Brazil chems to invest $18.2bn by 2012

18 October 2007 23:46  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The chemical industry in Brazil will invest some $18.2bn (€12.74bn) by 2012, according to an annual study by the Brazilian chemical trade association Abiquim on Thursday.

The results of the study showed planned investments were 16.6% higher than those in 2006, Abiquim said.

Of the total planned, some $9.2bn refer to production projects already approved or underway, while $7bn are still being studied, depending mainly on economic factors and the supply of feedstock in the future.

The remaining $2bn refers to investments in maintenance, process improvements, safety and environmental protection, among other similar categories of capital expenditure.

According to Abiquim, the investments will provide 5.6m jobs directly within the Brazilian chemical industry.

The largest planned project is Comperj (Complexo Petroquimico do Rio de Janeiro), which will include a base petrochemical project with a budget of $5.2bn, with an additional investment of $3.2bn downstream.

Another important project is a $1bn ethanol-based ethylene and polyethylene (PE) plant planned for 2011 that will produce 350,000 tonnes/year in a partnership between Dow and Crystalsev, Abiquim said.

In 2008, the ethylene expansion project at Petroquimica Uniao in Santo Andre, in Sao Paulo state, will be concluded at a cost of $594m. That project will raise capacity 700,000 tonnes/year from 500,000 tonnes/year.

Braskem and Petroquisa plan a polypropylene (PP) unit in Paulinia, Sao Paulo with capacity of 300,000 tonnes/year that will cost $383m.

The study is based on a survey of results culled from 210 companies in the chemical sector.

($1.00 = €0.70)

By: John Waggoner
+1 713 525 2653

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