Braskem claims heavyweight status with Quattor, Sunoco deals

01 February 2010 22:27  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Brazilian petrochemicals maker Braskem said on Monday it became the world’s eighth-largest resin producer after its takeover of rival group Quattor and the newly-announced acquisition of US polypropylene (PP) maker Sunoco Chemicals.

"We are number eight now and we plan to be among the top five producers by 2020,” said Braskem’s vice president and chief financial officer Carlos Fadigas during a conference call.

Fadigas said the acquisition of Sunoco increased Braskem’s PP capacity by 950,000 tonnes/year.

The company now has 26 plants in Brazil and three facilities in the US with capacity to produce 3.04m tonnes/year of polyethylene (PE), 2.91m tonnes/year of PP and 510,000 tonnes/year of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Braskem will continue to expand but only within the Americas, Fadigas said, dismissing possible acquisitions in other regions.

He added that Braskem plans to export resin from Latin America into the US.

In addition to its expansion projects in Brazil, Braskem plans to launch production in Venezuela, Mexico and Peru, it said.

Fadigas said Braskem also plans to acquire more assets in the US.

The company would consider having its own cracker in the US as long as it was integrated downstream, the executive said.

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By: William Lemos
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