Dow Chemical sets more price hikes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N), the biggest U.S. chemical manufacturer, said on Tuesday it will boost its prices as much as 25 percent, institute freight surcharges and cut output of some products because of soaring energy prices.

The price hikes come after last month's across-the-board 20 percent increase by the Midland, Michigan-based company, which makes thousands of products ranging from plastic wraps to car parts and insecticides.

Dow's price increases also directly impact other players in the sector and analysts expect this move to drive price hikes from other U.S. chemical makers that are facing similar issues.

"Based on what we have already seen it wouldn't be very shocking to see everyone else follow suit here," said Morningstar analyst Ben Johnson, adding that we might also see other chemical makers slapping on freight surcharges as well.

Dow said it is also undertaking a series of cost reduction measures on staffing, facilities and spending at its automotive unit because of the decline in North American auto sales.

The company has already cut about 1,200 jobs since November last year and it plans to make additional headcount reductions, as it lowers production in a bid to keep pace with declining demand.

"Since our last announcement, the cost of hydrocarbons has continued to rise and that trajectory shows no sign of changing. We must restore margins in our businesses, both through price increases and the reduction of operating costs," said Chief Executive Andrew Liveris, in a statement.

The chemical maker's costs for oil and natural gas feedstocks and its energy bills have jumped fourfold over the past five years to an estimated $32 billion this year.

The price increases announced on May 28 were not enough to cover additional energy prices increases, Liveris said.

Oil prices have jumped 44 percent so far this year, including a $9 per barrel jump since Dow's last price hike, while natural gas prices have surged 75 percent.

The company also trimmed its production of the industrial chemical ethylene oxide by 25 percent and idled 30 percent of its North American acrylic acid output. Dow will idle 50 percent of its European styrene production and has cut European polystyrene production by 15 percent.

"What these initiatives are telling us is that pricing power is weak, and Dow is trying to bring supply down to where demand is," Credit Suisse analyst Mark Connelly, who has a "neutral" rating on Dow, said in a research note.

"In capital intensive businesses, you don't idle capacity unless you need to. You do it when the market is bad, and you don't expect to cover fixed costs."

He said the round of price increases implies weaker margins, as costs have continued to move up faster than prices.

Liveris again called for the U.S. government to overcome political squabbling and pass energy measures to increase supplies.

"We've got to get bipartisan energy policy ... This is too important a country to take aspects of energy policy off the table," he told CNBC.

From August 1, Dow will implement a surcharge of $300 per shipment by truck and $600 per shipment by rail in North America for customers buying chemicals, hydrocarbons and plastics. Freight charges will be applied in other regions later this year.

Shares of Dow were down 88 cents, or 2.3 percent, at $36.74 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha, Matt Daily and Michael Erman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Dave Zimmerman)