Divestitures

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Note D Divestitures [Abstract]

Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations, Disclosure [Text Block]

DIVESTITURES

Divestiture of Polypropylene Business

On July 27, 2011, Dow entered into a definitive agreement to sell Dow's global Polypropylene business to Braskem SA. The definitive agreement specified the assets included in the sale, which included the following assets of the Corporation: polypropylene manufacturing facility at Seadrift, Texas; railcars; inventory; business know-how; and certain product and process technology. The Corporation's Polypropylene Licensing and Catalyst business and related catalyst facilities were excluded from the scope of the transaction. On September 30, 2011, the sale was completed. The Corporation received $19 million for the sale of its assets, net of working capital adjustments and costs to sell, with proceeds subject to customary post-closing adjustments. The carrying amount of the assets divested on September 30, 2011 are noted below:

Assets Divested In millions	Sep 30, 2011
Inventories	$	2
Net property	12
Total assets divested	$	14

The Corporation recognized a pretax gain of $5 million on the sale in the third quarter of 2011. Post-closing adjustments of $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 reduced the pretax gain to $4 million, which is included in "Sundry income (expense) - net."

Divestiture of Certain Specialty Latex Assets

On July 31, 2009, Dow entered into a definitive agreement that included the sale of certain specialty latex assets of the Corporation located in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico, as required by the FTC for the approval of Dow's acquisition of the Rohm and Haas Company. An impairment charge of $114 million for these assets was recognized in the second quarter of 2009 restructuring charge. The divestiture of these assets was completed on January 25, 2010, and the Corporation recognized a loss of approximately $5 million related to additional impairments of these assets. See Note C for information on this restructuring charge.

Divestiture of Ownership Interest in OPTIMAL

On September 30, 2009, the Corporation completed the sale of its ownership interest in the OPTIMAL Group of Companies (“OPTIMAL”), nonconsolidated affiliates, to Petroliam Nasional Berhad for net proceeds of $660 million. This sale resulted in a pretax gain of $339 million included in “Sundry income (expense) - net.”