically review and update the Security Code.
The Company continues to work collaboratively across the supply chain on Responsible Care®, supply chain design, emergency preparedness, shipment visibility and transportation of hazardous materials. The Company cooperated with public and private entities to lead the implementation of advanced tank car design, and track and trace technologies. Further, the Company’s Distribution Risk Review process addresses potential threats in all modes of transportation across the Company’s supply chain. To reduce vulnerabilities, the Company maintains security measures that meet or exceed regulatory and industry security standards in all areas in which they operate.
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The Company's initiatives relative to chemical security, emergency preparedness and response, Community Awareness and Emergency Response and crisis management are implemented consistently at all Dow sites on a global basis. Each Dow site has established outreach programs designed to engage community stakeholders with objectives centered around awareness of Dow operations, products, and efforts to protect worker and community health and the environment. These programs also educate community members on emergency planning and response, emissions and waste, future site plans to reduce waste and emissions, and process safety systems. Finally, these outreach efforts establish an opportunity for Dow site leaders to hear about community stakeholder expectations and address questions and concerns about safety, health, environmental or other issues. The Company participates with chemical associations globally and participates as an active member of the Global Congress on Chemical Security and Emerging Threats and in positions of leadership in the U.S. Chemical Sector Coordinating Council.
Climate Protection
Evaluation of climate-related risks and opportunities continues to be a catalyst for the development of the Company’s Decarbonize & Grow strategy (Dow’s climate transition plan), its water-intensity goal and its Valuing Nature goal. Dow's science-based strategy includes a phased approach to decarbonize while meeting growing demand for Dow's products and contributing to a low-carbon future through continued investment in new products, technologies and processes. In 2020, Dow announced commitments to reduce its net annual Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions by an additional 5 million metric tons by 2030 versus its 2020 baseline, a 15 percent reduction versus 2020 and a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2005. Additionally, Dow announced its intention to be carbon neutral by 2050 (Scope 1+2+3, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, plus product benefits). In 2021, Dow outlined a path to decarbonize its production processes (Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions), utilizing a phased approach in which end-of-life capacity is replaced with higher-efficiency, lower greenhouse gas emitting assets. Reflecting Dow's focus to make meaningful progress in the near term, Dow intends to reduce its CO2e emissions by approximately 2 million metric tons by 2025 versus its 2020 baseline while growing underlying earnings and plans to build the world's first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives facility in Alberta, Canada, which is expected to add approximately 1,885 KTA of ethylene and polyethylene capacity by 2029. Dow is also committed to advancing water stewardship within the Company's operations and to working collaboratively to enhance water management at the watershed level. As part of this commitment, Dow has set a global target to reduce freshwater intake intensity by 20 percent at six key water-stressed sites by 2025. Additionally, Dow has implemented a robust process to quantify the value of products and projects that are better for nature, including nature-based solutions.
Despite these commitments, climate change-related risks and uncertainties, legal or regulatory responses to climate change, and failure to meet climate change commitments could negatively impact Dow’s results of operations, financial condition and/or reputation. Climate-related risks include both physical and transition risks.
Physical Risks
Climate-related physical risks include more frequent severe weather events, potential changes in precipitation patterns, water scarcity and extreme variability in weather patterns, which can disrupt the operations of the Company as well as those of its customers, partners and vendors.
To evaluate physical risks, Dow partnered with S&P Global Trucost (“Trucost”) to assess the Company’s exposure to physical risks based on the geographic location of its manufacturing operations. The risks assessed included water stress, flood, heat waves, cold waves, hurricanes, wildfires and sea level rise. The analysis included an assessment of the physical risks using a baseline year of 2020 with time periods for medium- (year 2030) and long-term (year 2050) using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change representative concentration pathways. These pathways represent varying degrees of global atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (low, medium and high), and thus different expectations on global temperature rise. Results will be incorporated into Dow’s long-term assessments of its manufacturing sites, which is a key input into Dow’s capital approval process.
Transition Risks
Climate-related transition risks include the availability, development and affordability of lower greenhouse gas emissions technology, the effects of CO2e pricing, and changes in public sentiment, regulations, taxes, public mandates or requirements as they relate to CO2e, water or land use.
Climate-related risks, including both physical and transition risks, are assessed with input from internal and external sources including corporate, business, function and geographic leaders; subject matter experts; investors; and other stakeholders. The evaluation of climate-related risks and opportunities is integrated into an annual company-wide
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risk management process, known as enterprise risk management (“ERM”). ERM identifies significant or major risks to the Company and develops action plans to modify or mitigate risks.
Every few years, Dow also utilizes a robust scenario analysis to assess the long-term materiality and impact of climate-related risks and opportunities. Scenario analysis is used to challenge business-as-usual assumptions and strengthen the resiliency of the Company’s Decarbonize & Grow strategy. Scenarios are used to evaluate both physical and transition risk and are particularly useful in evaluating the potential and impact of emerging risks.
Decarbonize & Grow
Dow’s Decarbonize & Grow strategy involves specific actions to mitigate identified climate-related physical and transition risks, while also advancing opportunities in several key areas. These include:
•Optimizing Manufacturing Facilities and Processes for Sustainability: Dow is investing approximately $1 billion in annual capital across the economic cycle to decarbonize assets, in a phased approach, while growing capacity.
•Increasing Clean Energy in Purchased Power Mix: Dow continues to invest in cost-efficient clean energy, including wind, solar, biomass and hydropower, across operations.
•Developing Next Generation, Low-Carbon Manufacturing Technologies: Dow is investing in longer-term, future-focused manufacturing technologies that will be critical in the decarbonization of the Company's manufacturing.
•Building a Value-Generating Scope 3 Decarbonization Pathway: Approximately two-thirds of Dow’s emissions footprint fall into the Scope 3 categories and more than half of those come from the raw materials, transportation and other services purchased as a company. The Company was recognized as a Supplier Engagement Leader for the second straight year by CDP, a global non-profit that directs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. Dow has significantly advanced its Scope 3 strategy by improving emissions accounting, advancing transparency along the value chain, and working closely with key suppliers to set and meet emissions reduction targets.
•Developing Low-Carbon Products, Technologies and Services: Dow products are essential to a low carbon future, and the Company wants the world’s best brands to look to Dow to help them achieve their goals and make their products more sustainable. Dow is helping its customers achieve their climate goals by providing products that facilitate energy efficiency, lightweighting, fuel transition, circularity, increased operational efficiency, resource reductions and reduced emissions.
Advancing Water Stewardship and Resilience
As one of the largest materials science companies in the world, Dow depends on a steady supply of fresh water to create the products that are essential for everyday life and human progress. Dow strives to use the Company’s technology, expertise and partnerships to help conserve and promote regenerative water use, protect watersheds and create a future where clean water is abundant and available to all. Effective water stewardship is also required for long-term company viability and Dow’s senior executive leadership team oversees the Company’s water strategy.
Dow’s water risk management approach recognizes that every site and every business is accountable for water while certain watersheds require additional measures to address specific water stress challenges. Key Dow locations have specific water action plans to address risk to operations given their dependence on a stressed watershed. These action plans include mitigations for local water scarcity or quality issues and consider the needs of other local users for freshwater. Additionally, Dow identified six sites in 2015, located in Texas (2); Bahia Blanca, Argentina; Terneuzen, The Netherlands; Böhlen, Germany; and Tarragona, Spain; where operations are located in a water-stressed watershed, have local water quality issues, have competition among local users for water, or have some local knowledge of watershed challenges, and these six sites have been the focus of actions since that time.
Advancing a Circular Economy
Dow is committed to turning the tide on plastic waste and meeting customers’ increasing demands for more sustainable and circular products through Dow's materials science expertise and its investments in circular innovations and partnerships – from designing for recyclability at the beginning of a product’s life to building materials ecosystems that will help turn plastic waste into a valuable resource that can be used to create new products. Dow is working to advance circularity for its key materials and, to this end, is working to deliver on its
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enterprise target to Transform the Waste, which entails transforming plastic waste and other forms of feedstocks to deliver 3 million metric tons of circular and renewable solutions annually by 2030. To reach the target, Dow is collaborating with other stakeholders across value chains to build materials ecosystems to collect, reuse or recycle plastic waste. This, in turn, will enable Dow to return more plastic waste into the circular system, and scale production of circular and low-carbon emissions solutions.
Since 2020, Dow has invested more than $200 million into impact funds, recycling infrastructure, venture capital, research and development and key technologies to transform waste into solutions that support a circular economy. Dow is catalyzing a circular economy for plastics through global partnerships with non-governmental organizations and investors, such as the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, The Recycling Partnership, Circulate Capital, Closed Loop Partners and Lombard Odier Global Plastic Circularity Fund. Additionally, Dow is making progress on its Transform the Waste target through several recently announced circular and renewable offtake agreements and projects that will help contribute to achieving the new target. See Item 1. Business for updates on these investments, partnerships and projects.
In support of, and in collaboration with, value chain partners and customers, Dow is aligning its innovation and application development programs so its products are recycle-ready at the outset or enable circularity in customers’ products and processes. Designing for circularity at the molecular level expands the possibilities for recycling across a variety of applications, and ultimately lessens the environmental impact of Dow's customers’ products.
Dow's efforts under Transform the Waste expand beyond packaging. In 2023, the Company launched and/or commercialized a number of other circular solutions like SPECFLEX C, a recycled polyurethane solution for the automotive sector and Propylene Glycol CIR.
Developing Safer Materials
How the Company manufactures, distributes and enables the proper use and disposal of its products can have a large and meaningful impact on the environment. Dow’s vision is a future where every material it brings to market is sustainable for the people and the planet. Dow is working to deliver that sustainable future through its materials science expertise and collaboration with its customers. By constantly innovating how it sources, manufactures and delivers material solutions, Dow helps customers achieve their goals and create a better tomorrow. Dow has an impact on safer materials directly through the manufacture and delivery of solutions and indirectly through the chemicals that are sourced.
Dow is committed to demonstrating the value of chemistry and materials science to society and improving the way the world understands and considers science in decision-making to maximize benefits to businesses, society and the planet. Through Dow’s 2025 Safe Materials for a Sustainable Planet goal, the Company has made progress toward this vision by innovating sustainable materials of tomorrow, leading candid conversations about product safety and committing to the advancement of open and transparent chemistry with value chain partners, customers and the public.
Environmental Remediation
For comparison of environmental remediation-related matters for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 1, 2023.
The Company accrues the costs of remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on current law and regulatory requirements. The nature of such remediation can include management of soil and groundwater contamination. The accounting policies adopted to properly reflect the monetary impacts of environmental matters are discussed in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. To assess the impact on the financial statements, environmental experts review currently available facts to evaluate the probability and scope of potential liabilities. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and the ability to apply remediation technologies. These liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. The Company had an accrued liability of $939 million at December 31, 2023, related to the remediation of current or former Dow-owned sites. At December 31, 2022, the liability related to remediation was $948 million.
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In addition to current and former Dow-owned sites, under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA") and equivalent state laws (hereafter referred to collectively as "Superfund Law"), the Company is liable for remediation of other hazardous waste sites where the Company allegedly disposed of, or arranged for the treatment or disposal of, hazardous substances. Because Superfund Law imposes joint and several liability upon each party at a site, the Company has evaluated its potential liability in light of the number of other companies that have also been named potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) at each site, the estimated apportionment of costs among all PRPs, and the financial ability and commitment of each to pay its expected share. The Company’s remaining liability for the remediation of Superfund sites was $241 million at December 31, 2023 ($244 million at December 31, 2022). The Company has not recorded any third-party recovery related to these sites as a receivable.
Information regarding environmental sites is provided below:
| Environmental Sites | Dow-owned Sites 1 | Superfund Sites 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||
| Number of sites at Jan 1 | 171 | 171 | 130 | 134 | |||
| Sites added during year | 6 | — | 4 | 2 | |||
| Sites closed during year | (23) | — | (1) | (6) | |||
| Number of sites at Dec 31 | 154 | 171 | 133 | 130 |
1.Dow-owned sites are sites currently or formerly owned by the Company. In the United States, remediation obligations are imposed by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act or analogous state law. At December 31, 2023, 24 of these sites (24 sites at December 31, 2022) were formerly owned by Dowell Schlumberger, Inc., a group of companies in which the Company previously owned a 50 percent interest. The Company sold its interest in Dowell Schlumberger in 1992.
2.Superfund sites are sites, including sites not owned by the Company, where remediation obligations are imposed by Superfund Law.
Additional information is provided below for the Company’s Midland, Michigan, manufacturing site and Midland off-site locations (collectively, the "Midland sites"), as well as a Superfund site in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, the locations for which the Company has the largest potential environmental liabilities.
In the early days of operations at the Midland manufacturing site, wastes were usually disposed of on-site, resulting in soil and groundwater contamination, which has been contained and managed on-site under a series of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permits and regulatory agreements. The Hazardous Waste Operating License for the Midland manufacturing site, issued in 2003, and renewed and replaced in September 2015, also included provisions for the Company to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and extent of off-site contamination from historic Midland manufacturing site operations. In January 2010, the Company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the State of Michigan ("State") entered into an Administrative Order on Consent that requires the Company to conduct a remedial investigation, a feasibility study and a remedial design for the Tittabawassee River, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay, and pay the oversight costs of the EPA and the State under the authority of CERCLA. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information relating to Midland off-site environmental matters.
Rohm and Haas, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a PRP at the Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, Ventron/Velsicol Superfund Site, and the adjacent Berry’s Creek Study Area ("BCSA") (collectively, the "Wood-Ridge sites"). Rohm and Haas is a successor in interest to a company that owned and operated a mercury processing facility, where wastewater and waste handling resulted in contamination of soils and adjacent creek sediments. In 2018, the Berry’s Creek Study Area Potentially Responsible Party Group (“PRP Group”), consisting of over 100 PRPs, completed a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for the BCSA. During that time, the EPA concluded that an “iterative or adaptive approach” was appropriate for cleaning up the BCSA. Thus, each phase of remediation will be followed by a period of monitoring to assess its effectiveness and determine if there is a need for more work. In September 2018, the EPA signed a Record of Decision ("ROD 1") which describes the initial phase of the EPA’s plan to clean-up the BCSA. ROD 1 will remediate waterways and major tributaries in the most contaminated part of the BCSA. The PRP Group has signed agreements with the EPA to design the selected remedy. Although there is currently much uncertainty as to what will ultimately be required to remediate the BCSA and Rohm and Haas's share of these costs has yet to be determined, the range of activities that are required in the interim Record of Decision is known in general terms. The PRP Group has been approached by the EPA to convene discussions for the Remedial Action Consent Decree the EPA is preparing for the Berry’s Creek Site. The group submitted the 60 percent design for EPA review and has identified and contracted with a Remedial Action contractor to support completion of the 95 percent design. Allocation remains incomplete.
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At December 31, 2023, the Company had accrued liabilities totaling $319 million ($339 million at December 31, 2022) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites. In 2023, the Company spent $48 million ($37 million in 2022) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites.
In total, the Company’s accrued liability for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs was $1,180 million at December 31, 2023, compared with $1,192 million at December 31, 2022. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. Consequently, it is reasonably possible that environmental remediation and restoration costs in excess of amounts accrued could have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. It is the opinion of the Company’s management, however, that the possibility is remote that costs in excess of the range disclosed will have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to environmental remediation totaled $203 million in 2023 and $176 million in 2022. The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to operating the Company's current pollution abatement facilities, excluding internal recharges, totaled $758 million in 2023 and $773 million in 2022. Capital expenditures for environmental protection were $228 million in 2023 and $137 million in 2022.
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past four decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem. In many cases, plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate that they have suffered any compensable loss as a result of such exposure, or that injuries incurred in fact resulted from exposure to Union Carbide’s products.
For comparison of asbestos-related matters of Union Carbide Corporation for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 1, 2023.
The table below provides information regarding asbestos-related claims pending against Union Carbide and Amchem based on criteria developed by Union Carbide and its external consultants:
| Asbestos-Related Claim Activity | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claims unresolved at Jan 1 | 6,873 | 8,747 | |
| Claims filed | 4,199 | 4,664 | |
| Claims settled, dismissed or otherwise resolved | (4,705) | (6,538) | |
| Claims unresolved at Dec 31 | 6,367 | 6,873 | |
| Claimants with claims against both Union Carbide and Amchem | (1,236) | (1,530) | |
| Individual claimants at Dec 31 | 5,131 | 5,343 |
Plaintiffs’ lawyers often sue numerous defendants in individual lawsuits or on behalf of numerous claimants. As a result, the damages alleged are not expressly identified as to Union Carbide, Amchem or any other particular defendant, even when specific damages are alleged with respect to a specific disease or injury. For these reasons and based upon Union Carbide’s litigation and settlement experience, Union Carbide does not consider the damages alleged against Union Carbide and Amchem to be a meaningful factor in its determination of any potential asbestos-related liability.
For additional information see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings and Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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FY 2022 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001751788-23-000014.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
On April 1, 2019, DowDuPont Inc. (“DowDuPont” and effective June 3, 2019, n/k/a DuPont de Nemours, Inc. or "DuPont") completed the separation of its materials science business and Dow Inc. became the direct parent company of The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries (“TDCC” and together with Dow Inc., “Dow” or the “Company”), owning all of the outstanding common shares of TDCC. As a result of the parent/subsidiary relationship between Dow Inc. and TDCC, and considering that the financial statements and disclosures of each company are substantially similar, the companies are filing a combined report for this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The information reflected in this report is equally applicable to both Dow Inc. and TDCC, except where otherwise noted.
In connection with the separation from DowDuPont, the Company entered into various manufacturing, supply and service related agreements with DuPont and Corteva, Inc. ("Corteva").
Except as otherwise indicated by the context, the term "Union Carbide" means Union Carbide Corporation and the term "Dow Silicones" means Dow Silicones Corporation, both wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company.
STATEMENT ON RUSSIA AND UKRAINE CONFLICT
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine resulting in the United States, Canada, the European Union and other countries imposing economic sanctions on Russia. Dow continues to monitor and evaluate the broader economic impact, including sanctions imposed, the potential for additional sanctions and any responses from Russia that could directly affect the Company’s supply chain, business partners or customers. At the time of this filing, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has not had and is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations.
In the first quarter of 2022, the Company recorded pretax asset related charges of $186 million due to the Russia and Ukraine conflict and the expectation that certain assets will not be recoverable. The Company's remaining net asset exposure is not significant.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company reversed certain asset related charges pertaining to the collectability of accounts receivables and inventory due to the Company's ability to recover a portion of the value of these assets. The pretax gain recorded by the Company in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $68 million.
STATEMENT ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES
The Company's global business operations give rise to market risk exposure related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and international capital flows that may be affected by extensive regulations and controls, especially in developing or highly inflationary countries such as Argentina. The Company continues to monitor these situations and take appropriate actions as necessary to manage the financial impact pursuant to established guidelines and policies. If the Company is unable to manage certain exposures in a cost-effective manner it could have a significant negative impact on its future results of operations and cash flows. A detailed discussion of these and other principal risks and uncertainties, which may negatively impact the future results of the Company, are included in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.
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| Table of Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| About Dow | 29 |
| Overview | 29 |
| Results of Operations | 32 |
| Segment Results | 35 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | 35 |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | 36 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | 37 |
| Corporate | 37 |
| Outlook | 38 |
| Liquidity and Capital Resources | 38 |
| Other Matters | 47 |
| Critical Accounting Estimates | 47 |
| Environmental Matters | 49 |
| Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation | 56 |
ABOUT DOW
Dow combines global breadth; asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental, social and governance ("ESG") leadership to achieve profitable growth and deliver a sustainable future. The Company’s ambition is to become the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow’s portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Dow operates 104 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 37,800 people.
In 2022, the Company had annual sales of $57 billion, of which 37 percent of the Company’s sales were to customers in the U.S. & Canada; 35 percent were in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India ("EMEAI"); while the remaining 28 percent were to customers in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
In 2022, the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries did not operate in countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions and export controls as imposed by the U.S. State Department or in countries designated by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terrorism, including Cuba, Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Sudan and Syria. The Company has policies and procedures in place designed to ensure that it and its consolidated subsidiaries remain in compliance with applicable U.S. laws and regulations.
OVERVIEW
The following is a summary of the results for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2022:
The Company reported net sales in 2022 of $57 billion, up 4 percent from $55 billion in 2021, with increases across all geographic regions, except EMEAI, and operating segments, except Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, driven by an increase in local price of 11 percent, which was partially offset by a volume decrease of 3 percent and an unfavorable currency impact of 4 percent.
Local price increased 11 percent compared with 2021, with increases in all operating segments and geographic regions, primarily reflecting price gains due to tight supply and demand dynamics in the first half of the year. Local price increased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (up 7 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (up 11 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 21 percent).
Volume decreased 3 percent compared with 2021, with decreases in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 7 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 6 percent). Volume was flat in Packaging & Specialty Plastics. Volume decreased in EMEAI (down 10 percent), partially offset by increases in the U.S. & Canada (up 1 percent) and Latin America (up 1 percent). Volume was flat in Asia Pacific.
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Currency had an unfavorable impact of 4 percent on net sales compared with 2021, driven by EMEAI (down 9 percent) and Asia Pacific (down 3 percent).
Restructuring and asset related charges - net were $118 million in 2022, compared with $6 million in 2021, reflecting actions taken related to the Russia and Ukraine conflict in the current year.
Equity in earnings of nonconsolidated affiliates was $268 million in 2022, compared with $975 million in 2021, with lower equity earnings at all principal joint ventures, primarily driven by margin compression at Sadara Chemical Company ("Sadara") and the Kuwait joint ventures.
Sundry income (expense) - net for Dow Inc. and TDCC was income of $727 million and $714 million, respectively, in 2022, compared with expense of $35 million and $79 million, respectively, in 2021. Sundry income (expense) - net increased primarily due to the successful and final resolution and recognition of a long-running patent infringement award.
Net income available for Dow Inc. and TDCC common stockholder(s) was $4,582 million and $4,583 million, respectively, in 2022, compared with $6,311 million and $6,274 million, respectively, in 2021. Earnings per share for Dow Inc. was $6.28 per share in 2022, compared with $8.38 per share in 2021.
In 2022, the Company redeemed $750 million aggregate principal amount of 3.625 percent notes due May 2026.
In 2022, Dow Inc. declared and paid dividends to common stockholders of $2.80 per share ($2,006 million).
In 2022, Dow Inc. repurchased $2,325 million of the Company's common stock.
Other notable events and highlights from the year ended December 31, 2022 include:
•On January 31, 2022, the Company announced that Mary Draves, vice president of Environment, Health and Safety ("EH&S") and chief sustainability officer, announced her decision to retire in April 2022 after 32 years of service.
•On March 22, 2022, the Company announced that Jack Broodo, President of Dow Feedstocks and Energy, would retire at the end of July 2022 after 40 years of service with Dow.
•On March 30, 2022, Dow announced global capacity expansion in response to growing demand for mobility technologies.
•On April 7, 2022, the European Commission selected Dow ACCUTRACE™ Plus Fuel Marker as the new common fiscal marker for tax rebated fuels in the European Union.
•On April 13, 2022, the Dow Inc. Board of Directors ("Board") approved a new share repurchase program authorizing up to $3 billion for the repurchase of the Company's common stock, with no expiration date.
•Effective April 14, 2022, following the Company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders, Jerri DeVard, former Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer of Office Depot, Inc., was elected to the Dow Inc. Board.
•On May 31, 2022, Moody's Investors Service announced a credit rating upgrade for TDCC from Baa2 to Baa1, affirmed its P-2 rating and maintained a stable outlook. On June 8, 2022, Standard & Poor’s affirmed TDCC’s BBB and A-2 rating, and revised its outlook to positive from stable. On June 16, 2022, Fitch Ratings affirmed TDCC’s BBB+ and F2 rating, and revised its outlook to positive from stable. These credit agencies' decisions were made as part of their annual review process and reflect the Company's supportive financial policies and strong operating performance.
•On September 7, 2022, Great Place to Work® and Fortune magazine honored Dow as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production™. Dow ranked fourth in the large organization category, and this was the second consecutive year the Company was named to this prestigious list.
•On October 17, 2022 Dow Inc. announced it will accelerate the sustainability targets the Company set in 2020 by expanding its stop the waste target to a transform the waste target. By 2030, Dow will transform plastic waste and other forms of alternative feedstock to commercialize 3 million metric tons of circular and renewable plastics solutions annually.
•On October 26, 2022, Dow announced its launch of the world’s first recyclable silicone self-sealing tire solution.
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•On November 1, 2022, the Company announced that Diego Donoso, President of Packaging & Specialty Plastics, announced his decision to retire in the first quarter of 2023, after over 30 years of service.
•On November 1, 2022, the Company announced that Karen S. Carter, Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Inclusion Officer for Dow, was named President of Packaging & Specialty Plastics.
•On November 8, 2022, the Company announced that Lisa Bryant was named Chief Human Resources Officer. Effective December 15, 2022, the Board elected Lisa Bryant as an Executive Officer of the Company.
•Dow was named to FORTUNE's World's Most Admired Companies list for 2022.
•Dow was named to the JUST 100 list for the third consecutive year. Dow earned the top spot in the Chemicals sector overall and received the number one position in the Workers and Stakeholders & Governance categories versus industry peers.
•Dow was named to Bloomberg’s 2022 Gender-Equality Index for the second consecutive year.
•Dow was named by the Human Rights Campaign ("HRC") Foundation to its 2022 list of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality.” This marks the Company’s seventeenth consecutive year receiving a perfect score on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
•Dow received the 2022 Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award for its Predictive Intelligence capability.
•Dow received eight 2022 Edison Awards™, (two gold, four silver and two bronze) once again earning more awards than any other organization.
•Dow was named the 2022 Organization of the Year by the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers for its contributions to science and engineering and its commitment to ensuring that inclusion, diversity and equity are a business imperative.
•Dow advanced to 15th place on the 2022 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list making it the fifth consecutive year on the list. Dow was also included on six of DiversityInc's Specialty Lists including: Top Companies for Executive Diversity Councils, Top Companies for People with Disabilities, Top Companies for Black Executives, Top Companies for Latino Executives, Top Companies for Employee Resource Groups and Top Companies for Environmental, Social and Governance.
•Dow was named a 2022 honoree of The Civic 50 by Points of Light, the world's largest organization committed to inspiring, equipping, and engaging people to take action to change their communities and the world.
•For the sixth consecutive year, Dow received a top score on the Disability Equality Index®, placing the Company among the “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” for 2022.
•Dow was honored with a Leading Disability Employer Seal by the National Organization on Disability, marking the sixth consecutive year Dow has received the recognition.
•Dow was honored with a 2022 CIO 100 award for the Company's Digital Manufacturing Acceleration program.
•Dow received six R&D 100 Awards from R&D Magazine for innovative technologies including: DOWSIL™ ICL-1000 Data Center Immersion Cooling Fluid, DURATRACK™ R-100 and AEH-100 Resins for Green Bike Lanes, ELVALOY™ RET MF 1177 Polymeric PCR Asphalt Paving Compatibilizer, Sustainable Collation Shrink Film enabled by REVOLOOP™, MaizeCare™ Clarity Polymer, and MAINCOTE™ HG-300 Emulsion.
•Dow was named one of the "2022 PEOPLE Companies that Care®" for the third consecutive year.
