Braskem, the largest resin producer in the Americas, announces its new partnership with Pegasus Polymers for the distribution of UTEC® - Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) - in China. China's resin demand has a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.74% due to its use in key markets, such as battery separators, tubing, and fibers.
 
"Our partnership with Pegasus Polymers confirms our commitment to the global UTEC® market. We are excited to continue to strengthen and expand our business in China, further leveraging our development of new applications and our industrial units to offer our customers a proprietary solution," said Christopher Gee, Braskem's Global Business Director for UTEC®.

Pegasus Polymers is a division of the Ravago Group, the top global service supplier in the plastics, rubber and chemicals market, with sales offices in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Fujian, Shanghai, Suzhou, Xi'an, Tianjin and Changchun, as well as distribution facilities and warehouses in Guangzhou, Xiamen, Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, and Tianjin.

"We are proud to be the official distributor of Braskem's UTEC® products in China. With Pegasus' sales network, the deep industrial know-how in the UHMWPE product and the high-quality UTEC®, we believe we are bringing high value-added solutions to the market," said Johnson Huang, Chief Commercial officer of Pegasus for Greater China.

Earlier this year, Braskem began operations at its new UTEC® plant in La Porte, Texas, which complements the capacity of the Camaçari production line, in Bahia. In addition, the company has enhanced its resin research and development capabilities during 2016 at the company's Innovation and Technology Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These capabilities allow the petrochemical company to expand its technical leadership in UHMWPE.

Braskem has been researching opportunities to expand its presence in this market, aiming to benefit its current and future customers. Since the inauguration of the new UTEC production structure in Texas, two new products have been developed and are currently being tested for potential marketing.

UTEC® is an engineering polymer with excellent mechanical properties, such as high abrasion resistance, impact resistance, and low coefficient of friction. It is a self-lubricating, high-strength, lightweight and machinable product used for semi-finished products. UTEC is eight times lighter than steel and lasts ten times longer than High-Density Polyethylene. It is used in a wide range of applications in the following industries: automotive & transportation, electronics, fiber & textiles, industrial & heavy equipment, material handling, oil & gas, piping & mining, porous plastics, and recreation & consumer products.

About Braskem
With a global, human-oriented vision of the future, Braskem's 8,000 members strive to improve people's lives by creating sustainable solutions in chemistry and plastics. It is the largest resin producer in the Americas, with an annual output of 20 million metric tons, including basic chemicals and petrochemicals, and R$55 billion in revenue in 2016. It exports to Customers in approximately 100 countries and operates 41 industrial units, located in Brazil, the United States, Germany, and Mexico - the latter in partnership with Mexico-based company Idesa.

About Pegasus Polymers
Ravago Group is a global leader in the distribution, resale and composition of commodities, engineering and special plastic and rubber polymers. In Asia, Ravago has a distribution network of more than 15 offices distributed across 8 locations. Ravago Asia focuses on offering a "local quality global customer service" model with a trustworthy and dedicated sales team that provides high-value-added services and a diversified product offering for a variety of end-use markets. Pegasus Polymers became part of the Ravago Group in 2006 and has operated in Asia since 1990. Over the years, Pegasus' plastic and rubber distribution network has grown significantly with 8 points across China to date. Pegasus provides a broad portfolio of high-performance commodities, engineering and plastics products for all segments in the industry. Pegasus operates under two legal entities: Pegasus Petrochemical Asia Limited (Hong Kong) and Pegasus Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (China), which have 6 storage points and are able to provide professional technical services to UHMWPE customers in the industries of steels and sheets, tubes, filtration, and battery separators.