Who are Dow’s competitors?
Dow names 26 companies as competitors in its latest annual report, on 6 fronts. 2 companies name Dow back.
Skip to the field, head to head ↓Dow company profile
Several of Dow's named rivals also supply its feedstocks
Dow names 26 competitors in its annual report. The list looks like a field of opponents, but read closely it is a web. INEOS, LyondellBasell and SABIC appear as competitors, and they also appear among the petrochemical producers that supply Dow's feedstocks. ExxonMobil and Sinopec do the same, once as petrochemical competitors and once as suppliers.
That changes what a price fight means. The company Dow meets in a customer bid may be the one it depends on for ethylene or propylene. Westlake's filing shows the same tangle from the other side. It lists Dow among its ethylene and PE competitors, next to LyondellBasell, ExxonMobil and Sasol. In a year when Dow's revenue was $40.0 billion, down 7%, with a net margin of -6%, these ties were part of the terrain.
So here is the line to remember: in Dow's markets, the competitor is often also the supplier. A strategist should judge Dow's position by what it needs from its rivals as well as what it takes from them. Aggression has a cost when the other side controls an input.
Where Dow says it competes
“Arkema, Ashland, BASF, Covestro, Eastman, Huntsman, INEOS, LyondellBasell, Wanhua”
“Ammonia, ethylene, propylene BASF, Eastman, Hexion, Huntsman, INEOS, LyondellBasell, SABIC, Sasol, Shell”
“Aliphatic solvent, butene, ethylene, hexene, octene, propylene Borealis, CNPC, ExxonMobil, INEOS, Lanxess, LyondellBasell, Nova, SABIC, Sinopec”
“Arkema, BASF, Celanese, Evonik, LyondellBasell, Wacker Chemie”
“Chevron Phillips Chemical, ExxonMobil, INEOS, LyondellBasell, SABIC, Shell, Sinopec”
“Elkem, Momentive, Shin-Etsu, Wacker Chemie”
Who names Dow as a competitor
“Our major competitors in the polyurethane chemicals market include BASF, Covestro, Dow, Lubrizol and Wanhua Chemical Group.”
10-K for 2025“Our competitors in the ethylene and PE markets are some of the world's largest chemical companies, including Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Dow Inc., ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Formosa Plastics Corporation, LyondellBasell Industries, N.V., NOVA Chemicals Corporation and Sasol Limited.”
10-K for 2025The field, from the filings
| Company | Fiscal year | Revenue | Growth | Net margin | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 2025 | $40.0B | −7% | −6% | – |
| Shell | 2025 | $266.9B | −6% | 7% | 85,000 |
| Westlake | 2025 | $11.2B | −8% | −14% | 14,600 |
| Celanese | 2025 | $9.5B | −7% | −12% | – |
| Huntsman | 2025 | $5.7B | −6% | −5% | – |
| Ashland | FY to Sep 2025 | $1.8B | −14% | −46% | 2,900 |
Each company’s latest fiscal year as reported to the SEC, in US dollars; fiscal years end in different months. Rivals that report outside the US or in other currencies are not shown.
What the rivals have done lately
“To support this, we acquired Volta Inc. in 2023 and now own and operate one of the largest public electric vehicle charging networks in the USA.” filing
“In October 2024, we signed an agreement to acquire RISEC Holdings, which owns a 609 MW two-unit combined-cycle gas turbine power plant in Rhode Island, USA.” filing
“On January 5, 2026, we completed the acquisition of the ACI/Perplastic Group (collectively, "ACI"), a global compounding solutions businesses, for a preliminary purchase price of approximately €92.4 million, subject to certain adjustments.” filing
Asked about Dow’s competitors
Who are Dow's competitors?
In its annual report for fiscal 2025, Dow names 26 competitors across 6 fronts: chemical companies named as competitors, chemical producers named as competitors, petrochemical producers supplying dow's feedstocks, chemical producers named as competitors, competitors in petrochemicals and competitors in silicone and silicon materials. 10-K for fiscal 2025
Which companies name Dow as a competitor?
2 companies in our coverage name it in their own annual reports: Huntsman and Westlake.
How does Dow compare with its rivals?
Dow reported $40.0B in revenue in its latest fiscal year, −7% on a year, with a −6% net margin. Shell: $266.9B, 7% net margin; Huntsman: $5.7B, −5% net margin.
What are the alternatives to Dow?
The companies Dow itself names as competitors are listed above, front by front, each in its own report’s words. Which matters for a given buyer depends on the job, not the list.
What would it actually cost a challenger to take your customer?
Sources: Dow’s annual report for fiscal 2025; the annual reports of the companies that name it; each company’s financial data as reported to the SEC; Stratrix Decision Records. Analysis and data, not advice.
Tools to try
- Ansoff move finderFramework: Ansoff Matrix
- Business model canvas builderFramework: Business Model Canvas
- Change readiness checkFramework: Kotter's 8-Step Change Model
- Five Forces scorerFramework: Porter's Five Forces
- SMART goal builderFramework: SMART Goals
- SWOT builderFramework: SWOT Analysis
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