•Dow received four 2022 BIG™ Innovation Awards from the Business Intelligence Group.
•Dow was awarded 5-Stars in the areas of Employment and Governance in the 2022 Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility Corporate Inclusion Index™.
•Dow’s MaizeCare™ Clarity Polymer, a bio-based and biodegradable polymer with film-forming properties for crystal clear formulations, was recognized with an R&D 100 Award and a BIG™ Sustainability Product of the Year in the 2022 Sustainability Awards program.
•Dow's DOWSIL™ TC-6015 Thermally Conductive Encapsulant, an advanced, proven, silicone-based solution that provides exceptional thermal management for power electronics applications, won two prestigious 2022 innovation awards: one from the Business Intelligence Group (BIG™) in the Manufacturing category; and a Silver Edison Awards™ in the Industrial Technology category.
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•In 2022, CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, an international non-profit specialized in environmental reporting) confirmed Dow's climate change score of A-.
In addition to the highlights above, the following events occurred subsequent to December 31, 2022:
•Dow has been named to the JUST 100 list, placing 55th overall, an 11-point improvement from last year, and securing the top spot for Communities in the Chemicals sector.
•On January 25, 2023, the Dow Inc. Board approved restructuring actions ("2023 Restructuring Program") to achieve the Company's structural cost improvement initiatives in response to the continued economic impact from the global recessionary environment and to enhance its agility and long-term competitiveness across the economic cycle. This program includes a global workforce cost reduction, decreasing turnaround spending, actions to rationalize the Company’s manufacturing assets, which includes asset write-down and write-off charges and related contract termination fees.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
For comparison of results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2022.
Net Sales
The following tables summarize net sales and sales variance by operating segment and geographic region from the prior year:
| Summary of Sales Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 56,902 | $ | 54,968 |
| Sales Variances by Operating Segment and Geographic Region | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Percentage change from prior year | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | ||||||||||
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | 7 | % | (3) | % | — | % | 4 | % | 50 | % | 2 | % | 2 | % | 54 | % | ||
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | 11 | (5) | (7) | (1) | 40 | 2 | (2) | 40 | ||||||||||
| Performance Materials & Coatings | 21 | (4) | (6) | 11 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 22 | ||||||||||
| Total | 11 | % | (4) | % | (3) | % | 4 | % | 40 | % | 2 | % | 1 | % | 43 | % | ||
| Total, excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business | 10 | % | (4) | % | (5) | % | 1 | % | 37 | % | 2 | % | (2) | % | 37 | % | ||
| U.S. & Canada | 6 | % | — | % | 1 | % | 7 | % | 42 | % | — | % | 2 | % | 44 | % | ||
| EMEAI | 18 | (9) | (10) | (1) | 45 | 4 | 3 | 52 | ||||||||||
| Asia Pacific | 6 | (3) | — | 3 | 25 | 2 | (4) | 23 | ||||||||||
| Latin America | 6 | — | 1 | 7 | 48 | — | (3) | 45 | ||||||||||
| Total | 11 | % | (4) | % | (3) | % | 4 | % | 40 | % | 2 | % | 1 | % | 43 | % |
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2022 Versus 2021
The Company reported net sales of $56.9 billion in 2022, up 4 percent from $55.0 billion in 2021, with local price up 11 percent, an unfavorable currency impact of 4 percent and volume down 3 percent. Net sales increased in all operating segments except Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and across all geographic regions except EMEAI. Local price increased in all operating segments and across all geographic regions, primarily driven by tight supply and demand dynamics and increasing raw material prices, partially offset by slower macroeconomic growth in the second half of the year. Local price increased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (up 7 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (up 11 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 21 percent). Volume decreased 3 percent, driven by EMEAI (down 10 percent), which was partially offset by the U.S. & Canada and Latin America (both up 1 percent), while volume was flat in Asia Pacific. Volume was flat in Packaging & Specialty Plastics and decreased in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 7 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 6 percent). Currency unfavorably impacted net sales by 4 percent driven by EMEAI (down 9 percent) and Asia Pacific (down 3 percent). Excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business, sales increased 1 percent.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales ("COS") was $48.3 billion in 2022, compared with $44.2 billion in 2021. COS increased in 2022 primarily due to higher feedstocks, energy, other raw material costs, and logistics costs, partially offset by insurance recoveries related to certain weather-related events in the prior year. COS as a percentage of net sales was 84.9 percent in 2022 compared with 80.4 percent in 2021.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development ("R&D") expenses were $851 million in 2022, compared with $857 million in 2021. R&D expenses in 2022 decreased compared with 2021 primarily due to lower performance-based compensation costs and a decrease in fringe benefit expenses which reflected stock market declines compared with 2021.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses were $1,675 million in 2022, compared with $1,645 million in 2021. SG&A expenses in 2022 increased primarily due to higher bad debt reserves which offset lower performance-based compensation costs and a decrease in fringe benefit expenses which reflected stock market declines compared with 2021.
Amortization of Intangibles
Amortization of intangibles was $336 million in 2022, compared with $388 million in 2021. Amortization of intangibles decreased primarily due to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized. See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on intangible assets.
Restructuring and Asset Related Charges - Net
2022 Asset Related Charges
In 2022, the Company recorded pretax asset related charges of $118 million due to the Russia and Ukraine conflict and the expectation that certain assets will not be recoverable. These charges included the write-down of inventory, the recording of bad debt reserves and the impairment of other assets. Asset related charges by segment in 2022 were as follows: $8 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $73 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, $6 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $31 million in Corporate. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on restructuring and asset related charges.
Equity in Earnings (Losses) of Nonconsolidated Affiliates
The Company’s share of equity in earnings of nonconsolidated affiliates was $268 million in 2022, compared with $975 million in 2021, with lower equity earnings at all principal joint ventures, primarily driven by margin compression at Sadara and the Kuwait joint ventures.
Sundry Income (Expense) - Net
Sundry income (expense) – net includes a variety of income and expense items such as foreign currency exchange gains and losses, dividends from investments, gains and losses on sales of investments and assets, non-operating pension and other postretirement benefit plan credits or costs, losses on early extinguishment of debt and certain litigation matters.
TDCC
Sundry income (expense) - net for 2022 was income of $714 million, compared with expense of $79 million in 2021.
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In 2022, sundry income (expense) - net included a $321 million gain related to the successful and final resolution and recognition of a long-running patent infringement award (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics), a $60 million gain related to an adjustment to the Dow Silicones breast implant liability (related to Corporate), non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits and gains on the sales of assets and investments. These were partially offset by foreign currency exchange losses and an $8 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt (related to Corporate). See Notes 6, 14, 15, 19 and 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In 2021, sundry income (expense) - net included a $574 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt (related to Corporate and included in "Other net loss" in the consolidated statements of cash flows), and foreign currency exchange losses. These were partially offset by non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits, gains on the sale of assets and investments, a $54 million gain related to an arbitration award (related to Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure), and a $16 million gain related to post-closing adjustments on the previous divestiture of a bio-ethanol manufacturing facility in Brazil (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics). See Notes 6, 14, 15, 19 and 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Dow Inc.
Sundry income (expense) - net for 2022 was income of $727 million, compared with expense of $35 million in 2021.
In 2022, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net included a $4 million net gain associated with agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution (related to Corporate).
In 2021, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net included $30 million in gains associated with the agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution (related to Corporate).
Interest Expense and Amortization of Debt Discount
Interest expense and amortization of debt discount was $662 million in 2022, compared with $731 million in 2021. Interest expense and amortization of debt discount decreased in 2022 primarily due to the liability management actions taken in 2021. See Liquidity and Capital Resources in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to debt financing activity.
Provision for Income Taxes
The Company's effective tax rate fluctuates based on, among other factors, where income is earned, the level of income relative to tax attributes and the level of equity earnings, since most earnings from the Company's equity method investments are taxed at the joint venture level. The underlying factors affecting the Company's overall tax rate are summarized in Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The provision for income taxes was $1,450 million in 2022, compared with $1,740 million in 2021, resulting in effective tax rates of 23.8 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively. The provision for income taxes in 2022 was lower than 2021 primarily due to a decrease in pretax income, changes to geographic mix of earnings and a reduction in uncertain tax positions recognized. The tax rate for 2022 in comparison to 2021 was impacted primarily by the level of equity earnings.
Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was $58 million in 2022, compared with $94 million in 2021. See Notes 18 and 23 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Net Income Available for the Common Stockholder(s)
Dow Inc.
Net income available for Dow Inc. common stockholders was $4,582 million in 2022, compared with $6,311 million in 2021. Earnings per share of Dow Inc. was $6.28 per share in 2022, compared with $8.38 per share in 2021. See Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for details on Dow Inc.'s earnings per share calculations.
TDCC
Net income available for TDCC common stockholder was $4,583 million in 2022, compared with $6,274 million in 2021. TDCC's common shares are owned solely by Dow Inc.
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SEGMENT RESULTS
The Company conducts its worldwide operations through six global businesses which are organized into the following operating segments: Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and Performance Materials & Coatings. Corporate contains the reconciliation between the totals for the operating segments and the Company's totals. The Company did not aggregate any operating segments when determining its reportable segments. The Company reports geographic information for the following regions: U.S. & Canada, EMEAI, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company transfers ethylene to its downstream derivative businesses at market prices. See Part I, Item 1. Business for further discussion of the Company's segments.
The Company’s measure of profit/loss for segment reporting purposes is Operating EBIT as this is the manner in which the Company's chief operating decision maker ("CODM") assesses performance and allocates resources. The Company defines Operating EBIT as earnings (i.e., "Income before income taxes") before interest, excluding the impact of significant items. Operating EBIT by segment includes all operating items relating to the businesses; items that principally apply to Dow as a whole are assigned to Corporate. See Note 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for reconciliations of these measures.
For comparison of segment results for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2022.
PACKAGING & SPECIALTY PLASTICS
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 29,260 | $ | 28,128 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 4,110 | $ | 6,638 | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 359 | $ | 490 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2022 | 2021 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | 7 | % | 50 | % |
| Currency | (3) | 2 | ||
| Volume | — | 2 | ||
| Total | 4 | % | 54 | % |
2022 Versus 2021
Packaging & Specialty Plastics net sales were $29,260 million in 2022, up 4 percent from net sales of $28,128 million in 2021. Local price was up 7 percent, currency had an unfavorable impact of 3 percent, primarily in EMEAI and Asia Pacific, and volume was flat. Local price increased in both businesses, primarily in EMEAI, and driven by gains in functional polymers and olefins which more than offset lower polyethylene prices. Local price increased in Hydrocarbons & Energy as prices for co-products are generally correlated to Brent crude oil prices, which on average increased 40 percent compared with 2021. Local price increased in Packaging and Specialty Plastics in EMEAI and Asia Pacific, notably in infrastructure material and flexible packaging applications, more than offsetting decreases in the U.S. & Canada and Latin America. Volume increased in Hydrocarbons & Energy across all geographic regions. Volume decreased in Packaging and Specialty Plastics, primarily in EMEAI and the U.S. & Canada, as supply constraints and lower demand more than offset improved demand in Latin America and Asia Pacific.
Operating EBIT was $4,110 million in 2022, down $2,528 million from Operating EBIT of $6,638 million in 2021. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to compression in integrated margins due to higher raw materials and energy costs and decreased equity earnings at the EQUATE and Sadara joint ventures.
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INDUSTRIAL INTERMEDIATES & INFRASTRUCTURE
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 16,606 | $ | 16,851 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 1,418 | $ | 2,282 | |
| Equity earnings (losses) | $ | (91) | $ | 471 |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2022 | 2021 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | 11 | % | 40 | % |
| Currency | (5) | 2 | ||
| Volume | (7) | (2) | ||
| Total | (1) | % | 40 | % |
2022 Versus 2021
Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure net sales were $16,606 million in 2022, down 1 percent from $16,851 million in 2021, with local price up 11 percent, an unfavorable currency impact of 5 percent and volume down 7 percent. Local price increased in both businesses and across all geographic regions, except Asia Pacific, primarily driven by strong supply and demand dynamics in the first half of the year and rising energy prices. Currency unfavorably impacted sales in both businesses, primarily in EMEAI and Asia Pacific. Volume in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals decreased in all geographic regions. The volume decrease in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals was largely driven by inflationary pressure on demand for consumer durables, industrial and building and construction applications. Volume in Industrial Solutions increased in all geographic regions, except Latin America and was driven by strong demand for pharmaceutical, energy and agricultural applications, as well as improved supply availability, as the prior year was impacted by Winter Storm Uri.
Operating EBIT was $1,418 million in 2022, down $864 million from Operating EBIT of $2,282 million in 2021. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to lower equity earnings from the Sadara, EQUATE and Map ta Phut joint ventures and inflationary pressure on demand.
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PERFORMANCE MATERIALS & COATINGS
| Performance Materials & Coatings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 10,764 | $ | 9,672 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | 1,328 | $ | 866 | |
| Equity earnings | $ | 10 | $ | 7 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2022 | 2021 | ||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||
| Local price & product mix | 21 | % | 19 | % |
| Currency | (4) | 2 | ||
| Volume | (6) | 1 | ||
| Total | 11 | % | 22 | % |
2022 Versus 2021
Performance Materials & Coatings net sales were $10,764 million in 2022, up 11 percent from net sales of $9,672 million in 2021, with local price up 21 percent, an unfavorable currency impact of 4 percent, and volume down 6 percent. Local price increased in both businesses and across all geographic regions. Consumer Solutions local price increased in both upstream siloxanes and downstream silicones due to favorable supply and demand dynamics and higher raw material costs, partially offset by price declines in upstream siloxanes late in the year on increased industry supply. Local price increased in Coatings & Performance Monomers due to favorable supply and demand dynamics and higher raw material costs, partially offset by price declines late in the year as demand softened. Volume decreased in both businesses due to lower demand. Consumer Solutions volume decreased in all geographic regions except Asia Pacific, which was flat. Coatings & Performance Monomers volume decreased in all geographic regions except the U.S. & Canada, which was flat. The unfavorable currency impact was driven by EMEAI and Asia Pacific.
Operating EBIT was $1,328 million in 2022, up $462 million from Operating EBIT of $866 million in 2021. Operating EBIT increased primarily due to price gains in Consumer Solutions.
CORPORATE
| Corporate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | |||
| Net sales | $ | 272 | $ | 317 | |
| Operating EBIT | $ | (266) | $ | (253) | |
| Equity earnings (losses) | $ | (10) | $ | 7 |
2022 Versus 2021
Net sales for Corporate, which primarily relate to the Company's insurance operations, were $272 million in 2022, down from net sales of $317 million in 2021.
Operating EBIT was a loss of $266 million in 2022, compared with a loss of $253 million in 2021. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to the Company's insurance operations, increased environmental costs and equity losses.
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OUTLOOK
Operating Segments & End-Market Expectations
In 2023, Dow remains focused on managing near-term dynamics while continuing to position the company for long-term value creation. The Company recognizes initial positive signs from moderating inflation growth in the U.S., improving outlook for energy in Europe, and re-opening in China. However, Dow will continue to take prudent, proactive actions by implementing a playbook of interventions focused on optimizing labor and purchased service costs, reducing turnaround spending, and enhancing productivity, which is collectively expected to deliver $1 billion in cost savings in 2023. Going forward, Dow will continue to maintain its disciplined and balanced approach to capital allocation and focus on cash flow generation, while executing its strategic priorities for long-term sustainable and profitable growth.
In Packaging & Specialty Plastics, improved reliability and ongoing logistics improvements are expected to allow the Company to satisfy areas of resilient demand, notably in flexible food and specialty packaging, as well as higher-value functional polymers. Local prices are expected to continue to be impacted by high energy costs and inflation. The Company’s feedstock flexibility and advantaged regional footprint will put the segment in a position to navigate energy market dynamics throughout the year. In-region presence and superior derivative flexibility will allow the segment to continue to optimize price and volume mix.
In Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, demand growth is expected in consumer and energy end-markets. Market fundamentals will remain pressured for propylene oxide, polyols, isocyanates and derivatives systems, driven by lower-than-average growth in GDP, elevated raw material and energy costs and the impact of inflation on demand. Increased industry supply of propylene oxide and polyols is expected to impact margins. Recent and soon-to-be-completed investments in alkoxylation capacity are expected to service areas of resilient consumer demand in home care and pharmaceuticals.
In Performance Materials & Coatings, demand for performance silicones is expected to be in excess of GDP as the result of prioritization of key end-markets, most notably in mobility and electronics. Local prices are expected to be impacted by inflation, energy costs in Europe and increased industry supply of siloxanes. Coatings and acrylic monomers are expected to have improved supply availability from the prior year, especially for architectural coatings applications, while prices will be impacted by inflation and energy costs.
Other factors impacting operating segment profitability include an expected decrease in planned maintenance turnaround spending of approximately $300 million compared with 2022.
Projected Uses of Cash
Items that may impact the consolidated statements of cash flows in 2023 include:
•Cash contributions to pension plans are expected to be approximately $150 million.
•Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $2.2 billion.
•Cash dividends from equity companies are expected to be approximately $350 million.
•Cash outflows related to the Company's 2023 Restructuring Program, including restructuring implementation costs, are expected to be approximately $400 million.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
The Company had cash and cash equivalents of $3,886 million at December 31, 2022 and $2,988 million at December 31, 2021, of which $1,789 million at December 31, 2022 and $1,745 million at December 31, 2021, was held by subsidiaries in foreign countries, including U.S. territories. For each of its foreign subsidiaries, the Company makes an assertion regarding the amount of earnings intended for permanent reinvestment, with the balance available to be repatriated to the United States.
The cash held by foreign subsidiaries for permanent reinvestment is generally used to finance the subsidiaries' operational activities and future foreign investments. Dow has the ability to repatriate additional funds to the U.S., which could result in an adjustment to the tax liability for foreign withholding taxes, foreign and/or U.S. state income taxes and the impact of foreign currency movements. At December 31, 2022, management believed that sufficient liquidity was available in the United States. The Company has and expects to continue repatriating certain funds from its non-U.S. subsidiaries that are not needed to finance local operations; however, these particular repatriation activities have not and are not expected to result in a significant incremental tax liability to the Company.
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For comparison of cash flows for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2022.
The Company’s cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities, as reflected in the consolidated statements of cash flows, are summarized in the following table:
| Cash Flow Summary | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||
| Cash provided by (used for): | ||||||||||||
| Operating activities - continuing operations | $ | 7,486 | $ | 7,069 | $ | 7,519 | $ | 7,200 | ||||
| Operating activities - discontinued operations | (11) | (60) | — | — | ||||||||
| Operating activities | 7,475 | 7,009 | 7,519 | 7,200 | ||||||||
| Investing activities | (2,970) | (2,914) | (2,970) | (2,914) | ||||||||
| Financing activities | (3,361) | (6,071) | (3,405) | (6,262) | ||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | (237) | (99) | (237) | (99) | ||||||||
| Summary | ||||||||||||
| Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 907 | (2,075) | 907 | (2,075) | ||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of year | 3,033 | 5,108 | 3,033 | 5,108 | ||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of year | $ | 3,940 | $ | 3,033 | $ | 3,940 | $ | 3,033 | ||||
| Less: Restricted cash and cash equivalents, included in "Other current assets" | 54 | 45 | 54 | 45 | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of year | $ | 3,886 | $ | 2,988 | $ | 3,886 | $ | 2,988 |
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2022 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings, dividends from equity method investments and cash provided by working capital, which were partially offset by performance-based compensation payments and pension contributions. Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2021 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings and dividends from equity method investments, which were partially offset by cash used for working capital requirements, pension contributions and performance-based compensation payments.
| Net Working Capital and Current Ratio at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Current assets | $ | 20,477 | $ | 20,848 | $ | 20,511 | $ | 20,837 | |||
| Current liabilities | 11,331 | 13,226 | 11,247 | 13,046 | |||||||
| Net working capital | $ | 9,146 | $ | 7,622 | $ | 9,264 | $ | 7,791 | |||
| Current ratio | 1.81:1 | 1.58:1 | 1.82:1 | 1.60:1 |
| Working Capital Metrics | Twelve Months Ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2022 | Dec 31, 2021 | ||||||
| Days sales outstanding in trade receivables | 40 | 40 | |||||
| Days sales in inventory | 54 | 54 | |||||
| Days payables outstanding | 60 | 57 |
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Cash used for operating activities from discontinued operations was related to cash payments and receipts the Company had with DuPont and Corteva that related to certain agreements and matters related to the separation from DowDuPont.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities in 2022 was primarily for capital expenditures and purchases of investments, which were partially offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of investments. Cash used for investing activities in 2021 was primarily for capital expenditures and purchases of investments and previously leased assets, which were partially offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of investments.
The Company's capital expenditures were $1,823 million in 2022 and $1,501 million in 2021. Capital spending was higher in 2022 as the Company continued the post-pandemic recovery and ramp up of investments in its higher return, lower risk and quick payback incremental growth projects. The Company expects capital spending in 2023 to be approximately $2.2 billion.
Capital spending in recent years has included the addition of a furnace to the Company's ethylene production facility in Alberta, Canada, which commenced operations in 2021; the retrofit of one of the Company's Louisiana steam crackers with Dow's proprietary fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation ("FCDh") technology to produce on-purpose propylene and the addition of a new specialty alkoxylation reactor in Plaquemine, Louisiana, which were both completed in 2022; the addition of an integrated methylene diphenyl diisocyanate ("MDI") distillation and prepolymers facility at its site in Freeport, Texas, which is expected to be completed in 2023; and construction of a world-scale polyethylene unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Cash used for financing activities in 2022 included payments on long-term debt, which was more than offset by proceeds from issuance of long-term debt. In addition, Dow Inc. included cash outflows for dividends paid to stockholders and purchases of treasury stock. TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. Cash used for financing activities in 2021 included payments on long-term debt and transaction financing, debt issuance and other costs, which were partially offset by proceeds from issuance of common stock. In addition, Dow Inc. included cash outflows for dividends paid to stockholders and purchases of treasury stock. TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. See Notes 14 and 17 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to the issuance and retirement of debt and the Company's share repurchases and dividends.
Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures
Free Cash Flow
Dow defines Free Cash Flow as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," less capital expenditures. Under this definition, Free Cash Flow represents the cash generated by Dow from operations after investing in its asset base. Free Cash Flow, combined with cash balances and other sources of liquidity, represents the cash available to fund obligations and provide returns to shareholders. Free Cash Flow is an integral financial measure used in the Company's financial planning process.
Operating EBITDA
Dow defines Operating EBITDA as earnings (i.e., "Income before income taxes") before interest, depreciation and amortization, excluding the impact of significant items.
Cash Flow Conversion (Operating EBITDA to Cash Flow From Operations)
Dow defines Cash Flow Conversion (Operating EBITDA to cash flow from operations) as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," divided by Operating EBITDA. Management believes Cash Flow Conversion is an important financial metric as it helps the Company determine how efficiently it is converting its earnings into cash flow.
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These financial measures are not recognized in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") and should not be viewed as alternatives to U.S. GAAP financial measures of performance. All companies do not calculate non-GAAP financial measures in the same manner and, accordingly, Dow's definitions may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies.
| Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures | Dow Inc. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | |||
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 7,486 | $ | 7,069 | |
| Capital expenditures | (1,823) | (1,501) | |||
| Free Cash Flow (non-GAAP) 1 | $ | 5,663 | $ | 5,568 |
1.Free Cash Flow for the year ended December 31, 2021 reflects a $1 billion elective pension contribution.
| Reconciliation of Cash Flow Conversion (Operating EBITDA to Cash Flow From Operations) | Dow Inc. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | ||
| Net income (GAAP) | $ | 4,640 | $ | 6,405 |
| + Provision for income taxes | 1,450 | 1,740 | ||
| Income before income taxes | $ | 6,090 | $ | 8,145 |
| - Interest income | 173 | 55 | ||
| + Interest expense and amortization of debt discount | 662 | 731 | ||
| - Significant items 1 | (11) | (712) | ||
| Operating EBIT (non-GAAP) | $ | 6,590 | $ | 9,533 |
| + Depreciation and amortization | 2,758 | 2,842 | ||
| Operating EBITDA (non-GAAP) | $ | 9,348 | $ | 12,375 |
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 7,486 | $ | 7,069 |
| Cash Flow Conversion (Operating EBITDA to cash flow from operations) (non-GAAP) 2 | 80.1 | % | 57.1 | % |
1.The year ended December 31, 2022 includes costs associated with implementing the Company's Digital Acceleration program and 2020 Restructuring Program, asset related charges due to the Russia and Ukraine conflict, a gain related to a legal matter with Nova, a gain related to an adjustment of the Dow Silicones breast implant liability, a loss on the early extinguishment of debt and activity related to the separation from DowDuPont. The year ended December 31, 2021 includes costs associated with implementing the Company's Digital Acceleration program and 2020 Restructuring Program, implementation costs and asset related charges - net, a loss on early extinguishment of debt, a gain on a previous divestiture, litigation related charges, awards and adjustments and activity related to the separation from DowDuPont. See Note 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
2.Cash flow conversion for the year ended December 31, 2021 reflects a $1 billion elective pension contribution.
Liquidity & Financial Flexibility
The Company’s primary source of incremental liquidity is cash flows from operating activities. The generation of cash from operations and the Company's ability to access capital markets is expected to meet the Company’s cash requirements for working capital, capital expenditures, debt maturities, contributions to pension plans, dividend distributions to stockholders, share repurchases and other needs. In addition to cash from operating activities, the Company’s current liquidity sources also include TDCC's U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs, committed and uncommitted credit facilities, committed accounts receivable facilities, a medium-term notes program, a U.S. retail note program (“InterNotes®”) and other debt markets.
The Company continues to maintain a strong financial position with all of its committed credit facilities undrawn and fully available at December 31, 2022. Cash and committed and available forms of liquidity were $13.7 billion at December 31, 2022, an increase of $1.1 billion from December 31, 2021. The Company also has no substantive long-term debt maturities due until 2027. Additional details on sources of liquidity are as follows:
Commercial Paper
TDCC issues promissory notes under its U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs. TDCC had $299 million of commercial paper outstanding at December 31, 2022 (zero in 2021). TDCC maintains access to the commercial paper market at competitive rates. Amounts outstanding under TDCC's commercial paper programs during the period may be greater or less than the amount reported at the end of the period. Subsequent to December 31, 2022, TDCC issued approximately $311 million of commercial paper.
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Committed Credit Facilities
The Company also has the ability to access liquidity through TDCC's committed and available credit facilities. At December 31, 2022, TDCC had total committed and available credit facilities of $8.4 billion. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on committed and available credit facilities.
Committed Accounts Receivable Facilities
In addition to the above committed credit facilities, the Company maintains an accounts receivable facility in the U.S. where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to $900 million, may be sold at any point in time. The Company also maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in Europe where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to €500 million, may be sold at any point in time. In 2022, the Company sold $391 million of receivables under the U.S. and Europe committed accounts receivable facilities. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Uncommitted Credit Facilities
The Company has entered into various uncommitted bilateral credit arrangements as a potential source of excess liquidity. These lines can be used to support short-term liquidity needs and for general purposes, including letters of credit. The Company had no drawdowns outstanding at December 31, 2022.
Letters of Credit
TDCC utilizes letters of credit to support commitments made in the ordinary course of business. While the terms and amounts of letters of credit change, TDCC generally has approximately $600 million of outstanding letters of credit at any given time.
