Dow's CEO sees improved demand, cost pressures

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Andrew Liveris, chief executive of Dow Chemical Co. (DOW.N), said on Monday that commodity chemical demand has improved since April, but feedstock costs continue to be high and trending higher.

"I would tell you the price increase recovery in the commodity side will lag the hydrocarbon increases," said Liveris, in a phone interview. The interview was held in connection with the Reuters Global Energy Summit in New York.

Liveris said 2007 will be a good year for Dow, but it will definitely not outperform its 2006 earnings. He said earnings should be below $4.00 per share.

"We still see '07 as being a very solid year for us, but we're basically managing our way through the commodity sputtering," said Liveris.

Analysts on average have forecast earnings of $3.90 a share, according to Reuters Estimates. For 2006, Dow Chemical earned $4.25 per share excluding items, or $3.82 per share on a net basis.

"The good news, though, is that volume is good, and I would tell you with the exception of housing, end-use markets are strong in North America, surprisingly strong, and the rest of the world is somewhere between dynamite and good," said Liveris.

For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)