The Dow Chemical Company, commonly referred to as Dow, was an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States, and the predecessor of the merged company DowDuPont. In 2007, it was the second-largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue (after BASF) and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization (after BASF and DuPont). It ranked second in the world by chemical production in 2014.
Dow manufactures plastics, chemicals, and agricultural products. With a presence in about 160 countries, it employs about 54,000 people worldwide. The company has seven different major operating segments, with a wide variety of products made by each one. Dow's 2012 sales totaled approximately $57 billion. Dow has been called the "chemical companies' chemical company" in that most of its sales are to other industries rather than end-users. Dow sells directly to end-users primarily in the human and animal health and consumer products markets.