Company-Owned Life Insurance
The Company has investments in company-owned life insurance ("COLI") policies, which are recorded at their cash surrender value as of each balance sheet date. The Company has the ability to monetize its investment in its COLI policies as an additional source of liquidity. The Company had no outstanding monetization of its existing COLI policies' surrender value at December 31, 2022.
Early Settlement of Letters of Credit
The Company utilizes, from time-to-time, letters of credit discounting programs to manage and expedite the settlement of letters of credit in certain regions. These letters of credit are associated with accounts receivable and the Company retains no interest in the transferred letters of credit or receivables once sold.
Shelf Registration - U.S.
On June 13, 2022, Dow Inc. and TDCC filed a shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The shelf indicates that Dow Inc. may offer common stock; preferred stock; depositary shares; debt securities; guarantees; warrants to purchase common stock, preferred stock and debt securities; and stock purchase contracts and stock purchase units, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. The shelf also indicates that TDCC may offer debt securities, guarantees and warrants to purchase debt securities, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. In 2022, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an undetermined amount of securities for issuance under InterNotes®. Also, in 2022, TDCC filed a prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an undetermined amount of securities for issuance under a medium-term notes program.
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Debt
As the Company continues to maintain its strong balance sheet and financial flexibility, management is focused on net debt (a non-GAAP financial measure), as the Company believes this is the best representation of its financial leverage at this point in time. As shown in the following table, net debt is equal to total gross debt minus "Cash and cash equivalents" and "Marketable securities."
| Total Debt at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||
| Notes payable | $ | 362 | $ | 161 | $ | 362 | $ | 161 |
| Long-term debt due within one year | 362 | 231 | 362 | 231 | ||||
| Long-term debt | 14,698 | 14,280 | 14,698 | 14,280 | ||||
| Gross debt | $ | 15,422 | $ | 14,672 | $ | 15,422 | $ | 14,672 |
| - Cash and cash equivalents | 3,886 | 2,988 | 3,886 | 2,988 | ||||
| - Marketable securities 1 | 939 | 245 | 939 | 245 | ||||
| Net debt | $ | 10,597 | $ | 11,439 | $ | 10,597 | $ | 11,439 |
| Total equity | $ | 21,247 | $ | 18,739 | $ | 21,489 | $ | 19,029 |
| Gross debt as a percentage of total capitalization | 42.1 | % | 43.9 | % | 41.8 | % | 43.5 | % |
| Net debt as a percentage of total capitalization | 33.3 | % | 37.9 | % | 33.0 | % | 37.5 | % |
1.Included in "Other current assets" in the consolidated balance sheets.
In the second quarter of 2022, the Company redeemed $750 million aggregate principal amount of 3.625 percent notes due May 2026.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company issued $1.5 billion of senior unsecured notes. The offering included $600 million aggregate principal amount of 6.30 percent notes due 2033 and $900 million aggregate principal amount of 6.90 percent notes due 2053.
In 2022, the Company issued an aggregate principal amount of $167 million of InterNotes®. Additionally, the Company repaid $121 million of long-term debt at maturity and approximately $3 million of long-term debt was repaid by consolidated variable interest entities.
The Company may at any time repurchase certain debt securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions subject to: the applicable terms under which any such debt securities were issued, certain internal approvals of the Company, and applicable laws and regulations of the relevant jurisdiction in which any such potential transactions might take place. This in no way obligates the Company to make any such repurchases nor should it be considered an offer to do so.
TDCC’s public debt instruments and primary, private credit agreements contain, among other provisions, certain customary restrictive covenant and default provisions. TDCC’s most significant debt covenant with regard to its financial position is the obligation to maintain the ratio of its consolidated indebtedness to consolidated capitalization at no greater than 0.70 to 1.00 at any time the aggregate outstanding amount of loans under the Five Year Competitive Advance and Revolving Credit Facility Agreement ("Revolving Credit Agreement") equals or exceeds $500 million. The ratio of TDCC’s consolidated indebtedness as defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement was 0.40 to 1.00 at December 31, 2022. Management believes TDCC was in compliance with all of its covenants and default provisions at December 31, 2022. The Revolving Credit Agreement was extended in November 2022 and matures in November 2027.
Dow Inc. is obligated, substantially concurrently with the issuance of any guarantee in respect of outstanding or committed indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Agreement, to enter into a supplemental indenture with TDCC and the trustee under TDCC’s existing 2008 base indenture governing certain notes issued by TDCC. Under such supplemental indenture, Dow Inc. will guarantee all outstanding debt securities and all amounts due under such existing base indenture and will become subject to certain covenants and events of default under the existing base indenture.
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In addition, the Revolving Credit Agreement includes an event of default which would be triggered in the event Dow Inc. incurs or guarantees third party indebtedness for borrowed money in excess of $250 million or engages in any material activity or directly owns any material assets, in each case, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. Dow Inc. may, at its option, cure the event of default by delivering an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee to the administrative agent within thirty days of the event or events giving rise to such event of default.
No such events have occurred or have been triggered at the time of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to TDCC’s notes payable and long-term debt activity and information on TDCC’s debt covenants and default provisions.
While taking into consideration the current economic environment, management expects that the Company will continue to have sufficient liquidity and financial flexibility to meet all of its business obligations.
Credit Ratings
TDCC's credit ratings at January 31, 2023 were as follows:
| Credit Ratings | Long-Term Rating | Short-Term Rating | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitch Ratings | BBB+ | F2 | Positive |
| Moody’s Investors Service | Baa1 | P-2 | Stable |
| Standard & Poor’s | BBB | A-2 | Positive |
On May 31, 2022, Moody's Investors Service announced a credit rating upgrade for TDCC from Baa2 to Baa1, affirmed its P-2 rating and maintained a stable outlook. On June 8, 2022, Standard & Poor’s affirmed TDCC’s BBB and A-2 rating, and revised its outlook to positive from stable. On June 16, 2022, Fitch Ratings affirmed TDCC’s BBB+ and F2 rating, and revised its outlook to positive from stable. These credit agencies' decisions were made as part of their annual review process and reflect the Company's supportive financial policies and strong operating performance.
Dividends
Dow Inc.
Dow Inc. has paid dividends on a quarterly basis and expects to continue to do so, subject to approval by the Dow Inc. Board. The dividends declared by the Dow Inc. Board align to the Company's strategy announced in 2018 of returning approximately 45 percent of operating net income1 to the shareholders through the dividend and total shareholder remuneration of approximately 65 percent, when including share repurchases, over the economic cycle. The following tables provide information on dividends declared and paid to common stockholders:
| Dividends Paid for the Years Ended Dec 31 | 2022 | 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions, except per share amounts | |||||
| Dividends paid, per common share | $ | 2.80 | $ | 2.80 | |
| Dividends paid to common stockholders | $ | 2,006 | $ | 2,073 |
| Dow Inc. Cash Dividends Declared and Paid | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | Amount (per share) | |
| February 10, 2022 | February 28, 2022 | March 11, 2022 | $ | 0.70 |
| April 13, 2022 | May 31, 2022 | June 10, 2022 | $ | 0.70 |
| August 10, 2022 | August 31, 2022 | September 9, 2022 | $ | 0.70 |
| October 13, 2022 | November 30, 2022 | December 9, 2022 | $ | 0.70 |
1.Operating net income is a non-GAAP measure that Dow defines as "Net income (loss) available for Dow Inc. common stockholders," excluding the impact of significant items.
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TDCC
TDCC has committed to fund Dow Inc.'s dividends paid to common stockholders and share repurchases, as approved by the Dow Inc. Board from time to time, as well as certain governance expenses. Funding is accomplished through intercompany loans. TDCC's Board reviews and determines a dividend distribution to Dow Inc. to settle the intercompany loans. For the year ended December 31, 2022, TDCC declared and paid dividends to Dow Inc. of $4,375 million ($3,264 million for the year ended December 31, 2021). At December 31, 2022, TDCC's intercompany loan balance with Dow Inc. was insignificant. See Note 24 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Share Repurchase Program
On April 1, 2019, the Dow Inc. Board ratified the share repurchase program originally approved on March 15, 2019, authorizing up to $3 billion for the repurchase of the Company's common stock, with no expiration date. The Company completed the April 1, 2019 share repurchase program in the second quarter of 2022. On April 13, 2022, the Dow Inc. Board approved a new share repurchase program authorizing up to $3 billion for the repurchase of the Company's common stock, with no expiration date. In 2022, the Company repurchased $2,325 million of its common stock. At December 31, 2022, $2 billion of the new share repurchase program authorization remained available for repurchases. As previously announced, the Company intends to repurchase shares to cover dilution over the cycle. The Company may from time to time expand its share repurchases beyond dilution, based on a number of factors including macroeconomic conditions, free cash flow generation, and the Dow share price. Any share repurchases, when coupled with the Company's dividends, are intended to implement the long-term strategy of targeting shareholder remuneration of approximately 65 percent over the economic cycle.
Pension Plans
The Company has both funded and unfunded defined benefit pension plans that cover employees in the United States and a number of other countries. In 2022 and 2021, the Company contributed $235 million and $1,219 million to its pension plans, respectively, including contributions to fund benefit payments for its unfunded pension plans. In the first quarter of 2021, the Company elected to contribute $1 billion to its U.S. tax-qualified pension plans, which is included in the 2021 contribution amount above. This contribution was based on the Company's funding policy, which is to contribute to defined benefit pension plans when pension laws and/or economics either require or encourage funding. The Company expects to contribute approximately $150 million to its pension plans in 2023.
On March 4, 2021, the Company announced changes to the design of its U.S. tax-qualified and non-qualified pension plans (collectively, the "U.S. Plans") and, effective December 31, 2023, the Company will freeze the pensionable compensation and credited service amounts used to calculate pension benefits for employees who participate in the U.S. Plans. See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information concerning the Company’s pension plans.
Restructuring
The 2020 Restructuring Program was substantially complete at December 31, 2021, with the exception of certain cash expenditures expected into 2023, consisting of severance and related benefit costs and costs associated with exit and disposal activities, including contract cancellation penalties and environmental remediation. Restructuring implementation costs totaled $40 million in 2022.
The Company expects to incur additional costs in the future related to its restructuring activities, which will be recognized as incurred. The Company also expects to incur additional employee-related costs, including involuntary termination benefits related to its other optimization activities. These costs cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company's restructuring activities.
Digital Acceleration
In 2021, Dow announced plans to further advance and expand its digitalization efforts to deliver long-term value creation, by accelerating investment in three key areas: expanding digital tools to accelerate materials science innovation; further enhancing the e-commerce buying and fulfillment experience for Dow's customers; and adopting real-time digital manufacturing insights, operational data intelligence and demand sensing to enhance the productivity and reliability of Dow’s operations. The Company expects more than $300 million in incremental annual run rate Operating EBITDA generation by the end of 2023 related to digital acceleration, with an additional one-time $100 million in structural working capital efficiency gains, driven in part by enhanced planning from digital tools.
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Digital acceleration pre-tax expenses totaled $230 million in 2022. The Digital Acceleration program was completed at the end of 2022.
Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes the Company’s contractual obligations, commercial commitments and expected cash requirements for interest at December 31, 2022. Additional information related to these obligations can be found in Notes 14, 15, 16 and 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
| Contractual Obligations at Dec 31, 2022 | Payments Due In | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2023 | 2024-2025 | 2026-2027 | 2028 and beyond | Total | |||||||||
| Dow Inc. | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 362 | $ | 515 | $ | 1,287 | $ | 13,178 | $ | 15,342 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 715 | 1,351 | 1,298 | 8,671 | 12,035 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 222 | 429 | 439 | 2,550 | 3,640 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 333 | 452 | 289 | 470 | 1,544 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 3,235 | 4,285 | 2,236 | 3,019 | 12,775 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 825 | 586 | 1,386 | 2,797 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 4,867 | $ | 7,857 | $ | 6,135 | $ | 29,274 | $ | 48,133 | ||||
| TDCC | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 362 | $ | 515 | $ | 1,287 | $ | 13,178 | $ | 15,342 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 715 | 1,351 | 1,298 | 8,671 | 12,035 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 222 | 429 | 439 | 2,550 | 3,640 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 333 | 452 | 289 | 470 | 1,544 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 3,235 | 4,285 | 2,236 | 3,019 | 12,775 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 719 | 583 | 1,355 | 2,657 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 4,867 | $ | 7,751 | $ | 6,132 | $ | 29,243 | $ | 47,993 |
1.Excludes unamortized debt discount and issuance costs of $282 million. Includes finance lease obligations of $790 million.
2.Cash requirements for interest on long-term debt was calculated using current interest rates at December 31, 2022, and includes $6 million of various floating rate notes.
3.Includes imputed interest of $260 million.
4.Includes outstanding purchase orders and other commitments greater than $1 million obtained through a survey conducted within the Company.
5.Includes liabilities related to asbestos litigation, environmental remediation, legal matters and other noncurrent liabilities. In addition to these items, Dow Inc. includes liabilities related to noncurrent obligations with DuPont and Corteva. The table excludes uncertain tax positions due to uncertainties in the timing of the effective settlement of tax positions with the respective taxing authorities and deferred tax liabilities as it is impractical to determine whether there will be a cash impact related to these liabilities. The table also excludes deferred revenue as it does not represent future cash requirements arising from contractual payment obligations.
The Company expects to meet its contractual obligations through its normal sources of liquidity and believes it has the financial resources to satisfy these contractual obligations.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Off-balance sheet arrangements are obligations the Company has with nonconsolidated entities related to transactions, agreements or other contractual arrangements. The Company holds variable interests in joint ventures accounted for under the equity method of accounting. The Company is not the primary beneficiary of these joint ventures and therefore is not required to consolidate these entities (see Note 23 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). In addition, see Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the transfer of financial assets.
Guarantees arise during the ordinary course of business from relationships with customers, committed accounts receivable facilities and nonconsolidated affiliates when the Company undertakes an obligation to guarantee the performance of others if specific triggering events occur. Additional information related to guarantees can be found in the “Guarantees” section of Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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Fair Value Measurements
See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to fair value measurements of pension and other postretirement benefit plan assets; see Note 21 for information related to other-than-temporary impairments; and, see Note 22 for additional information concerning fair value measurements.
OTHER MATTERS
Recent Accounting Guidance
See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of recent accounting guidance.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements describes the significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. Following are the Company’s accounting policies impacted by judgments, assumptions and estimates:
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past four decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem Products, Inc. ("Amchem"). Each year, Ankura Consulting Group, LLC ("Ankura") performs a review for Union Carbide based upon historical asbestos claims, resolution and asbestos-related defense and processing costs, through the terminal year of 2049. Union Carbide compares current asbestos claim and resolution activity, including asbestos-related defense and processing costs, to the results of the most recent Ankura study at each balance sheet date to determine whether the asbestos-related liability continues to be appropriate.
For additional information, see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings; Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; and Notes 1 and 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Environmental Matters
The Company determines the costs of environmental remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on evaluations of current law and existing technologies. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and emerging remediation technologies. The recorded liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress, or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. At December 31, 2022, the Company had accrued obligations of $1,192 million for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs, including $244 million for the remediation of Superfund sites. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. For further discussion, see Environmental Matters in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Notes 1 and 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
The amounts recognized in the consolidated financial statements related to pension and other postretirement benefits are determined from actuarial valuations. Inherent in these valuations are assumptions including expected return on plan assets, discount rates at which the liabilities could have been settled at December 31, 2022, rate of increase in future compensation levels, mortality rates and health care cost trend rates. These assumptions are updated annually and are disclosed in Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods and, therefore, affect expense recognized and obligations recorded in future periods. The U.S. pension plans represent 73 percent of the Company’s pension plan assets and 72 percent of the pension obligations.
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The Company uses the spot rate approach to determine the discount rate utilized to measure the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit costs for the U.S. and other selected countries. Under the spot rate approach, the Company calculates service cost and interest cost by applying individual spot rates from the Willis Towers Watson RATE:Link yield curve (based on high-quality corporate bond yields) for each selected country to the separate expected cash flow components of service cost and interest cost; service cost and interest cost for all other plans (including all plans prior to adoption) are determined on the basis of the single equivalent discount rates derived in determining those plan obligations.
The following information relates to the U.S. plans only; a similar approach is used for the Company’s non-U.S. plans.
The Company determines the expected long-term rate of return on assets by performing a detailed analysis of historical and expected returns based on the strategic asset allocation approved by the Company's Investment Committee and the underlying return fundamentals of each asset class. The Company’s historical experience with the pension fund asset performance is also considered. The expected return of each asset class is derived from a forecasted future return confirmed by historical experience. The expected long-term rate of return is an assumption and not what is expected to be earned in any one particular year. The weighted-average long-term rate of return assumption used for determining net periodic pension expense for 2022 was 7.95 percent. The weighted-average assumption to be used for determining 2023 net periodic pension expense is 7.46 percent. Future actual pension expense will depend on future investment performance, changes in future discount rates and various other factors related to the population of participants in the Company’s pension plans.
The discount rates utilized to measure the pension and other postretirement obligations of the U.S. plans are based on the yield on high-quality corporate fixed income investments at the measurement date. Future expected actuarially determined cash flows for the Company’s U.S. plans are individually discounted at the spot rates under the Willis Towers Watson U.S. RATE:Link 60-90 corporate yield curve (based on 60th to 90th percentile high-quality corporate bond yields) to arrive at the plan’s obligations as of the measurement date. The weighted average discount rate utilized to measure pension obligations increased to 5.64 percent at December 31, 2022, from 3.04 percent at December 31, 2021.
At December 31, 2022, the U.S. tax-qualified plans were underfunded on a projected benefit obligation basis by $545 million. The underfunded amount decreased $2,040 million compared with December 31, 2021. The decrease in the underfunded amount in 2022 was primarily due to the market-related impact of higher discount rates partially offset by unfavorable returns on plan assets.
The assumption for the long-term rate for compensation levels for the U.S. tax-qualified plans was unchanged. The Company uses a generational mortality table to determine the duration of its pension and other postretirement obligations.
The following discussion relates to the Company’s significant pension plans.
The Company bases the determination of pension expense on a market-related valuation of plan assets that reduces year-to-year volatility. This market-related valuation recognizes investment gains or losses over a five-year period from the year in which they occur. Investment gains or losses for this purpose represent the difference between the expected return calculated using the market-related value of plan assets and the actual return based on the market value of plan assets. Since the market-related value of plan assets recognizes gains or losses over a five-year period, the future value will be impacted when previously deferred gains or losses are recorded. Over the life of the plans, both gains and losses have been recognized and amortized. At December 31, 2022, net losses of $3,123 million remain to be recognized in the calculation of the market-related value of plan assets. These net losses will result in increases in future pension expense as they are recognized in the market-related value of assets.
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The net decrease in the market-related value of assets due to the recognition of prior losses is presented in the following table:
| Net Decrease in Market-Related Asset Value Due to Recognition of Prior Losses | ||
|---|---|---|
| In millions | ||
| 2023 | $ | 339 |
| 2024 | 729 | |
| 2025 | 950 | |
| 2026 | 1,105 | |
| Total | $ | 3,123 |
The Company expects pension net periodic benefit cost ("NPBC") to decrease in 2023 by approximately $115 million, resulting in an NPBC credit. The decrease is driven primarily by discount rate increases, resulting in a reduction in the amortization of actuarial losses, partially offset by higher interest cost.
A 25 basis point increase or decrease in the long-term return on assets assumption would change the Company’s NPBC credit for 2023 by $58 million. A 25 basis point increase in the discount rate assumption would decrease the Company's NPBC credit for 2023 by $4 million. A 25 basis point decrease in the discount rate assumption would decrease the Company's NPBC credit for 2023 by $23 million.
Income Taxes
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, applying enacted tax rates expected to be in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Based on the evaluation of available evidence, both positive and negative, the Company recognizes future tax benefits, such as net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards, to the extent that realizing these benefits is considered to be more likely than not.
At December 31, 2022, the Company had a net deferred tax liability balance of $150 million, after valuation allowances of $1,269 million.
In evaluating the ability to realize the deferred tax assets, the Company relies on, in order of increasing subjectivity, taxable income in prior carryback years, the future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, tax planning strategies and forecasted taxable income using historical and projected future operating results.
The Company files tax returns in multiple jurisdictions and is subject to examination by taxing authorities throughout the world. Tax authorities have the ability to review and challenge matters that could be subject to differing interpretation of applicable tax laws and regulations as they relate to the amount, character, timing or inclusion of revenue and expenses or the sustainability of tax attributes. The ultimate resolution of such uncertainties could last several years. When an uncertain tax position is identified, the Company considers and interprets complex tax laws and regulations in order to determine the need for recognizing a provision in its financial statements. Significant judgment is required in determining the timing and measurement of uncertain tax positions. The Company utilizes internal and external expertise in interpreting tax laws to support the Company's tax positions. The Company recognizes the financial statement effects of an uncertain income tax position when it is more likely than not, based on technical merits, that the position will be sustained upon examination. At December 31, 2022, the Company had uncertain tax positions for both domestic and foreign issues of $520 million and $498 million for interest and penalties.
Environmental Matters
Environmental Policies
Dow is committed to world-class environmental, health and safety (“EH&S”) performance, as demonstrated by industry-leading results, a long-standing commitment to Responsible Care®, a strong commitment to achieve the Company's 2025 Sustainability Goals and Dow's drive to deliver against new targets on climate protection and a circular economy. These goals and targets set the standard for sustainability in the chemical industry, focusing on improvements in the Company’s local corporate citizenship and product stewardship, and by actively pursuing methods to reduce the Company's environmental impact.
To meet the Company’s public commitments, as well as the stringent laws and government regulations related to environmental protection and remediation to which its global operations are subject, the Company has well-defined
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policies, requirements and management systems. The Company's EH&S Management System (“EMS”) defines the “who, what, when and how” needed for the businesses to implement the Company’s policies and requirements and meet performance objectives, leadership expectations and public commitments. The EMS is integrated into a company-wide management system for EH&S, Operations, Quality and Human Resources.
The Company believes third-party verification and transparent public reporting are cornerstones of world-class EH&S performance and building public trust. Numerous Dow sites in Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the U.S. & Canada have received third-party verification of the Company’s compliance with Responsible Care® and with outside specifications such as ISO-14001. The Company continues to be a global champion of Responsible Care® and has worked to broaden the application and impact of Responsible Care® around the world through engagement with suppliers, customers and joint venture partners.
Dow manages environmental data for reporting with a waste, water and emissions inventory system. All manufacturing sites globally record their emissions and water use in the system. The data is reviewed at the facility level and then by global coordinators before being aggregated for ESG reporting.
Dow's EH&S policies help to ensure the Company achieves its annual health and safety performance targets and the Company seeks to continuously improve on these targets through process and personal safety project implementations. Improvement in these areas, as well as environmental compliance, remains a top management priority, as the Company continues to implement its 2025 Sustainability Goals and progressive, multi-decade sustainability targets that include advancing a circular economy and climate protection. Progress is reviewed regularly by management and with the Environment, Health, Safety & Technology Committee of the Board.
Detailed information on Dow’s performance regarding environmental matters and goals is accessible through the Company's Science & Sustainability webpage at www.dow.com/sustainability. Dow's website and its content are not deemed incorporated by reference into this report.
Chemical Security
Public and political attention continues to be placed on the protection of critical infrastructure, including the chemical industry, from security threats. Sabotage, terrorism, war, natural disasters and cyber incidents have increased global concerns about the security and safety of chemical production and distribution. Many, including the Company and the American Chemistry Council, have called for uniform risk-based and performance-based national standards for securing the U.S. chemical industry. The Company is subject to U.S. regulations with established risk-based and performance-based standards that must be met at U.S. Coast Guard-regulated and Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards-regulated facilities promulgated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Company is also subject to the requirements of the Rail Transportation Security Rule issued by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The Company continues to support uniform risk-based national standards for securing the chemical industry.
Since 1988, the Company has maintained a comprehensive, multi-level security plan that focuses on security, emergency planning, preparedness and response. This plan, which has been activated in response to significant world and national events, is reviewed on an annual basis. The Company continues to improve its security plans, placing emphasis on the safety of Dow communities and people by being prepared to meet risks at any level and to address both internal and external identifiable risks. The security plan includes regular vulnerability assessments, security audits, mitigation efforts and physical security upgrades designed to reduce vulnerability. The Company’s security plans are also designed to avert interruptions of normal business operations that could materially and adversely affect the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The Company played a key role in the development and implementation of the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® Security Code ("Security Code"), which requires that all aspects of security – including facility, transportation and cyberspace – be assessed and gaps addressed. Through the global implementation of the Security Code, the Company has permanently heightened the level of security – not just in the United States, but worldwide. The Company employs several hundred employees and contractors in its Emergency Services and Security department worldwide. In 2019, the Company established its Global Security Operations Center ("GSOC") to provide 24-hour/day, 365-day/year real-time monitoring of global risks to Dow assets and people. The GSOC employs state-of-the-art social media monitoring, threat reporting and geo-fencing capabilities to analyze global risks and report those risks, facilitating decision-making and actions to prevent Dow crises.
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Through the implementation of the Security Code, including voluntary security enhancements and upgrades, the Company is well-positioned to comply with U.S. chemical facility regulations and other regulatory security frameworks. The Company participates with the American Chemistry Council to periodically review and update the Security Code.
The Company continues to work collaboratively across the supply chain on Responsible Care®, supply chain design, emergency preparedness, shipment visibility and transportation of hazardous materials. The Company cooperated with public and private entities to lead the implementation of advanced tank car design, and track and trace technologies. Further, the Company’s Distribution Risk Review process addresses potential threats in all modes of transportation across the Company’s supply chain. To reduce vulnerabilities, the Company maintains security measures that meet or exceed regulatory and industry security standards in all areas in which they operate.
The Company's initiatives relative to chemical security, emergency preparedness and response, Community Awareness and Emergency Response and crisis management are implemented consistently at all Dow sites on a global basis. Each Dow site has established outreach programs designed to engage community stakeholders with objectives centered around awareness of Dow operations, products, and efforts to protect worker and community health and the environment. These programs also educate community members on emergency planning and response, emissions and waste, future site plans to reduce waste and emissions, and process safety systems. Finally, these outreach efforts establish an opportunity for Dow site leaders to hear about community stakeholder expectations and address questions and concerns about safety, health, environmental or other issues. The Company participates with chemical associations globally and participates as an active member of the Global Congress on Chemical Security and Emerging Threats and in positions of leadership in the U.S. Chemical Sector Coordinating Council.
Climate Protection
Addressing climate-related risks and opportunities is part of Dow’s overall climate strategy. This science-based strategy includes a phased approach to decarbonize while meeting growing demand for Dow's products and contributing to a low-carbon future through continued investment in new products, technologies and processes. In 2020, Dow announced commitments to reduce its net annual Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by an additional 5 million metric tons by 2030 versus its 2020 baseline, a 15 percent reduction and a 30 percent reduction since 2005 as Dow had reduced its carbon emissions 15 percent between 2005 and 2020. Additionally, Dow announced its intention to be carbon neutral by 2050 (Scope 1+2+3, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, plus product benefits). Reflecting Dow's focus to make meaningful progress in the near term, Dow intends to reduce its carbon emissions by approximately 2 million metric tons from 2022 to 2025 while growing underlying earnings. Dow is also committed to advancing water stewardship within the Company's operations and to working collaboratively to enhance water management at the watershed level. As part of this commitment, Dow has set a global target to reduce freshwater intake intensity by 20 percent at its key water-stressed sites by 2025.
