Dow Hikes Prices 20% on Chemicals in Many Products

Skyrocketing energy costs prompted Dow Chemical to bump prices up to 20% yesterday on compounds that are the building blocks for thousands of consumer products, fanning inflation fears. Dow, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, ripped Washington for an energy policy it says has raised its energy costs 42% from a year ago, reports the Wall Street Journal.

In recent months, Dow has been pushing up prices on specific compounds with oil-based raw materials, but the across-the-board increase is nearly unprecedented, the Journal reports, and is likely to be passed on to consumers of everything from plastic wrap to paint and fabric. (More Dow Chemical Co. stories.)