Dow Argentina Bahia Blanca Chemical Complex, Bahia Blanca,Buenos Aires

Dow Argentina Bahia Blanca Chemical Complex, Bahia Blanca,Buenos Aires is a petrochemical plant in Argentina. Its listed capacity is 730,000 t of ethylene. Petrochemical plants crack hydrocarbons at very high temperatures to produce ethylene, propylene and other building-block chemicals — one of the most heat-intensive industrial processes. It is operated by The Dow Chemical Company. By capacity it ranks #1 among 2 petrochemical plants in Argentina. It emits about 514,922 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 2.4% of the CO₂e from the 33 facilities in Argentina that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 46% below the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-732004.

In context: how this facility compares

At 730,000 t of ethylene, Dow Argentina Bahia Blanca Chemical Complex, Bahia Blanca,Buenos Aires is around the median petrochemical plant in Argentina (730,000 t of ethylene). Subsector: petrochemical-steam-cracking. As petrochemical plant, it requires high process heat (typically 300–800°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Petrochemical plants crack hydrocarbons at very high temperatures to produce ethylene, propylene and other building-block chemicals — one of the most heat-intensive industrial processes.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 514,922 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest petrochemical plants in Argentina

Listed capacity (t of ethylene), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by The Dow Chemical Company. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Dow Argentina Bahia Blanca Chemical Complex, Bahia Blanca,Buenos Aires sits in a humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen Cfa), at 38.8°S in the southern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1349 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.04× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #1 largest of 2 petrochemical plants in Argentina by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Trafigura Bahia Blanca Refinery · Refinery · 197,773 t CO₂
• ARG-Bahía Blanca_ammonia · Chemical Plant · 13,804 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates -38.76584, -62.29041. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions