Dow Chemical’s million-ton per year olefin cracking unit in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, has been restarted

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The 25th National \"Safety Production Month\" in 2026: Everyone should talk about safety and know how to handle emergencies; identify and address potential risks and hazards. -------------------------------------------------- On June 9, according to foreign media reports, Dow Chemical announced that its LCH3 steam cracking unit in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, has resumed operations. The cracking unit had its scheduled maintenance, which was due to take place in June 2025, postponed due to a weak market, and as a result it stopped operating and has remained shut down ever since. In January 2025, Dow Chemical said it would suspend operations at the plant until market conditions improved. The cracker, which has a rated ethylene production capacity of 680,000 tons per year and a propylene production capacity of 286,000 tons per year, was put into service in 2000. According to multiple sources, the European ethylene market has an ample supply, while demand for its derivatives is weak. As European cracking units gradually resume production following scheduled maintenance, the supply of ethylene is increasing. It is worth mentioning that on June 3, according to Dutch local media, Dow Chemical plans to lay off 605 employees in the Netherlands. Dow Chemical has three major facilities in the Netherlands: the first is the facility in Terneuzen, in Zeeland province. This is Dow’s largest production site outside the United States, with 16 factories; it is the world’s second-largest production site dedicated to the manufacture of plastics, chemicals, and important industrial raw materials – a total of around 800 different products are produced there. The facility employs approximately 3,200 people. The second is the Delfzijl facility: the distillation of crude MDI has been a practice for over 50 years, with crude MDI being produced and supplied by Dow’s plants in Stade, Germany, and Estarreja, Portugal. It is Dow’s largest global production facility for isocyanates, and the plant is equipped with three distillation towers used for separating MDI. Third is the Dordrecht facility: here, Dow produces plastics using extrusion processes, which are used in the medical and food industries, such as Surlyn®, Bynel® and Fusabond®. Among them, Surlyn® is mainly used in various packaging applications, but due to its unique composition, it can also be used for other purposes. Bynel® and Fusabond® are used as adhesive layers in packaging. Dow stated that the layoffs in the Netherlands are part of Dow Chemical’s new efficiency improvement program called “Transform Beyond,” which aims to simplify operations and enhance overall profitability.