Despite these commitments, climate change-related risks and uncertainties, legal or regulatory responses to climate change, and failure to meet climate change commitments could negatively impact Dow’s operations, financial condition and/or reputation. Climate-related risks include both physical and transition risks.
Physical Risks
Climate-related physical risks include more frequent severe weather events, potential changes in precipitation patterns, water scarcity and extreme variability in weather patterns, which can disrupt the operations of the Company as well as those of its customers, partners and vendors. In 2021, Dow partnered with S&P Global Trucost (Trucost) to assess the Company’s exposure to climate-related physical risks based on the geographic location of manufacturing operations. The risks assessed included water stress, heat waves, cold waves, droughts, hurricanes, wildfires and flooding. The analysis included an assessment of the physical risks using a baseline year of 2020 with time periods ranging to 2050, and scenarios of low, moderate and high climate change. Based on the Trucost methodology, which scores the exposure of sites to physical risks relative to global conditions, Dow was assessed at moderate exposure in 2050 under all scenarios, with a weighted average that is slightly lower than the average of the materials industry (as defined by Trucost). Dow will use this information to inform decision-making at sites with respect to managing climate-related physical risks.
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Transition Risks
Climate-related transition risks include the availability, development and affordability of lower greenhouse gas emissions technology, the effects of carbon pricing and changes in public sentiment, regulations, taxes, public mandates or requirements.
Climate Opportunities and Actions
There are also significant climate opportunities for Dow, including the ability to be a leader in the development of lower emissions technology, such as Dow’s 2021 announcement to build a net-zero (Scope 1 & 2 emissions) ethylene and derivatives complex in Alberta, Canada. Additional opportunity actions to achieve carbon neutrality include expanding access to clean power, developing lower carbon emissions manufacturing technology, such as Dow's proprietary FCDh technology, and collaborating with Shell to develop electrified cracking technology powered by clean energy. Dow’s technology and materials science leadership also provide a significant opportunity to deploy materials to help reduce emissions for customers and industries that will allow Dow to capture value from increasing demand for low-carbon and sustainable products. These are just some examples of critical steps on Dow’s path to carbon neutrality by 2050 while enabling business growth.
The potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities are part of Dow’s climate strategy and factored into the Company’s business and financial planning. When assessing the magnitude of impact, Dow evaluates elements such as changes to the cost of raw materials, impact on operating cost (e.g., energy costs, costs of complying with regulation), cost of investment in new technology to reduce emissions, impact to the price at which products can be sold, impact of potential lost sales or, in the case of opportunities, improvements in production, increased revenues, cost efficiencies and market share gained. In addition, there could be impacts that need to be considered that cannot be financially quantified (e.g., reputational impact of certain risks and opportunities).
Dow is taking specific actions to mitigate identified climate-related physical and transition risks, while also advancing opportunities in several key areas. These include:
•Optimizing Manufacturing Facilities and Processes for Sustainability: Dow is investing approximately $1 billion in annual capital spending allocation to decarbonize assets, in a phased approach, while growing capacity. This investment plan includes large, industry-leading projects, such as the announced net-zero carbon emissions (Scope 1 & 2 emissions) site in Alberta, Canada, as well as emissions-reduction investments in existing facilities and replacement of end-of-life carbon intensive assets with state-of-the-art, carbon-efficient and sustainable technologies. In 2021, Dow implemented energy efficiency and emissions reduction projects, reducing energy consumption by 1.232 million kilojoules per year and amounting to 611,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide ("CO2") reduction. In 2021, Dow’s Terneuzen site outlined a roadmap to support the Dutch Climate Agreement and enable a reduction of 1.7 million metric tons of CO2 annually by 2030 versus a 2020 baseline. These projects are part of Dow’s roadmap that will enable the Company to decarbonize its manufacturing while meeting growing demand for its products and includes replacing end-of-life assets with high-efficiency, low-carbon assets. Dow is also working to reduce water use and the potential impact of water stress. One example is the Company’s commitment to 100 percent water circularity by 2025 at Dow’s site in Terneuzen, The Netherlands.
•Increasing Clean Energy in Purchased Power Mix: Dow continues to invest in cost-efficient clean energy, including wind, solar and hydropower, across operations. In 2021, Dow expanded access to renewable power to more than 900 megawatts, so that more than 25 percent of purchased electricity comes from renewable sources. Dow is a leading user of renewable energy in the chemical industry and in the top 20 among global corporations according to BloombergNEF. Dow is also collaborating with X-energy with the intent to deploy carbon-free small modular nuclear technology options at one of the Company's U.S. sites by approximately 2030.
•Developing Next Generation, Low-Carbon Manufacturing Technologies: Dow is investing in longer-term, future-focused manufacturing technologies that will be critical in the decarbonization of the Company's manufacturing. For example, Dow is collaborating with Shell on technology to electrically heat steam cracker furnaces. Combining electrical cracking with clean electricity sources would reduce the CO2 footprint of the production process to near zero emissions. Dow also developed its proprietary FCDh technology, which can be used to make cracking a less carbon intensive process, and has installed the technology in a mixed-feed cracker in Louisiana to produce on-purpose propylene, reducing energy use and emissions by up to 20 percent. Dow is leveraging the learnings from the FCDh development to also advance ethane dehydrogenation technology for ethylene and propylene production, which has the potential to reduce emissions by 40 to 50 percent.
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•Collaborating With the Supply Chain to Tackle ‘Upstream’ Carbon Emissions: Dow is working closely with its suppliers to set emissions reduction targets and to embed ESG performance as a metric in supplier selection, contracting, and relationship management. Approximately 70 percent of Dow’s emissions footprint fall into the Scope 3 categories and more than half of those come from the raw materials, transportation, and other services purchased as a company. Reducing Scope 3 emissions is a tremendous challenge for all companies. Dow recognizes the significant opportunity it has to work with suppliers to reduce those emissions, just as Dow's customers are looking to the Company to reduce emissions for the Dow products they buy. Dow was recently recognized as a Global Supplier Engagement Leader by CDP, placing among the top 8 percent of companies that disclose their data to CDP. CDP's Supplier Engagement Rating system independently evaluates supplier engagement practices with the aim of accelerating action to reduce emissions in global supply chains.
•Developing Low-Carbon Products, Technologies and Services: Dow products are essential to a low carbon future, and the Company wants the world’s best brands to look to Dow to help them achieve their goals and make their products more sustainable. Dow is helping its customers achieve their climate goals by providing products that facilitate energy efficiency, light weighting, fuel transition, circularity, increased operational efficiency, resource reductions and reduced emissions. Examples include Dow’s MobilityScience™ platform, which is focused on developing cutting-edge material innovations that will enable the next generation of electric and autonomous vehicles to achieve longer range, greater comfort, enhanced safety, and a lower carbon footprint. Dow’s ENDURANCE™ compounds for cable systems support next-generation, longer-life, and lower-carbon emissions infrastructure, including on- and off-shore windfarms. Dow’s Novel ENDURANCE™ HFDD 4201 enables significantly lower-carbon emissions (approximately 80 percent), and material and energy savings during cable production. Additionally, in September 2022, Dow introduced DOWSIL™ Immersion Cooling Technology, a next-generation solution for cooling hyperscale cloud enterprise data centers with optimized efficiency and sustainability. DOWSIL™ ICL-1000 Fluid, the first product in this new technology family, is estimated to absorb heat about one thousand times more efficiently than air-cooled systems, resulting in up to a 95 percent reduction in energy use for server cooling and up to a 50 percent reduction in overall data center power consumption. This product can also be recycled to increase its circularity.
Advancing a Circular Economy
Dow’s vision for turning the tide on plastic waste is centered on solving challenges: from designing for recyclability at the beginning of a product’s life to increasing Dow's capacity to use plastic waste as feedstock and other alternative feedstock, enabling plastic waste to be blended with virgin plastic as recycled resins, and building and partnering in industrial ecosystems to close the loop. The issue is complex, and through partnerships, Dow is working across the value chain to improve access to collection, recycling, and processing infrastructure and to create new circular business models. Improving circularity of plastics through recycling and reuse is critical to a world that is also targeting carbon emissions reduction. The lower-carbon benefits of polyethylene-based packaging serve as a key driver and source of value, as well as the lifecycle perspective of plastic versus other available materials. Moving to circular products includes increasing the share of plastics production from circular feedstocks. In 2020, Dow announced "stop the waste" and "close the loop" targets to address plastic waste and, in 2022, Dow committed to accelerating the circular ecosystem by turning waste and alternative feedstock into raw materials that help deliver 3 million metric tons per year of circular and renewable solutions by 2030 with a new "transform the waste" sustainability target.
Meeting this expanded “transform the waste” target will require investments in technologies and infrastructure and strategic partnerships. To do this, Dow will expand its efforts to “stop the waste” by building industrial ecosystems to collect, reuse or recycle waste and expand its portfolio to meet rapidly growing demand. Dow expects the waste required to produce this expanded target to surpass and replace the original 1 million metric ton stop the waste goal. Dow is also catalyzing a circular economy for plastics through global partnerships with non-governmental
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organizations and investors, such as the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, The Recycling Partnership, Circulate Capital and Closed Loop Partners. Additionally, Dow is accelerating its progress through several recently announced circular and mechanical offtake agreements and projects that will help contribute to achieving the new target, including:
•Agreements with Mura Technology to construct multiple world-scale advanced recycling facilities in the U.S. and Europe, collectively adding as much as 600 kilotons of annual capacity.
•An investment to build the largest single hybrid recycling site in France, managed by Valoregen, which will secure a source of post-consumer resins (“PCR”) for Dow.
•Mechanical recycling collaboration with Boomera LAR in Brazil.
•An investment in Mr. Green Africa and an agreement to co-develop more traceable, fair, and high-quality PCR that can be used in the production of new flexible plastic packaging.
•A memorandum of understanding with Lucro Plastecycle to develop and launch polyethylene film solutions using PCR plastics in India.
•The launch of a bold new collaboration with WM to improve consumer recycling for hard-to-recycle plastic films throughout the U.S. by allowing consumers to recycle these materials directly in their curbside recycling. Once operating at full capacity, this collaboration is expected to divert more than 120,000 metric tons of plastic film from landfills annually.
Dow is also working directly with its customers, brand owners and the value chain to help customers redesign and create packaging solutions that are both high-performance and recyclable or made with circular polymers. Dow continuously invests in application development, packaging redesign and infrastructure improvements to deliver on the Company's circularity goals.
As one of the world’s largest producers of plastic, Dow wants to put an end to plastic waste. Eliminating plastic waste is about more than just recycling and reusing. It is about creating innovative solutions that are sustainable and continuing to invest in an industrial ecosystem for the circular economy.
Environmental Remediation
For comparison of environmental remediation-related matters for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2022.
The Company accrues the costs of remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on current law and regulatory requirements. The nature of such remediation can include management of soil and groundwater contamination. The accounting policies adopted to properly reflect the monetary impacts of environmental matters are discussed in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. To assess the impact on the financial statements, environmental experts review currently available facts to evaluate the probability and scope of potential liabilities. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and the ability to apply remediation technologies. These liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. The Company had an accrued liability of $948 million at December 31, 2022, related to the remediation of current or former Dow-owned sites. At December 31, 2021, the liability related to remediation was $983 million.
In addition to current and former Dow-owned sites, under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA") and equivalent state laws (hereafter referred to collectively as "Superfund Law"), the Company is liable for remediation of other hazardous waste sites where the Company allegedly disposed of, or arranged for the treatment or disposal of, hazardous substances. Because Superfund Law imposes joint and several liability upon each party at a site, the Company has evaluated its potential liability in light of the number of other companies that have also been named potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) at each site, the estimated apportionment of costs among all PRPs, and the financial ability and commitment of each to pay its expected share. The Company’s remaining liability for the remediation of Superfund sites was $244 million at December 31, 2022 ($237 million at December 31, 2021). The Company has not recorded any third-party recovery related to these sites as a receivable.
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Information regarding environmental sites is provided below:
| Environmental Sites | Dow-owned Sites 1 | Superfund Sites 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||
| Number of sites at Jan 1 | 171 | 185 | 134 | 132 | |||
| Sites added during year | — | 2 | 2 | 5 | |||
| Sites closed during year | — | (16) | (6) | (3) | |||
| Number of sites at Dec 31 | 171 | 171 | 130 | 134 |
1.Dow-owned sites are sites currently or formerly owned by the Company. In the United States, remediation obligations are imposed by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act or analogous state law. At December 31, 2022, 24 of these sites (24 sites at December 31, 2021) were formerly owned by Dowell Schlumberger, Inc., a group of companies in which the Company previously owned a 50 percent interest. The Company sold its interest in Dowell Schlumberger in 1992.
2.Superfund sites are sites, including sites not owned by the Company, where remediation obligations are imposed by Superfund Law.
Additional information is provided below for the Company’s Midland, Michigan, manufacturing site and Midland off-site locations (collectively, the "Midland sites"), as well as a Superfund site in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, the locations for which the Company has the largest potential environmental liabilities.
In the early days of operations at the Midland manufacturing site, wastes were usually disposed of on-site, resulting in soil and groundwater contamination, which has been contained and managed on-site under a series of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permits and regulatory agreements. The Hazardous Waste Operating License for the Midland manufacturing site, issued in 2003, and renewed and replaced in September 2015, also included provisions for the Company to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and extent of off-site contamination from historic Midland manufacturing site operations. In January 2010, the Company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the State of Michigan ("State") entered into an Administrative Order on Consent that requires the Company to conduct a remedial investigation, a feasibility study and a remedial design for the Tittabawassee River, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay, and pay the oversight costs of the EPA and the State under the authority of CERCLA. See Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information relating to Midland off-site environmental matters.
Rohm and Haas, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a PRP at the Wood-Ridge, New Jersey Ventron/Velsicol Superfund Site, and the adjacent Berry’s Creek Study Area ("BCSA") (collectively, the "Wood-Ridge sites"). Rohm and Haas is a successor in interest to a company that owned and operated a mercury processing facility, where wastewater and waste handling resulted in contamination of soils and adjacent creek sediments. In 2018, the Berry’s Creek Study Area Potentially Responsible Party Group (“PRP Group”), consisting of over 100 PRPs, completed a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for the BCSA. During that time, the EPA concluded that an “iterative or adaptive approach” was appropriate for cleaning up the BCSA. Thus, each phase of remediation will be followed by a period of monitoring to assess its effectiveness and determine if there is a need for more work. In September 2018, the EPA signed a Record of Decision ("ROD 1") which describes the initial phase of the EPA’s plan to clean-up the BCSA. ROD 1 will remediate waterways and major tributaries in the most contaminated part of the BCSA. The PRP Group has signed agreements with the EPA to design the selected remedy. Although there is currently much uncertainty as to what will ultimately be required to remediate the BCSA and Rohm and Haas's share of these costs has yet to be determined, the range of activities that are required in the interim Record of Decision is known in general terms.
At December 31, 2022, the Company had accrued liabilities totaling $339 million ($358 million at December 31, 2021) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites. In 2022, the Company spent $37 million ($38 million in 2021) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites.
In total, the Company’s accrued liability for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs was $1,192 million at December 31, 2022, compared with $1,220 million at December 31, 2021. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. Consequently, it is reasonably possible that environmental remediation and restoration costs in excess of amounts accrued could have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. It is the opinion of the Company’s management, however, that the possibility is remote that costs in excess of the range disclosed will have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
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The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to environmental remediation totaled $176 million in 2022 and $158 million in 2021. The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to operating the Company's current pollution abatement facilities, excluding internal recharges, totaled $773 million in 2022 and $761 million in 2021. Capital expenditures for environmental protection were $137 million in 2022 and $65 million in 2021.
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past four decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem. In many cases, plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate that they have suffered any compensable loss as a result of such exposure, or that injuries incurred in fact resulted from exposure to Union Carbide’s products.
For comparison of asbestos-related matters of Union Carbide Corporation for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, see Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on February 4, 2022.
The table below provides information regarding asbestos-related claims pending against Union Carbide and Amchem based on criteria developed by Union Carbide and its external consultants:
| Asbestos-Related Claim Activity | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claims unresolved at Jan 1 | 8,747 | 9,126 | |
| Claims filed | 4,664 | 4,233 | |
| Claims settled, dismissed or otherwise resolved | (6,538) | (4,612) | |
| Claims unresolved at Dec 31 | 6,873 | 8,747 | |
| Claimants with claims against both Union Carbide and Amchem | (1,530) | (2,139) | |
| Individual claimants at Dec 31 | 5,343 | 6,608 |
Plaintiffs’ lawyers often sue numerous defendants in individual lawsuits or on behalf of numerous claimants. As a result, the damages alleged are not expressly identified as to Union Carbide, Amchem or any other particular defendant, even when specific damages are alleged with respect to a specific disease or injury. In fact, there are no asbestos personal injury cases in which only Union Carbide and/or Amchem are the sole named defendants. For these reasons and based upon Union Carbide’s litigation and settlement experience, Union Carbide does not consider the damages alleged against Union Carbide and Amchem to be a meaningful factor in its determination of any potential asbestos-related liability.
For additional information see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings and Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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FY 2021 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001751788-22-000011.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
On April 1, 2019, DowDuPont Inc. (“DowDuPont” and effective June 3, 2019, n/k/a DuPont de Nemours, Inc. or "DuPont") completed the separation of its materials science business and Dow Inc. became the direct parent company of The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries (“TDCC” and together with Dow Inc., “Dow” or the “Company”), owning all of the outstanding common shares of TDCC. For filings related to the period commencing April 1, 2019 and thereafter, TDCC was deemed the predecessor to Dow Inc., and the historical results of TDCC are deemed the historical results of Dow Inc. for periods prior to and including March 31, 2019. As a result of the parent/subsidiary relationship between Dow Inc. and TDCC, and considering that the financial statements and disclosures of each company are substantially similar, the companies are filing a combined report for this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The information reflected in the report is equally applicable to both Dow Inc. and TDCC, except where otherwise noted.
The separation was contemplated by the merger of equals transaction effective August 31, 2017, under the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 11, 2015, as amended on March 31, 2017. TDCC and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and its consolidated subsidiaries (“Historical DuPont”) each merged with subsidiaries of DowDuPont and, as a result, TDCC and Historical DuPont became subsidiaries of DowDuPont (the “Merger”). Subsequent to the Merger, TDCC and Historical DuPont engaged in a series of internal reorganization and realignment steps to realign their businesses into three subgroups: agriculture, materials science and specialty products. Dow Inc. was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of DowDuPont to serve as the holding company for the materials science business.
As of the effective date and time of the distribution, DowDuPont did not beneficially own any equity interest in Dow and no longer consolidated Dow and its consolidated subsidiaries into its financial results. The consolidated financial results of Dow for the applicable periods presented reflect the distribution of TDCC’s agricultural sciences business (“AgCo”) and specialty products business (“SpecCo”) as discontinued operations, as well as reflect the receipt of Historical DuPont’s ethylene and ethylene copolymers businesses (other than its ethylene acrylic elastomers business) (“ECP”) as a common control transaction from the closing of the Merger on August 31, 2017 ("Merger Date"). See Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements and Dow Inc.'s Amendment No. 4 to the Registration Statement on Form 10 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 8, 2019 for additional information.
Throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless otherwise indicated, amounts and activity are presented on a continuing operations basis.
Except as otherwise indicated by the context, the term "Union Carbide" means Union Carbide Corporation and the term "Dow Silicones" means Dow Silicones Corporation, both wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company.
Items Affecting Comparability of Financial Results
As a result of the separation from DowDuPont, pro forma net sales and pro forma Operating EBIT for the year ended December 31, 2019 are provided in this section and based on the consolidated financial statements of TDCC, adjusted to give effect to the separation from DowDuPont as if it had been consummated on January 1, 2017. Pro forma adjustments include (1) the margin impact of various manufacturing, supply and service related agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva, Inc. ("Corteva") in connection with the separation which provide for different pricing than the historical intercompany and intracompany pricing practices of TDCC and Historical DuPont, and (2) the elimination of the impact of events directly attributable to the Merger, internal reorganization and business realignment, separation, distribution and other related transactions (e.g., one-time transaction costs). These adjustments impacted the consolidated results as well as the reportable segments. See Note 26 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of the pro forma adjustments impacting segment measures for the year ended December 31, 2019.
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STATEMENT ON COVID-19 AND U.S. GULF COAST FREEZE
COVID-19
The pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19") has impacted all geographic regions where Dow products are produced and sold. Throughout this public health crisis, the Company has been focused on the health and safety of its employees, contractors, customers and suppliers around the world and maintaining the safe and reliable operations of its manufacturing sites. Although supply disruptions and related logistics issues have posed challenges across all modes of transportation, the Company’s manufacturing sites have continued to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, with no significant impact to manufacturing whether through shutdowns or shortages in labor, raw materials or personal protective equipment. Contingency plans remain in place in the event of significant impacts from COVID-19 infection resurgences.
In January 2022, the Company opened all sites and locations to employees, where permitted by local regulations, and continues to require that several health and safety measures be followed. All regions continue to follow on-site workforce restrictions in accordance with government regulations. At the time of this filing, approximately half of Dow’s global workforce is working remotely. The Company continues to encourage its workforce to practice safe behaviors in the workplace and while away from work to help prevent community spread of COVID-19.
The Company is well-positioned for continued profitable growth in the ongoing economic recovery and improving industry cycle. The Company will maintain its disciplined focus on capital allocation priorities as it benefits from an improving cost structure, financial flexibility and a low-cost operating model. Through the ongoing market recovery, Dow has experienced increasing margins as differentiated parts of the portfolio see improved demand and underlying market dynamics, which has enabled a return to pre-COVID-19 sales levels and end-market growth across most businesses.
The Company has continued to maintain a strong financial position and liquidity throughout the economic recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and its ongoing recovery. At December 31, 2021, the Company had cash and committed and available forms of liquidity of $12.6 billion. The Company also has no substantive long-term debt maturities due until 2026.
Additional information regarding the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic can be found in this report in Part 1, Item 1A, Risk Factors.
U.S. Gulf Coast Freeze
In the first quarter of 2021, Winter Storm Uri had a broad impact on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in particular across the entire state of Texas, which resulted in widespread utility and raw material supply disruptions and industry-wide production outages. All Dow ethylene production facilities located on the U.S. Gulf Coast were operational by March 31, 2021, along with all sites. As a result of the winter storm, the product and supply chain impacts across the industry created very tight supply dynamics and generated pricing momentum for both raw materials and finished goods. The Company remains close to its customers and continues to work diligently to meet demand needs.
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| Table of Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| About Dow | 31 |
| Overview | 31 |
| Results of Operations | 34 |
| Segment Results | 41 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | 41 |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | 43 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | 45 |
| Corporate | 46 |
| Outlook | 47 |
| Liquidity and Capital Resources | 48 |
| Other Matters | 57 |
| Critical Accounting Estimates | 57 |
| Environmental Matters | 61 |
| Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation | 66 |
ABOUT DOW
Dow combines global breadth; asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership to achieve profitable growth and deliver a sustainable future. The Company’s ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow’s portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Dow operates 104 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people.
In 2021, the Company had annual sales of $55 billion, of which 36 percent of the Company’s sales were to customers in the U.S. & Canada; 36 percent were in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India ("EMEAI"); while the remaining 28 percent were to customers in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
In 2021, the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries did not operate in countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions and export controls as imposed by the U.S. State Department or in countries designated by the U.S. State Department as state sponsors of terrorism, including Cuba, Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Sudan and Syria. The Company has policies and procedures in place designed to ensure that it and its consolidated subsidiaries remain in compliance with applicable U.S. laws and regulations.
OVERVIEW
The following is a summary of the results from continuing operations for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2021:
The Company reported net sales in 2021 of $55 billion, up 43 percent from $38.5 billion in 2020, with increases across all geographic regions and operating segments, driven by an increase in local price of 40 percent, a volume increase of 1 percent and a favorable currency impact of 2 percent.
Local price increased 40 percent compared with the same period last year, with increases in all operating segments and geographic regions, primarily reflecting price gains due to tight supply and demand dynamics. Local price increased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (up 50 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (up 40 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 19 percent).
Volume increased 1 percent compared with 2020, with increases in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (up 2 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 1 percent), partially offset by a decrease in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 2 percent). Volume increased in the U.S. & Canada (up 2 percent) and in EMEAI (up 3 percent), partially offset by decreases in Asia Pacific (down 4 percent) and Latin America (down 3 percent).
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Currency had a favorable impact of 2 percent on net sales compared with 2020, driven by EMEAI (up 4 percent) and Asia Pacific (up 2 percent).
Restructuring and asset related charges - net were $6 million in 2021, compared with $708 million in 2020, primarily reflecting actions taken under the 2020 Restructuring Program.
Equity in earnings of nonconsolidated affiliates was $975 million in 2021, compared with equity losses of $18 million in 2020, primarily driven by margin expansion at Sadara Chemical Company ("Sadara") and the Kuwait and Thai joint ventures.
Sundry income (expense) - net for Dow Inc. and TDCC was expense of $35 million and $79 million, respectively, in 2021, compared with income of $1,269 million and $1,274 million, respectively, in 2020. Sundry income (expense) - net decreased primarily due to losses on the early extinguishment of debt in the current year, compared with gains related to a legal matter, the sale of certain marine and terminal operations and the sale of certain rail infrastructure operations and assets, which were partially offset by losses on the early extinguishment of debt in the prior year.
Net income available for Dow Inc. and TDCC common stockholder(s) was $6,311 million and $6,274 million, respectively, in 2021, compared with $1,225 million and $1,235 million, respectively, in 2020. Earnings per share for Dow Inc. was $8.38 per share in 2021, compared with $1.64 per share in 2020.
In 2021, TDCC redeemed more than $1 billion of certain notes due in 2024 and completed cash tender offers resulting in over $1 billion of aggregate principal amount of certain notes being tendered and retired. The Company's proactive liability management actions to tender and redeem existing notes have resulted in no substantive long-term debt maturities due until 2026.
In 2021, the Company executed strategic buy-outs of certain leased assets for approximately $690 million.
In 2021, Dow Inc. declared and paid dividends to common stockholders of $2.80 per share ($2,073 million).
In 2021, Dow Inc. repurchased $1,000 million of the Company's common stock.
Other notable events and highlights from the year ended December 31, 2021 include:
•Dow received three 2021 BIG Innovation Awards from the Business Intelligence Group for DOWSIL™ TC-3065 Thermally Conductive Gel; DOWSIL™ 993N Structural Glazing Sealant and Catalyst; and the world's first commercial polyurethane-carbon fiber spar cap for the new generation of wind blades.
•Dow was named to Bloomberg’s 2021 Gender-Equality Index.
•Dow was named by the Human Rights Campaign ("HRC") Foundation to its 2021 list of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality.” This marks the Company’s sixteenth consecutive year receiving a perfect score on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
•On March 4, 2021, TDCC announced changes to the design of its U.S. tax-qualified and non-qualified retirement programs. Separately, TDCC elected to contribute $1 billion to its U.S. tax-qualified pension plans.
