The president of the US petrochemical giant Exxonmobil Chemical has said that the down-cycle in regards to demand for the industry’s products is going to take at least another two years to fully recover.
Speaking at the Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association (GPCA) Forum in Dubai, Stephen Pryor said that despite his forecast, Exxon’s long-term strategy would ensure that his company will ride out the recession and remain a leading player in the market.
“We are in the middle of a down-cycle and while demand is starting to grow again, my own view is that this thing is not going to be over quickly and we are going to have a few tough years,” Pryor said.
”Our approach to the business is that you’re always improving your operations, you’re always improving efficiency, commitment to innovation and processes, products and feedstocks.”
“I’m encouraging our organization to stay the course, stay focused on improvement stay focused on technology,” he added.
Pryor also said that some of ExxonMobil Chemicals’ products had been performing better than others in problem sectors like automotive.
“In general we see the sectors closest to the consumer: food, beverage, flexible packaging and fabrics have been hurt less and should come back more quickly,” Pryor said.
“In contrast all of our specialty sectors that serve automotive and construction and so forth saw some very large decreases,” he added without giving any specific figures.
“Nevertheless by 2011 we should be getting back to a normal relationship overall chemical growth and move into a more optimistic outlook.”
The GPCA Forum has brought leading figures from the petrochemical industry to Dubai and concludes tomorrow.
