The CEO of the National Industrialization Company, Mutlaq Al-Morished, said, in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV, that prices improved between the first quarters of 2023 and the fourth quarters of 2022, while the first quarter of 2022 was historical.
He added, “Prices recovered by about 5 to 10% in the first quarter, and there is a decrease in costs, including logistics, and a decrease in financing costs, but the large part affecting profits between the first and previous quarters is product prices.”
He pointed out that the rise in interest rates raised the cost of financing last year, while the cost of financing witnessed a decline in the first quarter due to the repayment of part of the loans, which is a scheduled process.
Al-Muraishid pointed out that feedstock prices and logistics cannot be controlled. “A substantial recovery in prices cannot be expected compared to last year’s prices, which witnessed a post-corona recovery,” he said.
He explained that the current year will witness a recovery, but it will not be a substantial recovery, and stressed that the second half will be better than the first quarter, but this improvement is governed by several factors, including whether the US Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates, and the timing of the decline in inflation will also be influential.
