Telone Limited For 2009 Growing Season

Dow AgroSciences, the supplier of Telone (1,3-dichloropropene) products, is exploring solutions for the lack of supply of Telone II soil fumigant and Telone C-17 soil fungicide and nematicide. These products are temporarily restricted for the upcoming growing season. Dow is looking into options to help meet grower needs in 2010.

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“This supply restriction is only temporary,” says Dennis Lane, marketing specialist for Dow AgroSciences. “Dow AgroSciences is committed to the fumigation business that we’ve been a part of for more than 40 years, and we’re working to find comprehensive solutions to the short supply situation.”

The reduction in the supply of Telone can be traced to several uncontrollable factors. The product is part of a co-manufacturing process with an epoxy intermediate. The demand for epoxy, a key component in many housing and automobile industry products, is significantly lower due to the downturn of the global economy, reducing production of materials needed to produce epoxy. Consequently, the capacity to produce Telone products also has been reduced.

The reduction in manufacturing of these products came on the heels of two other major events in 2008. In September 2008, Hurricane Ike hit Texas near the production facility for Telone, shutting down manufacturing for several weeks due to a loss of power.

Also, as part of the Dow Chemical Company’s commitment to technology improvements, the same Texas production facility received scheduled equipment upgrades in late 2008. These advancements made it necessary to close the facility, resulting in another production lull.

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