Braskem’s PVC production in Brazil is back to normal

18 February 2011 19:35  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Production at Braskem’s polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in the Brazilian state of Bahia is back to normal following disruptions caused by a cracker outage, the company said on Friday.

Braskem’s cracker in Camacari was supplying feedstock ethylene at close to full rates by 13–14 February.

The cracker had shut down in early February because of a four-hour blackout that affected large areas of the country. However, sufficient ethylene dichloride (EDC) was on hand to maintain PVC production at reduced rates, according to the company.

The Bahia PVC plant was operating normally by Monday, and the Alagoas PVC plant was back to standard rates by Wednesday, 16 February, the company said. The Alagoas plant was also operating at reduced rates.

PVC consumers in Brazil were adequately supplied during the disruption, since Braskem had sufficient PVC inventories, the company said. The PVC market in Brazil is currently assessed as balanced, local participants said.

The power outage left large areas of Brazil in darkness and affected some of the country’s major chemical industries.

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By: Ron Coifman
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