Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012
RIYADH (Zawya Dow Jones)--The chief executive of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (2010.SA), the world's largest petrochemical maker, said Tuesday he is hopeful that the firm will resolve its anti-dumping dispute in Turkey.
"Talks (with Turkey) are continuing...we are complying with the regulations and I think this one is on its way to be resolved," Mohammed Al Mady told a press conference in Riyadh.
The Turkish government is accusing Sabic, the Middle East's largest listed company, of dumping monoethylene glycol in its market.
India has recently scrapped anti-dumping duty on polypropylene exports from Saudi, but the Asian country still hasn't lifted the fees levied on caustic soda imports originating from the kingdom, Al Mady said. The issue with the Asian country, however, will be resolved soon, he added.
Saudi Arabia set prices for ethane, a form of natural gas widely used in the production of chemicals in the Gulf region, at $0.75 per million British thermal units in 1998, below international prices.
The country's petrochemical giant Sabic is benefiting from the low cost of feedstock at home, giving the company a competitive edge over many producers elsewhere that use naphtha, a crude derivative whose price has risen in line with oil prices.
The European Union has recently terminated an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe on imports of Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, products from Saudi Arabia and Oman after a major leading European PET industry association withdrew its complaint.
The move came after China in 2010 decided it won't impose anti-dumping duties on imports of methanol from Saudi Arabia, following investigations to assess whether the material--used in blended gasoline--has been dumped onto the Chinese market at prices below production costs.
-By Summer Said and Ellen Knickmeyer, Dow Jones Newswires; +966-546-842373; summer.said@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
17-01-12 1813GMT
