The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, MI, has announced that it will raise Oxygenated Solvents prices in North America by 4 to 5 cents per pound effective April 1, 2009. The company cites continued escalation in raw material costs as the reason for the increase.

“The recent escalation in hydrocarbon costs has caused the gap between price and cost to narrow significantly,” said Marin Sutcliffe, global business director, Glycol Ethers. “Given the current market conditions, we have no choice but to fully implement this price increase.”

“Our margins have continued to decline and are currently at unacceptable levels,” says Mark Bassett, global business director, Solvents & Intermediates. “We must improve our margins so we can afford to compete for raw materials and make the products our customers need.”

For more information, visitwww.dow.com.