•Dow was recognized with three Manufacturing Leadership Awards by the Manufacturing Leadership Council, a division of the National Association of Manufacturers. Dow’s Manufacturing 4.0 received the Enterprise Integration and Technology Award, the E2E Business Planning Program was awarded the Supply Chain Award, and Accelerating Innovation in Instrumentation & Sensors at Dow Texas Operations received the Industrial Internet of Things Award.
•Dow received a 2021 CIO 100 award from IDG’s CIO for the digitalization of its end-to-end business planning platform.
•On March 25, 2021, Dow Inc. (together with Sadara and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company) completed a debt re-profiling agreement for Sadara with agency creditors and commercial lenders. The re-profiled debt repayment schedule is better aligned to match Sadara's expected future cash flow generation.
•Dow received two 2021 Ringier Technology Innovation Awards in the Plastics Raw Materials & Additives category including: Post-Consumer Recycled resin XUS60921.01 and Carpet tile with INFUSE™ polyolefin backing.
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•Dow was named as one of the 2021 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®; as well as, being recognized by Great Place to Work® in several other countries around the world including: 2021 Best Workplaces™ in Argentina, Colombia and Saudi Arabia.
•On April 13, 2021, Fitch Ratings ("Fitch") reaffirmed TDCC’s BBB+ and F2 rating, and revised its outlook to stable from negative. The decision was made as part of Fitch’s annual review process.
•Effective April 15, 2021, following the Company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders ("2021 Meeting") Dow Inc.'s Board elected Richard K. Davis to serve as Lead Director until the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The Company also announced that Debra L. Dial, senior vice president and controller at AT&T Inc., and Luis Alberto Moreno, managing director at Allen & Co, LLC and former president of Inter-American Development Bank Group, were elected to the Board at the 2021 Meeting. Ajay Banga, Jacqueline K. Barton and James A. Bell retired from the Board following the 2021 Meeting as announced on February 11, 2021.
•On April 21, 2021, Dow received a 2021 FutureEdge 50 award for its Predictive Intelligence capability, Dow Polyurethanes’ flagship digitalization initiative. The FutureEdge 50 awards annually recognize 50 organizations pushing the edge of innovation with breakthrough technologies to advance their business for the future.
•Dow received 20 American Chemistry Council Responsible Care® awards for exemplary environmental, health and safety performance. Dow received awards for site safety, minimizing waste, improving energy efficiency, and its COVID-19 response.
•Dow received six 2021 Edison Awards, including five Gold Edison Awards, for breakthrough technologies including: DOWSIL™ CC-8030 UV and Moisture Dual Cure Conformal Coating; DOWSIL™ TC-5515LT Thermally Conductive Gap Filler; DOWSIL™ TC-3065 Thermal Conductive Silicone Gel for 5G Optical Access Infrastructure; DOWSIL™ VE-8001 Flexible Silicone Adhesive by Dow; RHOBARR™ 320 Polyolefin Dispersion; and DOWSIL™ Crystal Clear Spacer. Dow is the first company to receive five Gold Edison Awards in a single year.
•Dow was named to the 2021 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list for the fourth consecutive year. Dow was also included on three of DiversityInc's Specialty Lists including: Top Companies for Employee Resource Groups, Top Companies for People with Disabilities, and Top Companies for ESG.
•Dow was named 2021 Manufacturer of the Year, Large Enterprise, by the Manufacturing Leadership Council, a division of the National Association of Manufacturers. The Manufacturer of the Year Award is given to the company that shows best-in-class achievement.
•On June 10, 2021, Standard & Poor's ("S&P") announced a credit rating upgrade for TDCC from BBB- and A-3 to BBB and A-2, maintaining stable outlook. The decision from S&P reflects the expectation for an ongoing macroeconomic recovery, the Company’s supportive financial policies and the strengthening of its operating performance in 2021 relative to 2020.
•Dow was named a 2021 honoree and the Materials Sector leader of The Civic 50 by Points of Light, the world’s largest organization committed to inspiring, equipping and engaging people to take action to change their communities and the world.
•On June 24, 2021, Dow Inc. released “INtersections,” its first consolidated Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") Report highlighting the Company’s significant progress to fully integrate environmental stewardship and positive social impact throughout its operations, teams, supply chain and communities. This marked Dow's eighteenth year of voluntary reporting on sustainability.
•For the fifth consecutive year, Dow has received a top score on the Disability Equality Index®, placing the Company among the “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” for 2021.
•Dow received the “Best in Enterprise Resilience” certification from Everbridge as a part of their Critical Event Management (CEM) Certification™ Program. This recognition demonstrates Dow’s commitment to implementing best practices for enterprise resilience that keep employees safe and the company running safely, reliably and efficiently.
•Dow was named to Seramount’s 2021 Inclusion Index (formerly known as the Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index). This is the first year Dow was recognized on the list which includes a total of 45 organizations recognized for creating an inclusive workplace.
•Dow was named one of the "2021 PEOPLE Companies that Care®" for the second consecutive year.
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•Great Place to Work® and Fortune magazine have named Dow one of the 2021 Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production™. This is the first time Dow was named to this prestigious list, ranking third on the list.
•Dow won two Sustainability Product of the Year awards in the 2021 Sustainability Awards program of Business Intelligence Group for SPECFLEX™ Microcellular Polyurethane and SYNTEGRA™ Polyurethane Dispersions for Microfiber.
•On October 6, 2021, Dow Inc. held an Investor Day event where it announced the following: investment plans to deliver more than $3 billion of additional underlying EBITDA growth with a clear path to zero-carbon emissions (with respect to Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions, including offsets from product benefits and technology advancements); new renewable and cleaner power agreements which are expected to reduce Dow's Scope 2 emissions by more than 600,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year; a plan to build the world's first net-zero carbon emissions (with respect to Scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide emissions, including technology advancements) ethylene and derivatives complex; and expansion of global capabilities for circular plastics, with initial products available for customers in 2022.
•Dow earned multiple Critical Guidance Recognitions for recyclability from the Association of Plastic Recyclers ("APR"), in three product categories. ROBOND™ Adhesives, OPULUX™ Optical Finishes and SURLYN™ Ionomers were each recognized by APR for solving packaging design challenges.
•Dow received two R&D 100 Awards from R&D Magazine for innovative technologies including: DOWSIL™ TC-4060 Thermal Gel and Multi-functional Sorbent Technology ("MUST").
•Five additional Dow sites received International Sustainability & Carbon Certification PLUS recognition for their compliance with rigorous tracking of sustainable feedstocks use.
•DOWSIL™ TC-4060 Thermal Gel was awarded Best Product Innovation and SunSpheres™ BIO SPF Booster was awarded Product with Best Benefit to the Environment and Sustainability from Innovation Commodity Intelligence Services.
•In 2021, CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, an international non-profit specialized in environmental reporting) improved Dow's climate change score to an A- from a B.
In addition to the highlights above, the following events occurred subsequent to December 31, 2021:
•For the third year, Dow was named to the JUST 100 list. Dow earned the top spot in the Chemicals sector overall and received the number one position in the Workers and Stakeholders & Governance categories versus industry peers.
•Dow received three 2021 BIG Innovation Awards from the Business Intelligence Group for DOWSIL™ TC-2035 CV Adhesive, DOWSIL™ TC-6015 Thermally Conductive Encapsulant and UCARE™ Extreme Polymer.
•Dow was named to Bloomberg’s 2022 Gender-Equality Index for the second consecutive year.
•Dow was named by the Human Rights Campaign ("HRC") Foundation to its 2022 list of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality.” This marks the Company’s seventeenth consecutive year receiving a perfect score on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Net Sales
The following tables summarize net sales, pro forma net sales and sales variance by operating segment and geographic region from the prior year:
| Summary of Sales Results | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||
| Net sales | $ | 54,968 | $ | 38,542 | $ | 42,951 | ||
| Pro forma net sales | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 42,998 |
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| Sales Variances by Operating Segment and Geographic Region - As Reported | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Percentage change from prior year | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Portfolio & Other 1 | Total | ||||||||||
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | 50 | % | 2 | % | 2 | % | 54 | % | (11) | % | — | % | 1 | % | — | % | (10) | % | |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | 40 | 2 | (2) | 40 | (5) | — | (6) | — | (11) | ||||||||||
| Performance Materials & Coatings | 19 | 2 | 1 | 22 | (6) | — | (6) | 1 | (11) | ||||||||||
| Total | 40 | % | 2 | % | 1 | % | 43 | % | (7) | % | — | % | (3) | % | — | % | (10) | % | |
| Total, excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business | 37 | % | 2 | % | (2) | % | 37 | % | (5) | % | — | % | (4) | % | — | % | (9) | % | |
| U.S. & Canada | 42 | % | — | % | 2 | % | 44 | % | (5) | % | — | % | (8) | % | — | % | (13) | % | |
| EMEAI | 45 | 4 | 3 | 52 | (12) | — | 1 | — | (11) | ||||||||||
| Asia Pacific | 25 | 2 | (4) | 23 | (6) | — | — | — | (6) | ||||||||||
| Latin America | 48 | — | (3) | 45 | (7) | — | — | — | (7) | ||||||||||
| Total | 40 | % | 2 | % | 1 | % | 43 | % | (7) | % | — | % | (3) | % | — | % | (10) | % |
1.Portfolio & Other includes the sales impact of various manufacturing, supply and service related agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva in connection with the separation, which provide for different pricing than the historical intercompany and intracompany pricing practices of TDCC and Historical DuPont.
| Sales Variances by Operating Segment and Geographic Region - As Reported Percentage change from prior year | 2019 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Portfolio & Other 1 | Total | ||||||
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | (12) | % | (1) | % | (3) | % | — | % | (16) | % |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | (12) | (1) | — | — | (13) | |||||
| Performance Materials & Coatings | (6) | (2) | (3) | 3 | (8) | |||||
| Total | (11) | % | (1) | % | (2) | % | 1 | % | (13) | % |
| Total, excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business | (11) | % | (2) | % | 1 | % | 1 | % | (11) | % |
| U.S. & Canada | (11) | % | — | % | (3) | % | 1 | % | (13) | % |
| EMEAI | (9) | (3) | (4) | — | (16) | |||||
| Asia Pacific | (12) | (1) | 5 | — | (8) | |||||
| Latin America | (14) | — | (3) | — | (17) | |||||
| Total | (11) | % | (1) | % | (2) | % | 1 | % | (13) | % |
1.Portfolio & Other includes the sales impact of various manufacturing, supply and service related agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva in connection with the separation, which provide for different pricing than the historical intercompany and intracompany pricing practices of TDCC and Historical DuPont.
2021 Versus 2020
The Company reported net sales of $55 billion in 2021, up 43 percent from $38.5 billion in 2020, with local price up 40 percent, a favorable currency impact of 2 percent and volume up 1 percent. Net sales increased in all operating segments and across all geographic regions. Local price increased in all operating segments and across all geographic regions, primarily reflecting price gains due to tight supply and demand dynamics driven by logistics constraints and weather events. Local price increased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (up 50 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (up 40 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 19 percent). Volume increased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (up 2 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (up 1 percent). Volume decreased in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 2 percent). Excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business, sales increased 37 percent.
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2020 Versus 2019
The Company reported net sales of $38.5 billion in 2020, down 10 percent from $43.0 billion in 2019, with local price down 7 percent and volume down 3 percent. Net sales decreased in all geographic regions and operating segments, reflecting impacts from the global COVID-19 pandemic on economies and supply and demand dynamics, most notably in the first half of the year. Local price decreased in all operating segments and in all geographic regions, primarily in response to lower global energy prices. Local price decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 11 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 5 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 6 percent). Volume declined 3 percent, driven by the U.S. & Canada (down 8 percent), which was partially offset by demand growth in EMEAI (up 1 percent). Volume was flat in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Volume increased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (up 1 percent) and decreased in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and Performance Materials & Coatings (both down 6 percent). Excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business, sales declined 9 percent.
| Sales Variances by Operating Segment and Geographic Region - Pro Forma Basis | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 1 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||
| Percentage change from prior year | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | Local Price & Product Mix | Currency | Volume | Total | ||||||||
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | (11) | % | — | % | 1 | % | (10) | % | (12) | % | (1) | % | (3) | % | (16) | % |
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | (5) | — | (6) | (11) | (12) | (2) | 1 | (13) | ||||||||
| Performance Materials & Coatings | (6) | — | (5) | (11) | (6) | (2) | (1) | (9) | ||||||||
| Total | (7) | % | — | % | (3) | % | (10) | % | (11) | % | (1) | % | (2) | % | (14) | % |
| Total, excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business | (5) | % | — | % | (4) | % | (9) | % | (10) | % | (2) | % | 1 | % | (11) | % |
| U.S. & Canada | (5) | % | — | % | (8) | % | (13) | % | (11) | % | — | % | (2) | % | (13) | % |
| EMEAI | (12) | — | 1 | (11) | (9) | (3) | (4) | (16) | ||||||||
| Asia Pacific | (6) | — | — | (6) | (12) | (1) | 5 | (8) | ||||||||
| Latin America | (7) | — | — | (7) | (15) | — | (3) | (18) | ||||||||
| Total | (7) | % | — | % | (3) | % | (10) | % | (11) | % | (1) | % | (2) | % | (14) | % |
1.As reported net sales for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared with pro forma net sales for the year ended December 31, 2019.
2020 Versus 2019 - Pro Forma
The Company reported net sales of $38.5 billion for 2020, down 10 percent from pro forma net sales of $43.0 billion in 2019, with local price down 7 percent and volume down 3 percent. Net sales decreased in all geographic regions and operating segments, reflecting impacts from the global COVID-19 pandemic on economies and supply and demand dynamics, most notably in the first half of the year. Local price decreased in all operating segments and in all geographic regions, primarily in response to lower global energy prices. Local price decreased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (down 11 percent), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 5 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 6 percent). Volume declined 3 percent, driven by the U.S. & Canada (down 8 percent), which was partially offset by an increase in EMEAI (up 1 percent). Volume was flat in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Volume increased in Packaging & Specialty Plastics (up 1 percent) and decreased in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure (down 6 percent) and Performance Materials & Coatings (down 5 percent). Excluding the Hydrocarbons & Energy business, sales declined 9 percent.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales ("COS") was $44.2 billion in 2021, compared with $33.3 billion in 2020. COS increased in 2021 primarily due to higher feedstock and energy costs and impacts from Winter Storm Uri, which included higher raw material costs and repair costs. In 2021, COS included $146 million of costs associated with implementing the Company's digital acceleration program (related to Corporate). COS as a percentage of sales was 80.4 percent in 2021 compared with 86.5 percent in 2020.
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COS was $33.3 billion in 2020, compared with $36.7 billion in 2019. COS decreased in 2020 primarily due to lower feedstock and other raw material costs, decreased sales volume and lower planned maintenance turnaround costs, which were partially offset by higher performance-based compensation costs. Operating rates declined significantly in the second quarter of 2020, as the Company temporarily idled certain manufacturing facilities and selectively adjusted operating rates at other facilities to balance production to demand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These facilities returned to more normalized operating rates in the third quarter of 2020. Overall, operating rates increased in the third and fourth quarters of 2020. In 2019, COS also included $75 million of transaction-related costs resulting from the separation from DowDuPont (related to Corporate) and $399 million of environmental charges related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics ($5 million), Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure ($8 million), Performance Materials & Coatings ($50 million) and Corporate ($336 million). COS as a percentage of sales was 86.5 percent in 2020 compared with 85.3 percent in 2019.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development ("R&D") expenses were $857 million in 2021, compared with $768 million in 2020 and $765 million in 2019. R&D expenses in 2021 increased compared with 2020 primarily due to increased performance-based compensation costs and fringe benefit expenses driven by stock market increases compared with the same period last year. R&D expenses in 2020 increased compared with 2019 primarily due to increased performance-based compensation costs which were partially offset by cost reductions.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses were $1,645 million in 2021, compared with $1,471 million in 2020 and $1,590 million and $1,585 million for Dow Inc. and TDCC, respectively, in 2019. SG&A expenses in 2021 increased primarily due to increased performance-based compensation costs and fringe benefit expenses driven by stock market increases compared with the same period last year. SG&A expenses in 2020 decreased compared to 2019 primarily due to cost reductions which were partially offset by increased performance-based compensation costs. In 2020, SG&A was also favorably impacted by the recovery of legal costs related to the Nova Chemicals Corporation ("Nova") ethylene asset matter and the reversal of a bad debt reserve related to an arbitration judgment. See Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Nova litigation matters.
Amortization of Intangibles
Amortization of intangibles was $388 million in 2021, compared with $401 million in 2020 and $419 million in 2019. Amortization of intangibles decreased primarily due to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on intangible assets.
Restructuring, Goodwill Impairment and Asset Related Charges - Net
Restructuring, goodwill impairment and asset related charges - net were $6 million in 2021, $708 million in 2020 and $3,219 million in 2019.
2020 Restructuring Program
On September 29, 2020, Dow Inc.'s Board approved restructuring actions to achieve the Company's structural cost improvement initiatives in response to the continued economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. The restructuring program was designed to reduce structural costs and enable the Company to further enhance competitiveness while the COVID-19 economic recovery gained traction. These actions were substantially complete by the end of 2021, except for certain cash payments expected to be made in 2022.
In 2020, the Company recorded pretax restructuring charges of $573 million, consisting of severance and related benefit costs of $297 million, asset write-downs and write-offs of $196 million and costs associated with exit and disposal activities of $80 million. Restructuring charges by segment were as follows: $11 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $22 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, $177 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $363 million in Corporate.
In 2021, the Company recorded pretax restructuring charges of $12 million for asset write-downs and write-offs and $10 million for costs associated with exit and disposal activities. Restructuring charges by segment were as follows: $8 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $1 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, $10 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $3 million in Corporate. In addition, the Company reduced pretax restructuring charges by $10 million for severance and related benefit costs, related to Corporate.
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DowDuPont Cost Synergy Program
In September and November 2017, DowDuPont approved post-Merger restructuring actions under the DowDuPont Cost Synergy Program (the "Synergy Program") which was designed to integrate and optimize the organization following the Merger and in preparation for the business separations. The restructuring charges below reflect charges from continuing operations.
In 2019, the Company recorded pretax restructuring charges of $292 million, consisting of severance and related benefit costs of $123 million, asset write-downs and write-offs of $143 million and costs associated with exit and disposal activities of $26 million. Restructuring charges by segment were as follows: $1 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $7 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, $28 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $256 million in Corporate.
In 2020, the Company recorded pretax restructuring charges of $86 million and reduced pretax restructuring charges by $6 million in 2021, both for severance and related benefit costs (related to Corporate). Cash expenditures related to the Synergy Program were substantially complete at December 31, 2020.
2019 Goodwill Impairment
Upon completion of the goodwill impairment testing in the fourth quarter of 2019, the Company determined the fair value of the Coatings & Performance Monomers reporting unit was lower than its carrying amount. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $1,039 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 related to Performance Materials & Coatings.
2020 Asset Related Charges
In 2020, the Company recognized pretax impairment charges of $49 million, including additional pretax impairment charges for capital additions made to a bio-ethanol manufacturing facility in Santa Vitoria, Minas Gerais, Brazil ("Santa Vitoria"), which was impaired in 2017 and divested in 2020, as well as charges for miscellaneous write-offs and write-downs of non-manufacturing assets and the write-down of certain corporate leased equipment. Impairment charges by segment were as follows: Packaging & Specialty Plastics ($19 million), Performance Materials & Coatings ($15 million) and Corporate ($15 million). See Note 23 for additional information.
2019 Asset Related Charges
On August 13, 2019, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to sell its acetone derivatives business to ALTIVIA Ketones & Additives, LLC. The transaction closed on November 1, 2019 and included the Company's acetone derivatives related inventory and production assets, located in Institute, West Virginia, in addition to the site infrastructure, land, utilities and certain railcars. The Company remains at the Institute site as a tenant. As a result of the divestiture, the Company recognized a pretax impairment charge of $75 million in the third quarter of 2019. The impairment charge by segment was as follows: $24 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics and $51 million in Corporate.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Company concluded that its equity method investment in Sadara was other-than-temporarily impaired. The Company also reserved certain accounts and notes receivable and accrued interest balances due to uncertainty on the timing of collection. As a result, the Company recorded a $1,755 million pretax charge related to Sadara. The charge by segment was as follows: $370 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $1,168 million in Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and $217 million in Corporate.
In 2019, the Company recognized additional pretax impairment charges of $58 million related primarily to capital additions at its Santa Vitoria manufacturing facility, which was impaired in 2017. Impairment charges by segment were as follows: $44 million in Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $9 million in Performance Materials & Coatings and $5 million in Corporate.
See Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on restructuring, goodwill impairment and asset related charges.
Integration and Separation Costs
Integration and separation costs, which reflect costs related to post-Merger integration and business separation activities, were $239 million in 2020 and $1,063 million and $1,039 million for Dow Inc. and TDCC, respectively, in 2019. Integration and business separation activities were completed as of December 31, 2020. Integration and separation costs are related to Corporate.
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Equity in Earnings (Losses) of Nonconsolidated Affiliates
The Company’s share of equity in earnings of nonconsolidated affiliates was $975 million in 2021, compared with equity losses of $18 million in 2020 and $94 million in 2019. The equity earnings improvement in 2021 compared with 2020 was primarily due to margin expansion at Sadara driven by broad-based price increases, strong MEG prices at the Kuwait joint ventures and improved elastomer and polyethylene margins at the Thai joint ventures. In 2020, equity losses decreased compared with 2019 primarily due to lower equity losses from Sadara, driven by improved industry supply and demand dynamics in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, which were partially offset by lower equity earnings from the Kuwait joint ventures due to lower monoethylene glycol prices. See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company’s evaluation of its equity method investment in Sadara for other-than-temporary impairment in 2019.
Sundry Income (Expense) - Net
Sundry income (expense) – net includes a variety of income and expense items such as foreign currency exchange gains and losses, dividends from investments, gains and losses on sales of investments and assets, non-operating pension and other postretirement benefit plan credits or costs, losses on early extinguishment of debt and certain litigation matters.
TDCC
Sundry income (expense) - net for 2021 was expense of $79 million, compared with income of $1,274 million in 2020 and $573 million in 2019.
In 2021, sundry income (expense) - net included a $574 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt (related to Corporate and included in "Other net loss" in the consolidated statements of cash flows), and foreign currency exchange losses. These were partially offset by non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits, gains on the sale of assets and investments, a $54 million gain related to an arbitration award (related to Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure), and a $16 million gain related to post-closing adjustments on the previous divestiture of a bio-ethanol manufacturing facility in Brazil (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics). See Notes 7, 15, 16, 20 and 26 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In 2020, sundry income (expense) - net included a $544 million gain related to the Nova ethylene asset matter (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics), a $499 million gain related to the sale of certain U.S. Gulf Coast marine and terminal operations and assets ($17 million related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics, $61 million related to Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and $421 million related to Corporate), a $233 million gain related to the sale of rail infrastructure operations and assets in the U.S. & Canada ($48 million related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics and $185 million related to Corporate), and non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits. These were partially offset by a $149 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt (related to Corporate and included in "Other net loss" in the consolidated statements of cash flows), foreign currency exchange losses, $11 million in charges associated with agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution, which provides for cross-indemnities and allocations of obligations and liabilities for periods prior to, at and after completion of the separation (related to Corporate), a $13 million loss related to the divestiture of a bio-ethanol manufacturing facility in Brazil (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics) and a $2 million loss on an asset sale (related to Corporate). See Notes 5, 7, 15, 16, 20 and 26 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In 2019, sundry income (expense) - net included foreign currency exchange gains, non-operating pension and postretirement benefit plan credits and gains on sales of assets and investments, as well as a net gain of $205 million related to litigation matters, which included a $170 million gain related to a legal matter with Nova (related to Packaging & Specialty Plastics), and an $85 million gain related to an adjustment of the Dow Silicones breast implant liability (related to Corporate), which were partially offset by a $50 million charge (net of indemnifications of $37 million), related to the settlement of the Dow Silicones commercial creditor matters (related to Corporate). In 2019, sundry income (expense) - net also included a $102 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt (related to Corporate and included in "Other net loss" in the consolidated statements of cash flows) and a gain of $2 million on post-closing adjustments related to previous divestitures (related to Corporate). See Notes 7, 15, 16, 20 and 26 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Dow Inc.
Sundry income (expense) - net for 2021 was expense of $35 million, compared with income of $1,269 million in 2020 and $461 million in 2019.
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In 2021, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net included $30 million in gains associated with the agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution (related to Corporate).
In 2020, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net included $10 million in charges associated with the agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution (related to Corporate).
In 2019, in addition to the amounts previously discussed above for TDCC, sundry income (expense) - net included a $51 million loss on post-closing adjustments related to a previous divestiture and $69 million in charges associated with the agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution (both related to Corporate). See Notes 3, 7, 15, 16, 20 and 26 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Interest Expense and Amortization of Debt Discount
Interest expense and amortization of debt discount was $731 million in 2021, compared with $827 million in 2020 and $933 million and $952 million for Dow Inc. and TDCC, respectively, in 2019. Interest expense and amortization of debt discount decreased in 2021 primarily due to lower coupon rates and the redemption of debt. The decrease in 2020 is primarily due to TDCC's redemption of long-term debt in 2019 and debt issuances at lower coupon rates in 2020. See Liquidity and Capital Resources in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to debt financing activity. In addition, TDCC had interest expense related to an intercompany loan with Dow Inc. in 2019.
Provision for Income Taxes on Continuing Operations
The Company's effective tax rate fluctuates based on, among other factors, where income is earned, the level of income relative to tax attributes and the level of equity earnings, since most earnings from the Company's equity method investments are taxed at the joint venture level. The underlying factors affecting the Company's overall tax rate are summarized in Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The CARES Act was enacted on March 27, 2020 in the United States. There were no significant impacts to the Company's provision for income taxes on continuing operations in 2021 or 2020 as a result of the CARES Act legislation.
The provision for income taxes on continuing operations was $1,740 million in 2021, compared with $777 million in 2020 and $470 million in 2019. The provision for income taxes in 2021 increased primarily due to an increase in pretax income and the recognition of uncertain tax positions in multiple jurisdictions. These factors resulted in an effective tax rate of 21.4 percent for Dow Inc. in 2021.
The tax rate for 2020 was unfavorably impacted by valuation allowances of $260 million related to foreign tax credits and other attributes that are more likely than not to remain unutilized prior to their expiration. The tax rate for 2020 was favorably impacted by a capital loss resulting from the divestiture of the Santa Vitoria manufacturing facility. This resulted in an effective tax rate of 37.5 percent for Dow Inc. in 2020.
The tax rate for 2019 was unfavorably impacted by non-deductible goodwill and investment impairments, geographic mix of earnings and reduced equity earnings. These factors resulted in a negative effective tax rate of 37.7 percent for Dow Inc. in 2019.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Company recorded the impacts of tax law changes enacted in Switzerland. As a result, deferred tax assets increased by $92 million.
Income from Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax was $445 million in 2019, related to the distribution of AgCo and SpecCo to DowDuPont as a result of the separation. See Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
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Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests was $94 million in 2021, $69 million in 2020 and $87 million in 2019. Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests from discontinued operations of $13 million in 2019 related to the distribution of AgCo and SpecCo to DowDuPont as a result of the separation are included in the amounts above. See Notes 19 and 24 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Net Income (Loss) Available for the Common Stockholder(s)
Dow Inc.
