APLA ’09: Brazil election to spur growth in 2010 – VIDEO

10 November 2009 18:36  [Source: ICIS news]

MEXICO CITY (ICIS news)--Brazil’s presidential election next year and a strengthening domestic economy should boost chemicals demand in 2010, an official with Brazilian chemicals producer Elekeiroz said on Tuesday.

“Typically, the confidence of the population grows if we’re going to have a new government,” said commercial director Carlos Calvo Sanz. “Also, the government spends a little more.”

Jorge Buhler, a consultant with US-based Polyolefins Consulting, agreed that the trends are positive for the Brazilian chemicals sector next year.

“2010 is a presidential year and a (soccer) World Cup year. Plastics consumption will increase,” he remarked.

Brazil will hold its presidential election in October 2010. Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff is President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s choice as successor, and Sao Paulo state Governor Jose Serra is the most likely opposition candidate.

Exisiting government measures, including cutting taxes on passenger cars and lower interest rates, are helping to stimulate the economy, said Sanz.

Brazil’s GDP is forecast to grow by 3-4% in 2010, following a year of approximately zero growth in 2009, he added.

“The government has taken actions at the right time and in the right direction,” Sanz said on the sidelines of the Latin American Petrochemical Association (APLA) annual meeting (see video below).

As a result of the economic improvement and rising consumer confidence, Elekeiroz expects its sales volumes to grow by 4-5% in 2010, he said.

The company produces a range of chemical products, including maleic anhydride, plasticisers and unsaturated polyester resins.

Elekeiroz’s sales volumes have developed better than expected this year, with monthly volumes in the third and fourth quarters close to averages in 2008, he said.

In the longer term, government investment in infrastructure projects will also help drive chemicals consumption. But some of the projects are taking longer than expected to materialise.

“The infrastructure investments are taking off but are not as strong as they were supposed to be,” Sanz noted.

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By: Anna Jagger
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