Sabic Sees Some Improvement in Petrochemical Prices, Chief Says

By Anthony DiPaola and Haris Anwar

Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Petrochemical prices have started to recover after declining about 50 percent amid the global economic slowdown as inventory levels fall, said the chief executive officer at Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

“We are seeing some improvement in prices as inventory levels decline,” said Mohamed al-Mady, CEO at the world’s biggest chemicals maker by market value, in an interview in Dubai today. “There could be some improvement in the industry at the beginning of next year, prices are still substantially down.”

The global economic slowdown is hurting some companies’ ability to invest by making it harder for them to get financing and inducing them to hold on to cash. The world’s three biggest economies, the U.S., Japan and Germany, are in recession, cutting demand for energy and consumer goods. The countries represented about one-third of global oil demand in 2007.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anthony DiPaola in Dubai at adipaola@bloomberg.net; Haris Anwar in Dubai on Hanwar2@bloomberg.net