Net income available for Dow Inc. common stockholders was $6,311 million in 2021, compared with $1,225 million in 2020 and a net loss of $1,359 million in 2019. Earnings per share of Dow Inc. was $8.38 per share in 2021, compared with $1.64 per share in 2020 and a loss of $1.84 per share in 2019. See Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for details on Dow Inc.'s earnings per share calculations.
TDCC
Net income available for TDCC common stockholder was $6,274 million in 2021, compared with $1,235 million in 2020 and a net loss of $1,237 million in 2019. Following the separation from DowDuPont, TDCC's common shares are owned solely by Dow Inc.
SEGMENT RESULTS
The Company conducts its worldwide operations through six global businesses which are organized into the following operating segments: Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure and Performance Materials & Coatings. Corporate contains the reconciliation between the totals for the operating segments and the Company's totals. The Company did not aggregate any operating segments when determining its reportable segments. The Company reports geographic information for the following regions: U.S. & Canada, Asia Pacific, Latin America and EMEAI. The Company transfers ethylene to its downstream derivative businesses at market prices. The Company also allocated costs previously assigned to AgCo and SpecCo ("stranded costs") to the operating segments.
The Company’s measure of profit/loss for segment reporting purposes is Operating EBIT (for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020) and pro forma Operating EBIT (for the year ended December 31, 2019) as this is the manner in which the Company's chief operating decision maker ("CODM") assesses performance and allocates resources. The Company defines Operating EBIT as earnings (i.e., "Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes") before interest, excluding the impact of significant items. The Company defines pro forma Operating EBIT as earnings (i.e., "Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes") before interest, plus pro forma adjustments, excluding the impact of significant items. Operating EBIT by segment and pro forma Operating EBIT by segment include all operating items relating to the businesses; items that principally apply to Dow as a whole are assigned to Corporate. The Company also presents pro forma net sales for the year ended December 31, 2019, as it is included in management’s measure of segment performance and is regularly reviewed by the CODM. Pro forma net sales includes the impact of various manufacturing, supply and service related agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva in connection with the separation which provide for different pricing than the historical intercompany and intracompany pricing practices of TDCC and Historical DuPont. See Note 26 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for reconciliations of these measures and a summary of the pro forma adjustments impacting segment measures, which are consistent with the pro forma adjustments included in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 3, 2019, with the SEC.
PACKAGING & SPECIALTY PLASTICS
The Packaging & Specialty Plastics operating segment consists of two highly integrated global businesses: Hydrocarbons & Energy and Packaging and Specialty Plastics. The segment employs the industry’s broadest polyolefin product portfolio, supported by the Company’s proprietary catalyst and manufacturing process technologies. These differentiators, plus collaboration at the customer’s design table, enable the segment to deliver more reliable, durable, higher-performing solutions designed for recyclability and enhanced plastics circularity and sustainability. The segment serves customers, brand owners and ultimately consumers in key markets including food and specialty packaging; industrial and consumer packaging; health and hygiene; caps, closures and pipe applications; consumer durables; mobility and transportation; and infrastructure. Ethylene is transferred to downstream derivative businesses at market-based prices, which are generally equivalent to prevailing market prices for large volume purchases. This segment also includes the results of The Kuwait Styrene Company K.S.C.C. and The SCG-Dow Group, as well as a portion of the results of EQUATE Petrochemical Company K.S.C.C.
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("EQUATE"), The Kuwait Olefins Company K.S.C.C. ("TKOC"), Map Ta Phut Olefins Company Limited ("Map Ta Phut") and Sadara, all joint ventures of the Company.
The Company is responsible for marketing a majority of Sadara products outside of the Middle East zone through the Company's established sales channels. As part of this arrangement, the Company purchases and sells Sadara products for a marketing fee. In March 2021, Dow and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company agreed to transition the marketing rights and responsibilities for Sadara’s finished products to levels more consistent with each partner’s equity ownership. This transition began in July 2021 and is being implemented over the next five years.
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||
| Net sales | $ | 28,128 | $ | 18,301 | $ | 20,245 | ||
| Pro forma net sales | $ | 20,245 | ||||||
| Operating EBIT | $ | 6,638 | $ | 2,325 | ||||
| Pro forma Operating EBIT | $ | 2,904 | ||||||
| Equity earnings | $ | 490 | $ | 173 | $ | 162 |
| Packaging & Specialty Plastics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||||
| Local price & product mix | 50 | % | (11) | % | (12) | % |
| Currency | 2 | — | (1) | |||
| Volume | 2 | 1 | (3) | |||
| Total | 54 | % | (10) | % | (16) | % |
| Change in Pro Forma Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||||
| Local price & product mix | (12) | % | ||||
| Currency | (1) | |||||
| Volume | (3) | |||||
| Total | (16) | % |
2021 Versus 2020
Packaging & Specialty Plastics net sales were $28,128 million in 2021, up 54 percent from net sales of $18,301 million in 2020, with local price up 50 percent, volume up 2 percent and a favorable currency impact of 2 percent, primarily in EMEAI. Local price increased in both businesses and across all geographic regions, driven by tight supply and demand dynamics. Local price increased in Hydrocarbons & Energy as prices for co-products are generally correlated to Brent crude oil prices, which, on average, increased 64 percent compared with 2020. Local price increased in Packaging and Specialty Plastics driven by favorable supply and demand dynamics in polyethylene, notably in industrial and consumer packaging and flexible food and beverage packaging applications. Volume increased in Hydrocarbons & Energy, primarily in the U.S. & Canada and EMEAI, more than offsetting decreased volume in Asia Pacific. Volume decreased in Packaging and Specialty Plastics, primarily in Asia Pacific and Latin America as supply constraints continue to lower exports, more than offsetting an increase in the U.S. & Canada.
Operating EBIT was $6,638 million in 2021, up $4,313 million from Operating EBIT of $2,325 million in 2020. Operating EBIT increased primarily due to integrated margin expansion and increased equity earnings at Sadara and the Thai and Kuwait joint ventures.
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2020 Versus 2019
Packaging & Specialty Plastics net sales were $18,301 million in 2020, down 10 percent from net sales and pro forma net sales of $20,245 million in 2019, with local price down 11 percent and volume up 1 percent. Net sales declined in the first half of the year, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while strong supply and demand dynamics took hold in the second half of the year. Local price decreased in both businesses and across all geographic regions, driven by reduced polyethylene prices and lower global energy prices. Local price declined in Hydrocarbons & Energy as prices for co-products are generally correlated to Brent crude oil prices, which declined 33 percent compared with 2019. Volume increased in Hydrocarbons & Energy as increases in EMEAI were partially offset by declines in the U.S. & Canada, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Packaging and Specialty Plastics volume was flat as increases in flexible food and specialty packaging, industrial and consumer packaging and health and hygiene applications in Asia Pacific, Latin America and EMEAI were offset by reduced demand for functional polymers, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and lower catalyst licensing activity in the U.S. & Canada.
Operating EBIT was $2,325 million in 2020, down 20 percent from pro forma Operating EBIT of $2,904 million in 2019. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to integrated margin compression in both businesses. These declines more than offset cost reductions, decreased planned maintenance turnaround costs and increased equity earnings.
INDUSTRIAL INTERMEDIATES & INFRASTRUCTURE
The Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure operating segment consists of two customer-centric global businesses - Industrial Solutions and Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals - that develop important intermediate chemicals that are essential to manufacturing processes, as well as downstream, customized materials and formulations that use advanced development technologies. These businesses primarily produce and market ethylene oxide and propylene oxide derivatives that are aligned to market segments as diverse as appliances, coatings, electronics, surfactants for cleaning and sanitization, infrastructure and oil and gas. The businesses' global scale and reach, world-class technology, R&D capabilities and materials science expertise enable the Company to be a premier solutions provider offering customers value-add sustainable solutions to enhance comfort, energy efficiency, product effectiveness and durability across a wide range of home comfort and appliance, building and construction, mobility and transportation, adhesive and lubricant applications, among others. This segment also includes a portion of the results of EQUATE, TKOC, Map Ta Phut and Sadara, all joint ventures of the Company.
The Company is responsible for marketing a majority of Sadara products outside of the Middle East zone through the Company's established sales channels. As part of this arrangement, the Company purchases and sells Sadara products for a marketing fee. In March 2021, Dow and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company agreed to transition the marketing rights and responsibilities for Sadara’s finished products to levels more consistent with each partner’s equity ownership. This transition began in July 2021 and is being implemented over the next five years.
| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||
| Net sales | $ | 16,851 | $ | 12,021 | $ | 13,440 | ||
| Pro forma net sales | $ | 13,449 | ||||||
| Operating EBIT | $ | 2,282 | $ | 355 | ||||
| Pro forma Operating EBIT | $ | 845 | ||||||
| Equity earnings (losses) | $ | 471 | $ | (166) | $ | (241) |
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| Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||||
| Local price & product mix | 40 | % | (5) | % | (12) | % |
| Currency | 2 | — | (1) | |||
| Volume | (2) | (6) | — | |||
| Total | 40 | % | (11) | % | (13) | % |
| Change in Pro Forma Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||||
| Local price & product mix | (12) | % | ||||
| Currency | (2) | |||||
| Volume | 1 | |||||
| Total | (13) | % |
2021 Versus 2020
Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure net sales were $16,851 million in 2021, up 40 percent from $12,021 million in 2020, with local price up 40 percent, a favorable currency impact of 2 percent and volume down 2 percent. Local price increased in both businesses and across all geographic regions, primarily driven by strong supply and demand dynamics and rising energy prices. Currency favorably impacted sales in both businesses. Volume in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals decreased in the U.S. & Canada and Asia Pacific, partially offset by increased volume in EMEAI and Latin America. The volume decrease in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals was due to a decrease in vinyl chloride monomers mainly related to a planned transition of a low-margin co-producer contract as well as a decrease in isocyanates, which were partially offset by robust consumer demand in polyurethane systems. Despite strong consumer demand, volume in Industrial Solutions decreased in all geographic regions, except Latin America and was largely driven by weather-related supply constraints.
Operating EBIT was $2,282 million in 2021, up $1,927 million from Operating EBIT of $355 million in 2020. Operating EBIT increased primarily due to margin expansion from strong supply and demand dynamics in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals and higher equity earnings at Sadara and the Kuwait joint ventures.
2020 Versus 2019
Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure net sales were $12,021 million in 2020, down 11 percent from $13,440 million in 2019. Net sales decreased 11 percent from pro forma net sales of $13,449 million in 2019, with volume down 6 percent and local price down 5 percent. Weak demand for products used in consumer durable good end-markets, including construction, furniture and bedding, appliances and automotive, drove volume declines in Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals in all geographic regions, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer activities and buying patterns, most notably in the first half of the year. Volume in Industrial Solutions was also impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with decreases in the U.S. & Canada and Latin America which were partially offset by increases in Asia Pacific and EMEAI. The volume decline in Industrial Solutions was due to weakened demand in industrial, energy and automotive end-markets partially offset by stronger demand for products used in electronics, agriculture and pharma applications. Local price decreased in both businesses and in all geographic regions, primarily due to lower global energy prices and raw material costs.
Operating EBIT was $355 million in 2020, down 58 percent from pro forma Operating EBIT of $845 million in 2019. Operating EBIT decreased due to lower demand and margin compression, which were partially offset by cost reductions, decreased equity losses and lower planned maintenance turnaround costs. The overall decrease in equity losses was driven by lower equity losses from Sadara partially offset by decreased equity earnings from EQUATE.
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PERFORMANCE MATERIALS & COATINGS
The Performance Materials & Coatings operating segment includes industry-leading franchises that deliver a wide array of solutions into consumer, infrastructure and mobility end-markets. The segment consists of two global businesses: Coatings & Performance Monomers and Consumer Solutions. These businesses primarily utilize the Company's acrylics-, cellulosics- and silicone-based technology platforms to serve the needs of the architectural and industrial coatings; home care and personal care; consumer and electronics; mobility and transportation; industrial and chemical processing; and building and infrastructure end-markets. Both businesses employ materials science capabilities, global reach and unique products and technology to combine chemistry platforms to deliver differentiated, market-driven and sustainable innovations to customers.
| Performance Materials & Coatings | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||
| Net sales | $ | 9,672 | $ | 7,951 | $ | 8,923 | ||
| Pro forma net sales | $ | 8,961 | ||||||
| Operating EBIT | $ | 866 | $ | 314 | ||||
| Pro forma Operating EBIT | $ | 918 | ||||||
| Equity earnings | $ | 7 | $ | 6 | $ | 5 |
| Performance Materials & Coatings | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change from prior year | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||
| Change in Net Sales from Prior Period due to: | ||||||
| Local price & product mix | 19 | % | (6) | % | (6) | % |
| Currency | 2 | — | (2) | |||
| Volume | 1 | (6) | (3) | |||
| Portfolio & other | — | 1 | 3 | |||
| Total | 22 | % | (11) | % | (8) | % |
| Change in Pro Forma Net Sales from Prior Period due to: 1 | ||||||
| Local price & product mix | — | % | (6) | % | (6) | % |
| Currency | — | — | (2) | |||
| Volume | — | (5) | (1) | |||
| Portfolio & other | — | — | — | |||
| Total | — | % | (11) | % | (9) | % |
1.As reported net sales for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared with pro forma net sales for the year ended December 31, 2019.
2021 Versus 2020
Performance Materials & Coatings net sales were $9,672 million in 2021, up 22 percent from net sales of $7,951 million in 2020, with local price up 19 percent, volume up 1 percent, and a favorable currency impact of 2 percent. Local price increased in both businesses and across all geographic regions. Consumer Solutions local price increased in both upstream siloxanes and downstream silicones due to favorable supply and demand dynamics and higher raw material costs. Local price increased in Coatings & Performance Monomers primarily due to improved supply and demand dynamics and higher raw material costs in acrylic monomers and architectural coatings. Volume increased in the U.S. & Canada, Asia Pacific and Latin America, which was partially offset by a decrease in EMEAI. Consumer Solutions volume increased due to higher demand in all geographic regions partially offset by planned maintenance turnaround activity. Volume decreased in Coatings & Performance Monomers in all geographic regions primarily due to supply availability challenges caused by weather-related outages and third-party supply and logistics constraints. The favorable currency impact was driven by Asia Pacific and EMEAI.
Operating EBIT was $866 million in 2021, up $552 million from Operating EBIT of $314 million in 2020. Operating EBIT increased primarily due to margin expansion and higher volume in Consumer Solutions.
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2020 Versus 2019
Performance Materials & Coatings net sales were $7,951 million in 2020, down 11 percent from net sales of $8,923 million in 2019. Net sales decreased 11 percent from pro forma net sales of $8,961 million in 2019, with local price down 6 percent and volume down 5 percent. Local price decreased in both businesses and across all geographic regions. Consumer Solutions local price declined in all regions, primarily in upstream siloxanes due to weak supply and demand dynamics. Local price decreased in Coatings & Performance Monomers in response to lower feedstock and other raw material costs. Volume declined in all geographic regions except Latin America, reflecting the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer Solutions volume decreased as growth in home care applications was more than offset by lower demand for products used in automotive, industrial, construction and personal care end-markets as consumer activities and buying patterns were limited by the COVID-19 pandemic. Coatings & Performance Monomers volume increased in all geographic regions, except EMEAI. Volume gains were driven by higher demand for methacrylates used in protective applications, for architectural coatings as consumers continued do-it-yourself projects at home, and higher demand for vinyl acetate monomers.
Operating EBIT was $314 million in 2020, down 66 percent from pro forma Operating EBIT of $918 million in 2019. Operating EBIT decreased primarily due to margin compression, lower demand in siloxanes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and higher manufacturing and planned maintenance turnaround costs that more than offset volume gains in Coatings & Performance Monomers and lower SG&A costs.
CORPORATE
Corporate includes certain enterprise and governance activities (including insurance operations, environmental operations, etc.); non-business aligned joint ventures; non-business aligned litigation expenses; and discontinued or non-aligned businesses.
| Corporate | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||
| Net sales | $ | 317 | $ | 269 | $ | 343 | ||
| Pro forma net sales | $ | 343 | ||||||
| Operating EBIT | $ | (253) | $ | (279) | ||||
| Pro forma Operating EBIT | $ | (315) | ||||||
| Equity earnings (losses) | $ | 7 | $ | (31) | $ | (20) |
2021 Versus 2020
Net sales for Corporate, which primarily relate to the Company's insurance operations, were $317 million in 2021, up from net sales of $269 million in 2020.
Operating EBIT was a loss of $253 million in 2021, compared with Operating EBIT loss of $279 million in 2020. Operating EBIT improved primarily due to improved equity earnings.
2020 Versus 2019
Net sales for Corporate, which primarily relate to the Company's insurance operations, were $269 million in 2020, down from net sales and pro forma net sales of $343 million in 2019.
Operating EBIT was a loss of $279 million in 2020, compared with a pro forma Operating EBIT loss of $315 million in 2019. Compared with 2019, Operating EBIT improved primarily due to cost reductions and stranded cost removal throughout 2019.
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OUTLOOK
Operating Segments & End-Market Expectations
In 2022, economic forecasts are projecting above average global gross domestic product ("GDP") growth rates due to strong industrial and consumer demand trends which have the potential to positively impact sales volume. Inflationary impacts on natural gas and feedstocks, driven by external macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, remain a potential risk in the near-term, but are expected to be moderate as warmer weather lowers demand for heating supply. The Company anticipates constructive global demand for crude oil compared with 2021 due to ongoing recovery in travel and mobility. Crude oil fundamentals suggest global supply will lag the growing demand that provides support to oil prices and oil-to-gas spreads.
In Packaging & Specialty Plastics, supply improvements following significant weather-related disruptions in 2021 are expected to drive sales volume on continued underlying demand strength, notably in flexible food and specialty packaging, industrial and consumer packaging and functional polymers. Integrated margins are expected to stabilize with recent industry supply additions. The Company’s regional feedstock cost advantages will help offset elevated raw material and energy costs. Other important factors that will impact performance are raw material and logistics challenges; industry operating rates; and timing of additional industry capacity startups.
In Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, volume growth is expected across the portfolio, driven by continued underlying demand strength for products used in furniture and bedding, appliances, automotive, construction, electronics and pharma applications. The methylene diphenyl diisocyanate value chain is expected to remain tight with industry capacity additions trailing demand growth. Propylene oxide is expected to be impacted by new capacity entering the market, particularly in Asia Pacific. Ethylene oxide supply is expected to remain tight, with limited industry capacity additions in the near-term and continued demand strength. Margins for the segment are expected to benefit from high-value specialties aligned to strategic incremental growth capacity additions.
In Performance Materials & Coatings, sales growth is expected in downstream silicones, particularly for products used in mobility and transportation, high performance building and construction, industrial, consumer, and electronics applications. The Company continues to pursue incremental downstream silicones capacity debottlenecking and growth projects to meet demand growth in consumer-driven end-markets. Within siloxanes, increased supply availability is expected to drive sales volume. Global demand strength in architectural and industrial coatings is expected to drive sales volume. The Company remains well-positioned to benefit from its customers’ shift to sustainable chemistries where Dow has unique technologies and solutions to offer in both business units.
Other factors impacting operating segment profitability include:
•Planned maintenance turnaround spending is expected to increase approximately $100 million compared with 2021 due to inflationary pressures on materials and labor.
•Equity in earnings of nonconsolidated affiliates is expected to decrease compared with 2021 as margins compress on industry supply additions, lower Asian olefins and mono ethylene glycol prices, and increasing raw material costs.
Projected Uses of Cash
Items that may impact the consolidated statements of cash flows in 2022 include:
•Cash contributions to pension plans are expected to be approximately $250 million.
•Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $2.2 billion.
•Cash expenditures related to the Digital Acceleration program are expected to be $250 million in 2022.
•Cash outflows related to the Company's 2020 Restructuring Program, including restructuring implementation costs, are expected to be approximately $175 million.
•Cash dividends from equity companies are expected to increase following increased equity earnings in 2021.
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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
The Company had cash and cash equivalents of $2,988 million at December 31, 2021 and $5,104 million at December 31, 2020, of which $1,745 million at December 31, 2021 and $862 million at December 31, 2020, was held by subsidiaries in foreign countries, including United States territories. For each of its foreign subsidiaries, the Company makes an assertion regarding the amount of earnings intended for permanent reinvestment, with the balance available to be repatriated to the United States.
The cash held by foreign subsidiaries for permanent reinvestment is generally used to finance the subsidiaries' operational activities and future foreign investments. Dow has the ability to repatriate additional funds to the U.S., which could result in an adjustment to the tax liability for foreign withholding taxes, foreign and/or U.S. state income taxes and the impact of foreign currency movements. At December 31, 2021, management believed that sufficient liquidity was available in the United States. The Company has and expects to continue repatriating certain funds from its non-U.S. subsidiaries that are not needed to finance local operations; however, these particular repatriation activities have not and are not expected to result in a significant incremental tax liability to the Company.
The Company’s cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities, as reflected in the consolidated statements of cash flows, are summarized in the following table:
| Cash Flow Summary | Dow Inc. | TDCC | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||
| Cash provided by (used for): | |||||||||||||||||
| Operating activities - continuing operations | $ | 7,069 | $ | 6,252 | $ | 5,713 | $ | 7,200 | $ | 6,263 | $ | 5,706 | |||||
| Operating activities - discontinued operations | (60) | (26) | 217 | — | — | 371 | |||||||||||
| Operating activities | 7,009 | 6,226 | 5,930 | 7,200 | 6,263 | 6,077 | |||||||||||
| Investing activities - continuing operations | (2,914) | (841) | (2,158) | (2,914) | (841) | (2,158) | |||||||||||
| Investing activities - discontinued operations | — | — | (34) | — | — | (34) | |||||||||||
| Investing activities | (2,914) | (841) | (2,192) | (2,914) | (841) | (2,192) | |||||||||||
| Financing activities - continuing operations | (6,071) | (2,764) | (4,077) | (6,262) | (2,801) | (4,224) | |||||||||||
| Financing activities - discontinued operations | — | — | (18) | — | — | (18) | |||||||||||
| Financing activities | (6,071) | (2,764) | (4,095) | (6,262) | (2,801) | (4,242) | |||||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | (99) | 107 | (27) | (99) | 107 | (27) | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||
| Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | (2,075) | 2,728 | (384) | (2,075) | 2,728 | (384) | |||||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of year | 5,108 | 2,380 | 2,764 | 5,108 | 2,380 | 2,764 | |||||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of year | $ | 3,033 | $ | 5,108 | $ | 2,380 | $ | 3,033 | $ | 5,108 | $ | 2,380 | |||||
| Less: Restricted cash and cash equivalents, included in "Other current assets" | 45 | 4 | 13 | 45 | 4 | 13 | |||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of year | $ | 2,988 | $ | 5,104 | $ | 2,367 | $ | 2,988 | $ | 5,104 | $ | 2,367 |
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Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2021 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings and dividends from equity method investments, which were partially offset by cash used for working capital requirements, pension contributions and performance-based compensation payments. Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2020 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings, cash receipts related to an advance payment from a customer and the Nova ethylene asset matter, dividends from equity method investments and working capital improvements, which were partially offset by pension contributions. Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations in 2019 was primarily driven by the Company's cash earnings, dividends from equity method investments, working capital improvements, cash receipts related to an advance payment from a customer and the Nova ethylene asset matter, which were partially offset by performance-based compensation payments and pension contributions.
| Net Working Capital and Current Ratio at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||
| Current assets | $ | 20,848 | $ | 19,084 | $ | 20,837 | $ | 18,998 | |||
| Current liabilities | 13,226 | 11,108 | 13,046 | 10,574 | |||||||
| Net working capital | $ | 7,622 | $ | 7,976 | $ | 7,791 | $ | 8,424 | |||
| Current ratio | 1.58:1 | 1.72:1 | 1.60:1 | 1.80:1 |
| Working Capital Metrics | Twelve Months Ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2021 | Dec 31, 2020 | ||||||
| Days sales outstanding in trade receivables | 40 | 48 | |||||
| Days sales in inventory | 54 | 65 | |||||
| Days payables outstanding | 57 | 66 |
Cash provided by (used for) operating activities from discontinued operations primarily related to cash payments and receipts the Company had with DuPont and Corteva that related to certain agreements and matters related to the separation from DowDuPont. See Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities from continuing operations in 2021 was primarily for capital expenditures and purchases of investments and previously leased assets, which were partially offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of investments. Cash used for investing activities from continuing operations in 2020 was primarily for capital expenditures, purchases of investments, investments in and loans to nonconsolidated affiliates (related to Sadara) and acquisitions of property and businesses, which were partially offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of investments and proceeds from sales of property and businesses. Cash used for investing activities from continuing operations in 2019 was primarily for capital expenditures, purchases of investments and investments in and loans to nonconsolidated affiliates, which were partially offset by proceeds from sales and maturities of investments.
The Company loaned Sadara $333 million in 2020 and $473 million in 2019. As a result of Sadara's debt re-profiling completed in the first quarter of 2021, the Company did not provide any shareholder loans or equity contributions to Sadara in 2021. See Notes 12 and 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
The Company's capital expenditures related to continuing operations were $1,501 million in 2021, $1,252 million in 2020 and $1,961 million in 2019. Capital spending was higher in 2021 as the Company ramped up its growth projects and investments to keep pace with demand recovery. The Company expects capital spending in 2022 to be approximately $2.2 billion.
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Capital spending in recent years has included an expansion of the Company's new ethylene production facility in Freeport, Texas, which commenced operations in 2020, bringing the facility's total ethylene capacity to 2,000 kilotonnes per annum and making it the largest ethylene cracker in the world; the addition of a furnace to the Company's ethylene production facility in Alberta, Canada, which commenced operations in 2021; the retrofit of one of the Company's Louisiana steam crackers with Dow's proprietary fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation ("FCDh") technology to produce on-purpose propylene and the addition of a new specialty alkoxylation reactor in Plaquemine, Louisiana, which are both expected to be completed in the second half of 2022; and the addition of an integrated MDI distillation and prepolymers facility at its site in Freeport, Texas, which is expected to be completed in 2023.
Cash used for investing activities from discontinued operations in 2019 was primarily for capital expenditures, partially offset by proceeds from the sales of property, businesses and ownership interests in nonconsolidated affiliates.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Cash used for financing activities from continuing operations in 2021 included payments on long-term debt and transaction financing, debt issuance and other costs, which were partially offset by proceeds from issuance of common stock. In addition, Dow Inc. included cash outflows for dividends paid to stockholders and purchases of treasury stock and TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. Cash used for financing activities from continuing operations in 2020 included payments on long-term debt, changes in short-term notes payable and transaction financing, debt issuance and other costs, which were partially offset by proceeds from issuance of long-term debt. In addition, Dow Inc. included cash outflows for dividends paid to stockholders and purchases of treasury stock and TDCC included cash outflows for dividends paid to Dow Inc. Cash used for financing activities from continuing operations in 2019 included payments on long-term debt and dividends paid to DowDuPont, which were partially offset by proceeds from issuance of long-term debt. In addition, Dow Inc. received cash as part of the separation from DowDuPont, which was more than offset by dividends paid to stockholders and purchases of treasury stock. See Notes 15 and 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to the issuance and retirement of debt and the Company's share repurchases and dividends.
Cash used for financing activities from discontinued operations in 2019 primarily related to distributions to noncontrolling interests and employee taxes paid for share-based payment arrangements.
Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures
Free Cash Flow
Dow defines free cash flow as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," less capital expenditures. Under this definition, free cash flow represents the cash generated by Dow from operations after investing in its asset base. Free cash flow, combined with cash balances and other sources of liquidity, represents the cash available to fund obligations and provide returns to shareholders. Free cash flow is an integral financial measure used in the Company's financial planning process.
Operating EBITDA and Pro Forma Operating EBITDA
Dow defines Operating EBITDA (for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020) as earnings (i.e., "Income from continuing operations before income taxes") before interest, depreciation and amortization, excluding the impact of significant items. Pro forma Operating EBITDA (for the year ended December 31, 2019) is defined as earnings (i.e. "Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes") before interest, depreciation and amortization, plus pro forma adjustments, excluding the impact of significant items.
Cash Flow Conversion (Operating EBITDA or Pro Forma Operating EBITDA to Cash Flow From Operations)
Dow defines cash flow conversion (Operating EBITDA or pro forma Operating EBITDA to cash flow from operations) as "Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations," divided by Operating EBITDA or pro forma Operating EBITDA. Management believes cash flow conversion is an important financial metric as it helps the Company determine how efficiently it is converting its earnings into cash flow.
These financial measures are not recognized in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") and should not be viewed as alternatives to U.S. GAAP financial measures of performance. All companies do not calculate non-GAAP financial measures in the same manner and, accordingly, Dow's definitions may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies.
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| Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Cash Flow Measures | Dow Inc. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 7,069 | $ | 6,252 | $ | 5,713 | ||
| Capital expenditures | (1,501) | (1,252) | (1,961) | |||||
| Free cash flow (non-GAAP) 1 | $ | 5,568 | $ | 5,000 | $ | 3,752 |
1.Free cash flow for the year ended December 31, 2021 reflects a $1 billion elective pension contribution.
| Reconciliation of Cash Flow Conversion (Operating EBITDA or Pro Forma Operating EBITDA to Cash Flow From Operations) | Dow Inc. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 1 | ||||
| Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of tax (GAAP) | $ | 6,405 | $ | 1,294 | $ | (1,717) | |
| + Provision for income taxes on continuing operations | 1,740 | 777 | 470 | ||||
| Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes | $ | 8,145 | $ | 2,071 | $ | (1,247) | |
| - Interest income | 55 | 38 | 81 | ||||
| + Interest expense and amortization of debt discount | 731 | 827 | 933 | ||||
| + Pro forma adjustments ² | — | — | 65 | ||||
| - Significant items ³ | (712) | 145 | (4,682) | ||||
| Operating EBIT (non-GAAP) | $ | 9,533 | $ | 2,715 | $ | 4,352 | |
| + Depreciation and amortization | 2,842 | 2,874 | 2,938 | ||||
| Operating EBITDA (non-GAAP) | $ | 12,375 | $ | 5,589 | $ | 7,290 | |
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations (GAAP) | $ | 7,069 | $ | 6,252 | $ | 5,713 | |
| Cash flow conversion (Operating EBITDA or pro forma Operating EBITDA to cash flow from operations) (non-GAAP) 4 | 57.1 | % | 111.9 | % | 78.4 | % |
1.Operating EBIT, depreciation and amortization and Operating EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2019 is presented on a pro forma basis.
2.Pro forma adjustments for the year ended December 31, 2019 include: (1) the margin impact of various manufacturing, supply and service related agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva in connection with the separation which provide for different pricing than the historical intercompany and intracompany pricing practices of TDCC and Historical DuPont and (2) the elimination of the impact of events directly attributable to the Merger, internal reorganization and business realignment, separation, distribution and other related transactions (e.g., one-time transaction costs).
3.The year ended December 31, 2021 includes costs associated with the Company's digital acceleration program; restructuring, implementation costs and asset related charges - net; a loss on early extinguishment of debt; a gain on a previous divestiture, litigation related charges, awards and adjustments; and indemnification and other transaction related costs. The year ended December 31, 2020 includes integration and separation costs, restructuring, implementation costs and asset related charges - net, a gain on a warranty accrual adjustment of an exited business, a net gain on divestitures and asset sale, a gain related to a legal matter with Nova, a loss on early extinguishment of debt and a loss associated with agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution. The year ended December 31, 2019 includes integration and separation costs, restructuring, goodwill impairment and asset related charges - net, a gain on a warranty accrual adjustment of an exited business, environmental charges, a loss related to previous divestitures, a loss on early extinguishment of debt, a net gain related to litigation matters and a loss associated with agreements entered into with DuPont and Corteva as part of the separation and distribution. See Note 26 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
4.Cash flow conversion for the year ended December 31, 2021 reflects a $1 billion elective pension contribution.
Liquidity & Financial Flexibility
The Company’s primary source of incremental liquidity is cash flows from operating activities. The generation of cash from operations and the Company's ability to access capital markets is expected to meet the Company’s cash requirements for working capital, capital expenditures, debt maturities, contributions to pension plans, dividend distributions to stockholders, share repurchases and other needs. In addition to cash from operating activities, the Company’s current liquidity sources also include TDCC's U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs, committed and uncommitted credit facilities, committed accounts receivable facilities, a U.S. retail note program (“InterNotes®”) and other debt markets.
The Company continues to maintain a strong financial position with all of its committed credit facilities undrawn and fully available at December 31, 2021. Cash and committed and available forms of liquidity were $12.6 billion at December 31, 2021. The Company also has no substantive long-term debt maturities due until 2026. Additional details on sources of liquidity are as follows:
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Commercial Paper
TDCC issues promissory notes under its U.S. and Euromarket commercial paper programs. TDCC had no commercial paper outstanding at December 31, 2021 and 2020. TDCC maintains access to the commercial paper market at competitive rates. Amounts outstanding under TDCC's commercial paper programs during the period may be greater or less than the amount reported at the end of the period. Subsequent to December 31, 2021, TDCC issued approximately $1.3 billion of commercial paper.
Committed Credit Facilities
The Company also has the ability to access liquidity through TDCC's committed and available credit facilities. At December 31, 2021, TDCC had total committed and available credit facilities of $8.1 billion. See Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on committed and available credit facilities.
Committed Accounts Receivable Facilities
In addition to the above committed credit facilities, the Company maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in the U.S. where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to $900 million, may be sold at any point in time. The Company also maintains a committed accounts receivable facility in Europe where eligible trade accounts receivable, up to €500 million, may be sold at any point in time. At December 31, 2021, there were no receivables sold under the U.S. and Europe committed accounts receivable facilities. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Company-Owned Life Insurance
The Company has investments in company-owned life insurance ("COLI") policies, which are recorded at their cash surrender value as of each balance sheet date. The Company has the ability to monetize its investment in its COLI policies as an additional source of liquidity. In the first quarter of 2021, the Company monetized $200 million of its existing COLI policies' surrender value. In the second quarter of 2021, the Company repaid the drawdown against the cash surrender value. The Company had no outstanding monetization of its existing COLI policies' surrender value at December 31, 2021. See Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Uncommitted Credit Facilities
The Company has entered into various uncommitted bilateral credit arrangements as a potential source of excess liquidity. These lines can be used to support short-term liquidity needs and for general purposes, including letters of credit. The Company had no drawdowns outstanding at December 31, 2021.
Letters of Credit
TDCC utilizes letters of credit to support commitments made in the ordinary course of business. While the terms and amounts of letters of credit change, TDCC generally has approximately $400 million of outstanding letters of credit at any given time.
Early Settlement of Letters of Credit
The Company utilizes, from time-to-time, letters of credit discounting programs to manage and expedite the settlement of letters of credit in certain regions. These letters of credit are associated with accounts receivable and the Company retains no interest in the transferred letters of credit or receivables once sold.
Shelf Registration - U.S.
On July 26, 2019, Dow Inc. and TDCC filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC. The shelf indicates that Dow Inc. may offer common stock; preferred stock; depositary shares; debt securities; guarantees; warrants to purchase common stock, preferred stock and debt securities; and stock purchase contracts and stock purchase units, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. The shelf also indicates that TDCC may offer debt securities, guarantees and warrants to purchase debt securities, with pricing and availability of any such offerings depending on market conditions. Also on July 26, 2019, TDCC filed a new prospectus supplement under this shelf registration to register an unlimited amount of securities for issuance under InterNotes®. The shelf registration expires on July 26, 2022. The Company expects to renew the shelf registration.
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Debt
As the Company continues to maintain its strong balance sheet and financial flexibility, management is focused on net debt (a non-GAAP financial measure), as the Company believes this is the best representation of its financial leverage at this point in time. As shown in the following table, net debt is equal to total gross debt minus "Cash and cash equivalents" and "Marketable securities." At December 31, 2021, net debt as a percentage of total capitalization for Dow Inc. and TDCC decreased to 37.9 percent and 37.5 percent, respectively, compared with 47.9 percent and 46.8 percent, respectively, at December 31, 2020.
| Total Debt at Dec 31 | Dow Inc. | TDCC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||
| Notes payable | $ | 161 | $ | 156 | $ | 161 | $ | 156 |
| Long-term debt due within one year | 231 | 460 | 231 | 460 | ||||
| Long-term debt | 14,280 | 16,491 | 14,280 | 16,491 | ||||
| Gross debt | $ | 14,672 | $ | 17,107 | $ | 14,672 | $ | 17,107 |
| - Cash and cash equivalents | 2,988 | 5,104 | 2,988 | 5,104 | ||||
| - Marketable securities 1 | 245 | 45 | 245 | 45 | ||||
| Net debt | $ | 11,439 | $ | 11,958 | $ | 11,439 | $ | 11,958 |
| Total equity | $ | 18,739 | $ | 13,005 | $ | 19,029 | $ | 13,569 |
| Gross debt as a percentage of total capitalization | 43.9 | % | 56.8 | % | 43.5 | % | 55.8 | % |
| Net debt as a percentage of total capitalization | 37.9 | % | 47.9 | % | 37.5 | % | 46.8 | % |
1.Included in "Other current assets" in the consolidated balance sheets.
In the second quarter of 2021, the Company redeemed $208 million aggregate principal amount of 3.15 percent notes due May 2024 and $811 million aggregate principal amount of 3.50 percent notes due October 2024.
In the third quarter of 2021, the Company completed cash tender offers for certain debt securities. In total, $1,042 million aggregate principal amount was tendered and retired. In addition, the Company voluntarily repaid $81 million of long-term debt due within one year.
The Company may at any time repurchase certain debt securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions subject to: the applicable terms under which any such debt securities were issued, certain internal approvals of the Company, and applicable laws and regulations of the relevant jurisdiction in which any such potential transactions might take place. This in no way obligates the Company to make any such repurchases nor should it be considered an offer to do so.
TDCC’s public debt instruments and primary, private credit agreements contain, among other provisions, certain customary restrictive covenant and default provisions. TDCC’s most significant debt covenant with regard to its financial position is the obligation to maintain the ratio of its consolidated indebtedness to consolidated capitalization at no greater than 0.70 to 1.00 at any time the aggregate outstanding amount of loans under the Five Year Competitive Advance and Revolving Credit Facility Agreement ("Revolving Credit Agreement") equals or exceeds $500 million. The ratio of TDCC’s consolidated indebtedness as defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement was .40 to 1.00 at December 31, 2021. Management believes TDCC was in compliance with all of its covenants and default provisions at December 31, 2021. The Revolving Credit Agreement was extended in November 2021 to include favorable updates to the terms and conditions and matures in November 2026.
On April 1, 2019, DowDuPont completed the separation of its materials science business and Dow Inc. became the direct parent company of TDCC. In conjunction with the separation, Dow Inc. is obligated, substantially concurrently with the issuance of any guarantee in respect of outstanding or committed indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Agreement, to enter into a supplemental indenture with TDCC and the trustee under TDCC’s existing 2008 base indenture governing certain notes issued by TDCC. Under such supplemental indenture, Dow Inc. will guarantee all outstanding debt securities and all amounts due under such existing base indenture and will become subject to certain covenants and events of default under the existing base indenture.
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In addition, the Revolving Credit Agreement includes an event of default which would be triggered in the event Dow Inc. incurs or guarantees third party indebtedness for borrowed money in excess of $250 million or engages in any material activity or directly owns any material assets, in each case, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. Dow Inc. may, at its option, cure the event of default by delivering an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee to the administrative agent within thirty days of the event or events giving rise to such event of default.
No such events have occurred or have been triggered at the time of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to TDCC’s notes payable and long-term debt activity and information on TDCC’s debt covenants and default provisions.
While taking into consideration the current economic environment, management expects that the Company will continue to have sufficient liquidity and financial flexibility to meet all of its business obligations.
Credit Ratings
TDCC's credit ratings at January 31, 2022 were as follows:
| Credit Ratings | Long-Term Rating | Short-Term Rating | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitch Ratings | BBB+ | F2 | Stable |
| Moody’s Investors Service | Baa2 | P-2 | Stable |
| Standard & Poor’s | BBB | A-2 | Stable |
On April 13, 2021, Fitch reaffirmed TDCC’s BBB+ and F2 rating, and revised its outlook to stable from negative. The decision was made as part of Fitch’s annual review process.
On June 10, 2021, S&P announced a credit rating upgrade for TDCC from BBB- and A-3 to BBB and A-2, maintaining stable outlook. The decision from S&P reflects the expectation for an ongoing macroeconomic recovery, the Company’s supportive financial policies and the strengthening of its operating performance in 2021 relative to 2020.
Dividends
Dow Inc.
Dow Inc. has paid dividends on a quarterly basis since the separation from DowDuPont and expects to continue to do so, subject to approval by the Board. The dividends declared by the Board align to the Company's strategy announced in 2018 of returning approximately 45 percent of operating net income1 to the shareholders through the dividend and total shareholder remuneration of approximately 65 percent, when including share repurchases, over the economic cycle. The following tables provide information on dividends declared and paid to common stockholders:
| Dividends Paid for the Years Ended Dec 31 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions, except per share amounts | ||||||||
| Dividends paid, per common share | $ | 2.80 | $ | 2.80 | $ | 2.10 | ||
| Dividends paid to common stockholders | $ | 2,073 | $ | 2,071 | $ | 1,550 |
1.Reflects Dow Inc. activity subsequent to the separation from DowDuPont.
| Dow Inc. Cash Dividends Declared and Paid | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | Amount (per share) | |
| February 11, 2021 | February 26, 2021 | March 12, 2021 | $ | 0.70 |
| April 15, 2021 | May 28, 2021 | June 11, 2021 | $ | 0.70 |
| August 12, 2021 | August 31, 2021 | September 10, 2021 | $ | 0.70 |
| October 14, 2021 | November 30, 2021 | December 10, 2021 | $ | 0.70 |
1.Operating net income is a non-GAAP measure that Dow defines as "Net income (loss) available for Dow Inc. common stockholders," excluding the impact of significant items.
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TDCC
Effective with the Merger, TDCC no longer has publicly traded common stock. From the Merger Date through March 31, 2019, TDCC's common shares were owned solely by DowDuPont. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, TDCC committed to fund a portion of DowDuPont's dividends paid to common stockholders and certain governance expenses. Funding was accomplished through intercompany loans. On a quarterly basis, TDCC's Board reviewed and determined a dividend distribution to DowDuPont to settle the intercompany loans. The dividend distribution considered the level of TDCC’s earnings and cash flows and the outstanding intercompany loan balances. TDCC declared and paid dividends to DowDuPont of $535 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. See Note 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Effective with the separation from DowDuPont on April 1, 2019, TDCC became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Inc. TDCC has committed to fund Dow Inc.'s dividends paid to common stockholders, share repurchases and certain governance expenses. Funding is accomplished through intercompany loans. TDCC's Board reviews and determines a dividend distribution to Dow Inc. to settle the intercompany loans. For the year ended December 31, 2021, TDCC declared and paid dividends to Dow Inc. of $3,264 million ($2,233 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and $201 million for the year ended December 31, 2019). At December 31, 2021, TDCC's intercompany loan balance with Dow Inc. was insignificant. See Note 25 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
Share Repurchase Program
Dow Inc.
On April 1, 2019, Dow Inc.'s Board ratified the share repurchase program originally approved on March 15, 2019, authorizing up to $3.0 billion to be spent on the repurchase of the Company's common stock, with no expiration date. In 2021, Dow Inc. repurchased $1.0 billion of the Company's common stock. At December 31, 2021, approximately $1.4 billion of the share repurchase program authorization remained available for repurchases. As previously announced, the Company intends to, at a minimum, repurchase shares to cover dilution. The Company may expand share repurchases beyond dilution as favorable economic conditions develop. Any share repurchases, when coupled with the Company's dividends, is intended to implement the long-term strategy of ensuring shareholder remuneration is approximately 65 percent over the economic cycle.
Pension Plans
The Company has both funded and unfunded defined benefit pension plans that cover employees in the United States and a number of other countries. In 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Company contributed $1,219 million, $299 million and $261 million to its continuing operations pension plans respectively, including contributions to fund benefit payments for its non-qualified pension plans ($1,219 million, $299 million and $266 million, including contributions to plans of discontinued operations). In the first quarter of 2021, the Company elected to contribute $1 billion to its U.S. tax-qualified pension plans, which is included in the 2021 contribution amount above. This contribution was based on the Company's funding policy, which is to contribute to defined benefit pension plans when pension laws and/or economics either require or encourage funding. The Company expects to contribute approximately $180 million to its pension plans in 2022.
On March 4, 2021, the Company announced changes to the design of its U.S. tax-qualified and non-qualified pension plans (collectively, the "U.S. Plans") and, effective December 31, 2023, the Company will freeze the pensionable compensation and credited service amounts used to calculate pension benefits for employees who participate in the U.S. Plans. See Note 20 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information concerning the Company’s pension plans.
Restructuring
The actions related to the 2020 Restructuring Program are expected to result in additional cash expenditures of $168 million, primarily through the third quarter of 2022, consisting of severance and related benefit costs and costs associated with exit and disposal activities, including contract cancellation penalties and environmental remediation. Restructuring implementation costs, primarily decommissioning and demolition activities related to asset actions, are expected to result in additional cash expenditures of approximately $50 million, primarily through the third quarter of 2022. Restructuring implementation costs totaled $63 million in 2021.
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The Company expects to incur additional costs in the future related to its restructuring activities, which will be recognized as incurred. The Company also expects to incur additional employee-related costs, including involuntary termination benefits related to its other optimization activities. These costs cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. See Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company's restructuring activities.
Digital Acceleration
In the first quarter of 2021, Dow announced plans to further advance and expand its digitalization efforts to deliver long-term value creation, by accelerating investment in three key areas: expanding digital tools to accelerate materials science innovation; further enhancing the e-commerce buying and fulfillment experience for Dow's customers; and adopting real-time digital manufacturing insights, operational data intelligence and demand sensing to enhance the productivity and reliability of Dow’s operations. The Company expects more than $300 million in incremental annual run rate Operating EBITDA generation by the end of 2025 related to digital acceleration, with an additional one-time $100 million in structural working capital efficiency gains, driven in part by enhanced planning from digital tools. The activities related to digital acceleration are expected to result in additional cash expenditures of approximately $250 million, primarily through the end of 2022. Digital acceleration expenses totaled $169 million in 2021.
Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes the Company’s contractual obligations, commercial commitments and expected cash requirements for interest at December 31, 2021. Additional information related to these obligations can be found in Notes 15, 16, 17 and 20 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
| Contractual Obligations at Dec 31, 2021 | Payments Due In | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In millions | 2022 | 2023-2024 | 2025-2026 | 2027 and beyond | Total | |||||||||
| Dow Inc. | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 231 | $ | 464 | $ | 1,213 | $ | 12,900 | $ | 14,808 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 631 | 1,207 | 1,149 | 7,409 | 10,396 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 280 | 587 | 594 | 6,089 | 7,550 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 346 | 499 | 326 | 570 | 1,741 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 2,953 | 4,337 | 2,579 | 3,428 | 13,297 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 910 | 677 | 1,391 | 2,978 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 4,441 | $ | 8,004 | $ | 6,538 | $ | 31,787 | $ | 50,770 | ||||
| TDCC | ||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt obligations 1 | $ | 231 | $ | 464 | $ | 1,213 | $ | 12,900 | $ | 14,808 | ||||
| Expected cash requirements for interest 2 | 631 | 1,207 | 1,149 | 7,409 | 10,396 | |||||||||
| Pension and other postretirement benefits | 280 | 587 | 594 | 6,089 | 7,550 | |||||||||
| Operating leases 3 | 346 | 499 | 326 | 570 | 1,741 | |||||||||
| Purchase obligations 4 | 2,953 | 4,337 | 2,579 | 3,428 | 13,297 | |||||||||
| Other noncurrent obligations 5 | — | 884 | 578 | 1,368 | 2,830 | |||||||||
| Total | $ | 4,441 | $ | 7,978 | $ | 6,439 | $ | 31,764 | $ | 50,622 |
1.Excludes unamortized debt discount and issuance costs of $297 million. Includes finance lease obligations of $869 million.
2.Cash requirements for interest on long-term debt was calculated using current interest rates at December 31, 2021, and includes $53 million of various floating rate notes.
3.Includes imputed interest of $278 million.
4.Includes outstanding purchase orders and other commitments greater than $1 million obtained through a survey conducted within the Company.
5.Includes liabilities related to asbestos litigation, environmental remediation, legal matters and other noncurrent liabilities. In addition to these items, Dow Inc. includes liabilities related to noncurrent obligations with DuPont and Corteva. The table excludes uncertain tax positions due to uncertainties in the timing of the effective settlement of tax positions with the respective taxing authorities and deferred tax liabilities as it is impractical to determine whether there will be a cash impact related to these liabilities. The table also excludes deferred revenue as it does not represent future cash requirements arising from contractual payment obligations.
The Company expects to meet its contractual obligations through its normal sources of liquidity and believes it has the financial resources to satisfy these contractual obligations.
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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Off-balance sheet arrangements are obligations the Company has with nonconsolidated entities related to transactions, agreements or other contractual arrangements. The Company holds variable interests in joint ventures accounted for under the equity method of accounting. The Company is not the primary beneficiary of these joint ventures and therefore is not required to consolidate these entities (see Note 24 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). In addition, see Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the transfer of financial assets.
Guarantees arise during the ordinary course of business from relationships with customers, committed accounts receivable facilities and nonconsolidated affiliates when the Company undertakes an obligation to guarantee the performance of others if specific triggering events occur. Additional information related to guarantees can be found in the “Guarantees” section of Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Fair Value Measurements
See Note 20 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to fair value measurements of pension and other postretirement benefit plan assets; see Note 22 for information related to other-than-temporary impairments; and, see Note 23 for additional information concerning fair value measurements.
OTHER MATTERS
Recent Accounting Guidance
See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of recent accounting guidance.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements describes the significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. Following are the Company’s accounting policies impacted by judgments, assumptions and estimates:
Litigation
The Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims arising out of the normal course of business including product liability, patent infringement, employment matters, governmental tax and regulation disputes, contract and commercial litigation and other actions. The Company routinely assesses the legal and factual circumstances of each matter, the likelihood of any adverse outcomes to these matters, as well as ranges of probable losses. A determination of the amount of the reserves required, if any, for these contingencies is made after thoughtful analysis of each known claim. The Company has an active risk management program consisting of numerous insurance policies secured from many carriers covering various timeframes. These policies may provide coverage that could be utilized to minimize the financial impact, if any, of certain contingencies. The required reserves may change in the future due to new developments in each matter. For further discussion, see Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past four decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem Products, Inc. ("Amchem"). Each year, Ankura Consulting Group, LLC ("Ankura") performs a review for Union Carbide based upon historical asbestos claims, resolution and asbestos-related defense and processing costs, through the terminal year of 2049. Union Carbide compares current asbestos claim and resolution activity, including asbestos-related defense and processing costs, to the results of the most recent Ankura study at each balance sheet date to determine whether the asbestos-related liability continues to be appropriate.
For additional information, see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings; Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; and Notes 1 and 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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Environmental Matters
The Company determines the costs of environmental remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on evaluations of current law and existing technologies. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and emerging remediation technologies. The recorded liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress, or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. At December 31, 2021, the Company had accrued obligations of $1,220 million for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs, including $237 million for the remediation of Superfund sites. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. For further discussion, see Environmental Matters in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Notes 1 and 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Goodwill
The Company performs goodwill impairment testing at the reporting unit level. Reporting units are the level at which discrete financial information is available and reviewed by business management on a regular basis. The Company tests goodwill for impairment annually (in the fourth quarter), or more frequently when events or changes in circumstances indicate it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit has declined below its carrying value. Goodwill is evaluated for impairment using qualitative and/or quantitative testing procedures. The separation from DowDuPont on April 1, 2019, did not impact the composition of the Company's six reporting units: Coatings & Performance Monomers, Consumer Solutions, Hydrocarbons & Energy, Industrial Solutions, Packaging and Specialty Plastics and Polyurethanes & Construction Chemicals. The ECP businesses received as part of the separation from DowDuPont are included in the Hydrocarbons & Energy and Packaging and Specialty Plastics reporting units. At December 31, 2021, goodwill was carried by five out of six of the Company's reporting units.
The Company has the option to first perform qualitative testing to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. Qualitative factors assessed at the Company level include, but are not limited to, GDP growth rates, long-term hydrocarbon and energy prices, equity and credit market activity, discount rates, foreign exchange rates and overall financial performance. Qualitative factors assessed at the reporting unit level include, but are not limited to, changes in industry and market structure, competitive environments, planned capacity and new product launches, cost factors such as raw material prices, and financial performance of the reporting unit. If the Company chooses not to complete qualitative testing for a given reporting unit or if the initial assessment indicates that it is more likely than not that the estimated fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, additional quantitative testing is required.
Quantitative testing requires the fair value of the reporting unit to be compared with its carrying value. If the reporting unit's carrying value exceeds its fair value, an impairment charge is recognized for the difference. The Company utilizes a discounted cash flow methodology to calculate the fair value of its reporting units. This valuation technique has been selected by management as the most meaningful valuation method due to the limited number of market comparables for the Company's reporting units. However, where market comparables are available, the Company includes EBIT/EBITDA multiples as part of the reporting unit valuation analysis. The discounted cash flow valuations are completed using the following key assumptions: projected revenue growth rates or compounded annual growth rates, discount rates, tax rates, terminal values, currency exchange rates, and forecasted long-term hydrocarbon and energy prices, by geographic region and by year, which include the Company's key feedstocks as well as natural gas and crude oil (due to its correlation to naphtha). Currency exchange rates and long-term hydrocarbon and energy prices are established for the Company as a whole and applied consistently to all reporting units, while revenue growth rates, discount rates and tax rates are established by reporting unit to account for differences in business fundamentals and industry risk. These key assumptions drive projected EBIT/EBITDA and EBIT/EBITDA margins, which are key elements of management’s internal control over the reporting unit valuation analysis.
2021 Goodwill Impairment Testing
In 2021, there were no events or changes in circumstances that warranted interim goodwill impairment testing. In the fourth quarter of 2021, qualitative testing was performed for all reporting units carrying goodwill. Based on the results of the qualitative testing, the Company did not perform quantitative testing on any reporting units. For the qualitative testing, management considered factors at both the Company level and the reporting unit level. Based on the qualitative testing for the reporting units, management concluded it is not more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value of the reporting unit.
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Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
The amounts recognized in the consolidated financial statements related to pension and other postretirement benefits are determined from actuarial valuations. Inherent in these valuations are assumptions including expected return on plan assets, discount rates at which the liabilities could have been settled at December 31, 2021, rate of increase in future compensation levels, mortality rates and health care cost trend rates. These assumptions are updated annually and are disclosed in Note 20 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods and, therefore, affect expense recognized and obligations recorded in future periods. The U.S. pension plans represent 71 percent of the Company’s pension plan assets and 70 percent of the pension obligations.
The Company uses the spot rate approach to determine the discount rate utilized to measure the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit costs for the U.S. and other selected countries. Under the spot rate approach, the Company calculates service cost and interest cost by applying individual spot rates from the Willis Towers Watson RATE:Link yield curve (based on high-quality corporate bond yields) for each selected country to the separate expected cash flow components of service cost and interest cost; service cost and interest cost for all other plans (including all plans prior to adoption) are determined on the basis of the single equivalent discount rates derived in determining those plan obligations.
The following information relates to the U.S. plans only; a similar approach is used for the Company’s non-U.S. plans.
The Company determines the expected long-term rate of return on assets by performing a detailed analysis of historical and expected returns based on the strategic asset allocation approved by the Company's Investment Committee and the underlying return fundamentals of each asset class. The Company’s historical experience with the pension fund asset performance is also considered. The expected return of each asset class is derived from a forecasted future return confirmed by historical experience. The expected long-term rate of return is an assumption and not what is expected to be earned in any one particular year. The weighted-average long-term rate of return assumption used for determining net periodic pension expense for 2021 was 7.96 percent. The weighted-average assumption to be used for determining 2022 net periodic pension expense is 7.95 percent. Future actual pension expense will depend on future investment performance, changes in future discount rates and various other factors related to the population of participants in the Company’s pension plans.
The discount rates utilized to measure the pension and other postretirement obligations of the U.S. plans are based on the yield on high-quality corporate fixed income investments at the measurement date. Future expected actuarially determined cash flows for the Company’s U.S. plans are individually discounted at the spot rates under the Willis Towers Watson U.S. RATE:Link 60-90 corporate yield curve (based on 60th to 90th percentile high-quality corporate bond yields) to arrive at the plan’s obligations as of the measurement date. The weighted average discount rate utilized to measure pension obligations increased to 3.04 percent at December 31, 2021, from 2.71 percent at December 31, 2020.
At December 31, 2021, the U.S. tax-qualified plans were underfunded on a projected benefit obligation basis by $2,585 million. The underfunded amount decreased $3,288 million compared with December 31, 2020. The decrease in the underfunded amount in 2021 was primarily due to the impact of higher discount rates, overall favorable asset returns, a $1 billion contribution to the U.S. tax-qualified pension plans, and plan design changes.
The assumption for the long-term rate for compensation levels for the U.S. tax-qualified plans was unchanged. The Company uses a generational mortality table to determine the duration of its pension and other postretirement obligations.
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The following discussion relates to the Company’s significant pension plans.
The Company bases the determination of pension expense on a market-related valuation of plan assets that reduces year-to-year volatility. This market-related valuation recognizes investment gains or losses over a five-year period from the year in which they occur. Investment gains or losses for this purpose represent the difference between the expected return calculated using the market-related value of plan assets and the actual return based on the market value of plan assets. Since the market-related value of plan assets recognizes gains or losses over a five-year period, the future value will be impacted when previously deferred gains or losses are recorded. Over the life of the plans, both gains and losses have been recognized and amortized. At December 31, 2021, net gains of $1,628 million remain to be recognized in the calculation of the market-related value of plan assets. These net gains will result in decreases in future pension expense as they are recognized in the market-related value of assets.
The net increase in the market-related value of assets due to the recognition of prior gains is presented in the following table:
| Net Increase in Market-Related Asset Value Due to Recognition of Prior Gains | ||
|---|---|---|
| In millions | ||
| 2022 | $ | 329 |
| 2023 | 770 | |
| 2024 | 377 | |
| 2025 | 152 | |
| Total | $ | 1,628 |
Exclusive of one-time curtailment gains recognized in 2021, the Company expects pension expense to decrease in 2022 by approximately $25 million. The decrease is driven by a reduction in the amortization of actuarial losses.
A 25 basis point increase or decrease in the long-term return on assets assumption would change the Company’s total pension expense for 2022 by $62 million. A 25 basis point increase in the discount rate assumption would decrease the Company's total pension expense for 2022 by $53 million. A 25 basis point decrease in the discount rate assumption would increase the Company's total pension expense for 2022 by $55 million. A 25 basis point change in the long-term return and discount rate assumptions would have an immaterial impact on the other postretirement benefit expense for 2022.
Income Taxes
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, applying enacted tax rates expected to be in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Based on the evaluation of available evidence, both positive and negative, the Company recognizes future tax benefits, such as net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards, to the extent that realizing these benefits is considered to be more likely than not.
At December 31, 2021, the Company had a net deferred tax asset balance of $852 million, after valuation allowances of $1,391 million.
In evaluating the ability to realize the deferred tax assets, the Company relies on, in order of increasing subjectivity, taxable income in prior carryback years, the future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, tax planning strategies and forecasted taxable income using historical and projected future operating results.
At December 31, 2021, the Company had deferred tax assets for tax loss and tax credit carryforwards of $1,784 million, $864 million of which is subject to expiration in the years 2022 through 2026. In order to realize the deferred tax assets for operating tax loss and tax credit carryforwards, the Company needs taxable income of approximately $25,034 million across multiple jurisdictions. The taxable income needed to realize the deferred tax assets for operating tax loss and tax credit carryforwards that are subject to expiration from 2022 through 2026 is approximately $14,748 million.
The Company files tax returns in multiple jurisdictions and is subject to examination by taxing authorities throughout the world. Tax authorities have the ability to review and challenge matters that could be subject to differing interpretation of applicable tax laws and regulations as they relate to the amount, character, timing or inclusion of revenue and expenses or the sustainability of tax attributes. The ultimate resolution of such uncertainties could last
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several years. When an uncertain tax position is identified, the Company considers and interprets complex tax laws and regulations in order to determine the need for recognizing a provision in its financial statements. Significant judgment is required in determining the timing and measurement of uncertain tax positions. The Company utilizes internal and external expertise in interpreting tax laws to support the Company's tax positions. The Company recognizes the financial statement effects of an uncertain income tax position when it is more likely than not, based on technical merits, that the position will be sustained upon examination. At December 31, 2021, the Company had uncertain tax positions for both domestic and foreign issues of $580 million and $502 million for interest and penalties.
Environmental Matters
Environmental Policies
Dow is committed to world-class environmental, health and safety (“EH&S”) performance, as demonstrated by industry-leading performance, a long-standing commitment to Responsible Care®, and a strong commitment to achieve the Company's 2025 Sustainability Goals – goals that set the standard for sustainability in the chemical industry by focusing on improvements in the Company’s local corporate citizenship and product stewardship, and by actively pursuing methods to reduce its environmental impact.
To meet the Company’s public commitments, as well as the stringent laws and government regulations related to environmental protection and remediation to which its global operations are subject, the Company has well-defined policies, requirements and management systems. The Company's EH&S Management System (“EMS”) defines the “who, what, when and how” needed for the businesses to achieve the Company’s policies, requirements, performance objectives, leadership expectations and public commitments. To ensure effective utilization, the EMS is integrated into a company-wide management system for EH&S, Operations, Quality and Human Resources.
The Company believes third-party verification and transparent public reporting are cornerstones of world-class EH&S performance and building public trust. Numerous Dow sites in Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the U.S. & Canada have received third-party verification of the Company’s compliance with Responsible Care® and with outside specifications such as ISO-14001. The Company continues to be a global champion of Responsible Care® and has worked to broaden the application and impact of Responsible Care® around the world through engagement with suppliers, customers and joint venture partners.
Dow's EH&S policies help to ensure the Company achieves its annual health and safety performance targets and the Company seeks to continuously improve on these targets through process and personal safety project implementations. Improvement in these areas, as well as environmental compliance, remains a top management priority, as the Company continues to implement its 2025 Sustainability Goals and progressive, multi-decade sustainability targets announced in 2020 that include advancing a circular economy and climate protection. Progress is reviewed regularly by management and with the Environment, Health, Safety & Technology Committee of the Board.
Detailed information on Dow’s performance regarding environmental matters and goals is accessible through the Company's Science & Sustainability webpage at www.dow.com/sustainability. Dow's website and its content are not deemed incorporated by reference into this report.
Chemical Security
Public and political attention continues to be placed on the protection of critical infrastructure, including the chemical industry, from security threats. Terrorist attacks, natural disasters and cyber incidents have increased global concerns about the security and safety of chemical production and distribution. Many, including the Company and the American Chemistry Council, have called for uniform risk-based and performance-based national standards for securing the U.S. chemical industry. U.S. regulations set forth risk-based and performance-based standards that must be met at U.S. Coast Guard-regulated facilities. The Company is subject to U.S. Chemical Plant Security regulations and Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards which were implemented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Company is also subject to the requirements of the Rail Transportation Security Rule issued by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The Company continues to support uniform risk-based national standards for securing the chemical industry.
Since 1988, the Company has maintained a comprehensive, multi-level security plan that focuses on security, emergency planning, preparedness and response. This plan, which has been activated in response to significant world and national events, is reviewed on an annual basis. The Company continues to improve its security plans, placing emphasis on the safety of Dow communities and people by being prepared to meet risks at any level and to
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address both internal and external identifiable risks. The security plan includes regular vulnerability assessments, security audits, mitigation efforts and physical security upgrades designed to reduce vulnerability. The Company’s security plans are also designed to avert interruptions of normal business operations that could materially and adversely affect the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The Company played a key role in the development and implementation of the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® Security Code ("Security Code"), which requires that all aspects of security – including facility, transportation and cyberspace – be assessed and gaps addressed. Through the global implementation of the Security Code, the Company has permanently heightened the level of security – not just in the United States, but worldwide. The Company employs several hundred employees and contractors in its Emergency Services and Security department worldwide. In 2019, the Company established its Global Security Operations Center ("GSOC") to provide 24-hour/day, 365-day/year real-time monitoring of global risks to Dow assets and people. The GSOC employs state-of-the-art social media monitoring, threat reporting and geo-fencing capabilities to analyze global risks and report those risks, facilitating decision-making and actions to prevent Dow crises.
Through the implementation of the Security Code, including voluntary security enhancements and upgrades, the Company is well-positioned to comply with U.S. chemical facility regulations and other regulatory security frameworks. The Company participates with the American Chemistry Council to periodically review and update the Security Code.
The Company continues to work collaboratively across the supply chain on Responsible Care®, supply chain design, emergency preparedness, shipment visibility and transportation of hazardous materials. The Company cooperated with public and private entities to lead the implementation of advanced tank car design, and track and trace technologies. Further, the Company’s Distribution Risk Review process addresses potential threats in all modes of transportation across the Company’s supply chain. To reduce vulnerabilities, the Company maintains security measures that meet or exceed regulatory and industry security standards in all areas in which they operate.
The Company's initiatives relative to chemical security, emergency preparedness and response, Community Awareness and Emergency Response and crisis management are implemented consistently at all Dow sites on a global basis. Each Dow site has established outreach programs designed to engage community stakeholders with objectives centered around awareness of Dow operations, products, and efforts to protect worker and community health and the environment. These programs also educate community members on emergency planning and response, emissions and waste, future site plans to reduce waste and emissions, and process safety systems. Finally, these outreach efforts establish an opportunity for Dow site leaders to hear about community stakeholder expectations and address questions and concerns about safety, health, environmental or other issues. The Company participates with chemical associations globally and participates as an active member of the U.S. delegation to the G7 Global Partnership Sub-Working Group on Chemical Security and in positions of leadership in the U.S. Chemical Sector Coordinating Council.
Climate Change
Climate change matters for the Company are likely to be driven by several categories of risks related to the transition to a lower-carbon economy (“Transition Risks”) and risks related to the physical impacts of climate change (“Physical Risks”).
Transition Risks
Transition Risks include carbon pricing mechanisms, transition to lower greenhouse gas emissions technology, increased cost of raw materials, and mandates on and regulation of existing products and services. Carbon pricing is a market-based strategy to address climate change by putting a monetary value on greenhouse gas emissions, allowing for the costs of climate impacts and opportunities for low-carbon energy options to be reflected in production and consumption choices. Approximately 35 percent of Dow’s Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions are generated from operations in Canada and the European Union (“EU”) where carbon pricing is already in place. As part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission proposed a 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of at least 55 percent below 1990 levels, with a goal for the EU to be carbon neutral by 2050. In China, an emissions trading system, initially proposed to cover the power sector only, is expected to gradually expand to cover a total of eight sectors, including the petrochemical and chemical industries, though no specific timeline for implementation and expansion has been outlined.
These carbon pricing mechanisms will not only increase Dow’s direct costs to operate but will also result in increased energy costs. Dow mitigates the direct cost impact of existing regulation through research and
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development projects designed to increase energy efficiency, and capital investment projects that will reduce the Company’s energy usage and carbon footprint. The Company is also exploring options for carbon capture, utilization and storage (“CCUS”) and electrification of Dow’s processes. Dow sees CCUS as a mechanism to help bridge the time period between the onset of increased carbon regulation and the technology available to economically reduce Dow’s greenhouse gas emissions. Dow also incorporates a theoretical internal carbon price into its business planning and risk management strategies. This theoretical price of carbon is also included in internal calculations used for prioritizing capital projects. Ultimately the goal of utilizing an internal carbon price is to mitigate the risk of Dow’s carbon exposure to help ensure future resiliency.
Physical Risks
Operationally, climate change may result in more frequent severe weather events, potential changes in precipitation patterns and extreme variability in weather patterns, which can disrupt operations. Several of Dow’s production facilities are located in water-scarce areas and water shortages could impact normal production. Changes in average precipitation could have an impact on the availability and price of water. The Company has engineered susceptible facilities, particularly on the U.S. Gulf Coast, to better withstand severe weather and rising sea levels, and continues to study the long-term implications of changing climate parameters on water availability, plant siting issues and other impacts. Preparedness plans are developed that detail actions needed in the event of severe weather. These measures have historically been in place and these activities and associated costs are driven by normal operational preparedness.
Climate Action
The transition to a low-carbon economy remains one of society's fundamental challenges. The Company continues to progress toward its defined 2025 Sustainability Goals, which are the foundation of Dow's efforts to help lead the transition to a sustainable planet and society, and is taking further action to lessen its carbon impact moving forward. In 2020, the Company announced a new, multi-decade target to reduce its net annual greenhouse gas emissions by 5 million metric tons by 2030, compared with its 2020 baseline, a reduction of approximately 15 percent, and announced its intention to be carbon neutral by 2050 (Scopes 1+2+3, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, plus product benefits).
To achieve the 2030 carbon reduction target, Dow developed a climate protection action plan which includes the following elements:
•Optimizing energy efficiency of facilities and processes
•Increasing renewables in purchased power mix
•Investments in CCUS
•Developing low-carbon technologies for emission reductions
•Deploying materials to enable greenhouse gas emissions reductions for customers and industries
The action plan has resulted in new and expanded renewable power purchase agreements. In 2020, Dow increased its existing access to renewable power by more than 50 percent, to over 800 megawatts of renewable power, exceeding its 2025 Sustainability Goal target of 750 megawatts. The Company also initiated a joint development agreement with Shell to develop electrified cracking technology, powered by clean energy.
In 2021, Dow announced additional renewable and cleaner power agreements that increase Dow's access to over 850 megawatts of renewable power and are expected to reduce Scope 2 emissions by more than 600,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. Dow also announced a plan to build the world’s first net-zero carbon emissions (with respect to Scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide emissions, including technology advancements) site in Alberta, Canada, which will decarbonize 20 percent of Dow’s global ethylene capacity while growing polyethylene supply, with expected completion by 2030. At Dow's largest European manufacturing site in Terneuzen, The Netherlands, the Company has outlined a multi-generational plan to reduce current carbon emissions at the site by more than 40 percent by 2030, as part of the Company's goal to reduce Company-wide carbon emissions an additional 15 percent by 2030, and to be carbon neutral by 2050. Other steps the Company will take to achieve its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target include: procuring more renewable energy at multiple sites, modernizing Louisiana Operations energy assets, completing U.S. Gulf Coast flare recovery projects and advancing silicones feedstock capabilities in Brazil. The Company expects to allocate approximately $1 billion of capital expenditures annually to decarbonize its global asset base in a phased, site-by-site approach while driving growth.
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The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) has developed a framework to help organizations more effectively disclose climate-related risks and opportunities through existing reporting processes. Dow’s 2020 ESG Report includes disclosures aligned to the TCFD framework, which includes four core pillars: governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. The Company intends to meet its commitment to fully implement the recommendations of the TCFD as part of the Company’s 2021 ESG Report, to be published in 2022.
Advancing a Circular Economy
Transitioning to a circular economy is vital to both preserving and protecting Earth’s natural resources and to the success of Dow's businesses. To help advance a circular economy, Dow invests in new product technology, value chain partnerships, business models and waste management infrastructure to discover and scale sustainable solutions that extend the useful life of materials and the resources that are used to make them. In 2020, Dow announced "stop the waste" and "close the loop" goals to address plastic waste.
Dow's “stop the waste” goal is the Company's commitment to invest and/or collaborate in key technologies and infrastructure to significantly increase global recycling. As part of this goal, Dow intends to enable 1 million metric tons of plastic to be collected, reused or recycled through direct actions and partnerships by 2030. Dow will further "stop the waste" through application development, where more recycled plastics can be incorporated into key applications; through critical partnerships such as Circulate Capital and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste; and through incorporating waste into advanced recycling technologies.
Dow continues to look for market applications for recycled plastics to keep plastic out of landfills. One way to help stop the flow of this waste is to use recycled polymer modified asphalt for roads, parking lots, and other pavement. Polymer modified asphalt ("PMA") is a proven solution for making better pavement. Dow's ELVALOY™ Reactive Elastomeric Terpolymer products have been enhancing PMAs for more than 30 years, resulting in excellent performance, long service life, and lower life cycle costs compared to conventional, neat asphalt.
Dow's “close the loop” goal is the Company's commitment to work directly with its customers, brand owners and the value chain to help customers redesign and promote reusable or recyclable packaging applications where there is a clear environmental benefit and enable 100 percent of Dow products sold into packaging applications to be reusable or recyclable by 2035. Today, Dow enables approximately 80 percent of its products sold into packaging applications to be reusable or recyclable and continues to pursue application development, packaging redesign and infrastructure improvements to deliver on the Company's 100 percent commitment.
As one of the world’s largest producers of plastic, Dow wants to put an end to plastic waste. Eliminating plastic waste is about more than just recycling and reusing. It is about creating innovative solutions that are sustainable and investing in the circular economy through recyclability and efficiency for plastic packaging. Dow aims to keep plastic waste out of the environment and retain its value as a resource by increasing impact through partnerships and delivering circular economy solutions.
Environmental Remediation
The Company accrues the costs of remediation of its facilities and formerly owned facilities based on current law and regulatory requirements. The nature of such remediation can include management of soil and groundwater contamination. The accounting policies adopted to properly reflect the monetary impacts of environmental matters are discussed in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. To assess the impact on the financial statements, environmental experts review currently available facts to evaluate the probability and scope of potential liabilities. Inherent uncertainties exist in such evaluations primarily due to unknown environmental conditions, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and the ability to apply remediation technologies. These liabilities are adjusted periodically as remediation efforts progress or as additional technical or legal information becomes available. The Company had an accrued liability of $983 million at December 31, 2021, related to the remediation of current or former Dow-owned sites. At December 31, 2020, the liability related to remediation was $996 million.
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In addition to current and former Dow-owned sites, under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA") and equivalent state laws (hereafter referred to collectively as "Superfund Law"), the Company is liable for remediation of other hazardous waste sites where the Company allegedly disposed of, or arranged for the treatment or disposal of, hazardous substances. Because Superfund Law imposes joint and several liability upon each party at a site, the Company has evaluated its potential liability in light of the number of other companies that have also been named potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) at each site, the estimated apportionment of costs among all PRPs, and the financial ability and commitment of each to pay its expected share. The Company’s remaining liability for the remediation of Superfund sites was $237 million at December 31, 2021 ($248 million at December 31, 2020). The Company has not recorded any third-party recovery related to these sites as a receivable.
Information regarding environmental sites is provided below:
| Environmental Sites | Dow-owned Sites 1 | Superfund Sites 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||
| Number of sites at Jan 1 | 185 | 178 | 132 | 133 | |||
| Sites added during year | 2 | 7 | 5 | — | |||
| Sites closed during year | (16) | — | (3) | (1) | |||
| Number of sites at Dec 31 | 171 | 185 | 134 | 132 |
1.Dow-owned sites are sites currently or formerly owned by the Company. In the United States, remediation obligations are imposed by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act or analogous state law. At December 31, 2021, 24 of these sites (24 sites at December 31, 2020) were formerly owned by Dowell Schlumberger, Inc., a group of companies in which the Company previously owned a 50 percent interest. The Company sold its interest in Dowell Schlumberger in 1992.
2.Superfund sites are sites, including sites not owned by the Company, where remediation obligations are imposed by Superfund Law.
Additional information is provided below for the Company’s Midland, Michigan, manufacturing site and Midland off-site locations (collectively, the "Midland sites"), as well as a Superfund site in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, the locations for which the Company has the largest potential environmental liabilities.
In the early days of operations at the Midland manufacturing site, wastes were usually disposed of on-site, resulting in soil and groundwater contamination, which has been contained and managed on-site under a series of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permits and regulatory agreements. The Hazardous Waste Operating License for the Midland manufacturing site, issued in 2003, and renewed and replaced in September 2015, also included provisions for the Company to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and extent of off-site contamination from historic Midland manufacturing site operations. In January 2010, the Company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the State of Michigan ("State") entered into an Administrative Order on Consent that requires the Company to conduct a remedial investigation, a feasibility study and a remedial design for the Tittabawassee River, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay, and pay the oversight costs of the EPA and the State under the authority of CERCLA. See Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information relating to Midland off-site environmental matters.
Rohm and Haas, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a PRP at the Wood-Ridge, New Jersey Ventron/Velsicol Superfund Site, and the adjacent Berry’s Creek Study Area ("BCSA") (collectively, the "Wood-Ridge sites"). Rohm and Haas is a successor in interest to a company that owned and operated a mercury processing facility, where wastewater and waste handling resulted in contamination of soils and adjacent creek sediments. In 2018, the Berry’s Creek Study Area Potentially Responsible Party Group (“PRP Group”), consisting of over 100 PRPs, completed a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for the BCSA. During that time, the EPA concluded that an “iterative or adaptive approach” was appropriate for cleaning up the BCSA. Thus, each phase of remediation will be followed by a period of monitoring to assess its effectiveness and determine if there is a need for more work. In September 2018, the EPA signed a Record of Decision ("ROD 1") which describes the initial phase of the EPA’s plan to clean-up the BCSA. ROD 1 will remediate waterways and major tributaries in the most contaminated part of the BCSA. The PRP Group has signed agreements with the EPA to design the selected remedy. Although there is currently much uncertainty as to what will ultimately be required to remediate the BCSA and Rohm and Haas's share of these costs has yet to be determined, the range of activities that are required in the interim Record of Decision is known in general terms.
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At December 31, 2021, the Company had accrued liabilities totaling $358 million ($370 million at December 31, 2020) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites. In 2021, the Company spent $38 million ($53 million in 2020) for environmental remediation at the Midland and Wood-Ridge sites.
During the third quarter of 2020, the Company accrued additional liabilities totaling $106 million related to environmental remediation matters resulting from the Company's evaluation of the costs required to manage remediation activities at sites Dow will permanently shut down as part of its 2020 Restructuring Program. In addition, the Company recorded indemnification assets of $50 million related to Dow Silicones' environmental matters. Net of indemnifications, the Company recognized a pretax charge of $56 million related to these environmental matters, included in "Restructuring, goodwill impairment and asset related charges - net" in the consolidated statements of income.
During the third quarter of 2019, the Company accrued additional liabilities totaling $447 million related to environmental remediation matters at a number of current and historical locations. The additional accrual primarily resulted from: the culmination of long-standing negotiations and discussions with regulators and agencies, including technical studies supporting higher cost estimates for final or staged remediation plans; the Company’s evaluation of the cost required to manage remediation activities at sites affected by Dow’s separation from DowDuPont and related agreements with Corteva and DuPont; and, the Company’s review of its closure strategies and obligations to monitor ongoing operations and maintenance activities. In addition, the Company recorded indemnification assets of $48 million related to Dow Silicones’ environmental matters. Net of indemnifications, the Company recognized a pretax charge of $399 million related to these environmental matters, included in “Cost of sales” in the consolidated statements of income.
In total, the Company’s accrued liability for probable environmental remediation and restoration costs was $1,220 million at December 31, 2021, compared with $1,244 million at December 31, 2020. This is management’s best estimate of the costs for remediation and restoration with respect to environmental matters for which the Company has accrued liabilities, although it is reasonably possible that the ultimate cost with respect to these particular matters could range up to approximately two times that amount. Consequently, it is reasonably possible that environmental remediation and restoration costs in excess of amounts accrued could have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. It is the opinion of the Company’s management, however, that the possibility is remote that costs in excess of the range disclosed will have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to environmental remediation totaled $158 million in 2021, $234 million in 2020 and $588 million in 2019. The amounts charged to income on a pretax basis related to operating the Company's current pollution abatement facilities, excluding internal recharges, totaled $761 million in 2021, $616 million in 2020 and $677 million in 2019. Capital expenditures for environmental protection were $65 million in 2021, $80 million in 2020 and $83 million in 2019.
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past four decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem. In many cases, plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate that they have suffered any compensable loss as a result of such exposure, or that injuries incurred in fact resulted from exposure to Union Carbide’s products.
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The table below provides information regarding asbestos-related claims pending against Union Carbide and Amchem based on criteria developed by Union Carbide and its external consultants:
| Asbestos-Related Claim Activity | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claims unresolved at Jan 1 | 9,126 | 11,117 | 12,780 | ||
| Claims filed | 4,233 | 4,857 | 5,743 | ||
| Claims settled, dismissed or otherwise resolved | (4,612) | (6,848) | (7,406) | ||
| Claims unresolved at Dec 31 | 8,747 | 9,126 | 11,117 | ||
| Claimants with claims against both Union Carbide and Amchem | (2,139) | (2,904) | (3,837) | ||
| Individual claimants at Dec 31 | 6,608 | 6,222 | 7,280 |
Plaintiffs’ lawyers often sue numerous defendants in individual lawsuits or on behalf of numerous claimants. As a result, the damages alleged are not expressly identified as to Union Carbide, Amchem or any other particular defendant, even when specific damages are alleged with respect to a specific disease or injury. In fact, there are no asbestos personal injury cases in which only Union Carbide and/or Amchem are the sole named defendants. For these reasons and based upon Union Carbide’s litigation and settlement experience, Union Carbide does not consider the damages alleged against Union Carbide and Amchem to be a meaningful factor in its determination of any potential asbestos-related liability.
For additional information see Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings and Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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