Braskem achieved a series of strategic victories in 2007, the year in which it confirmed its capacity to lead notable movements in the domestic petrochemical industry and to obtain high economic-financial performance. Acquisition of the Ipiranga Group's petrochemical assets in partnership with Petrobras, announced in March 2007, was a decisive step towards sector consolidation in the country and represented an expressive evolution in the size and level of Braskem's competitiveness.

With the integration and consolidation of these assets, Braskem expanded its advantage over the competitors in production capacity and business dimension: it now has a production capacity of 2.5 million tons/year for ethylene and 3.3 million tons/year for resins, becoming the third largest producer of resins in the Americas.

The strategic advances achieved during the period and Braskem's excellent performance have permitted a strong acceleration in our growth goals, which already position the company as the 11th largest petrochemical company in the world according to enterprise value criteria with the second best profitability for the sector in the world," says José Carlos Grubisich, Braskem president.  "We renew our trust in the growth of the international and domestic petrochemical market, driven here by an expressive increase in GDP and disposable income, as well as competitive credit lines with extended terms," he adds.

From an operational perspective, Braskem had an excellent industrial and commercial performance in 2007, reaching a historic record in resin production at 2.8 million tons. Sales of Braskem thermoplastic resins in the domestic market have had an average growth of 8% in comparison to 2006, underscoring a 16% increase for PVC.

Braskem's consolidated gross revenues were R$ 23.9 billion in 2007, a growth of 11% over 2006. In dollars, gross revenues increased 24%, to US$ 12.3 billion. Meanwhile, consolidated net revenues were R$ 19 billion in 2007. This performance translates the largest sold volumes on the domestic market and a 12% growth in exports, which reached US$ 2.3 billion, reflecting better product pricing provided by direct commercialization with clients through company-owned distribution operations in Argentina, United States and Europe.

Braskem further expanded its cash generation capacity with an EBITDA of R$ 3.2 billion in 2007, a growth of 5% compared to 2006. In American dollars, the EBITDA was US$ 1.6 billion. The EBITDA margin, which reflects company profitability, remained around 17% and is among the best in the world petrochemical industry. This result once again demonstrates Braskem's capacity to overcome adverse scenarios, such as 2007, which combined strong cost pressures as a result of oil price increases, which broke the barrier of US$ 100 per barrel, and the continuous appreciation of the real over the dollar.

Braskem's profits before participation of minority shareholders in the Ipiranga Group's petrochemical assets reached R$ 1 billion, a historical mark that establishes a new level for the company. Net profits reached R$ 568 million, nearly 4 times more than the previous year's profits.

Even with the investments made in acquiring Ipiranga Group, Braskem improved its financial leverage, reflected in the reduction of the net debt over EBITDA ratio nearly twofold in 2007, and also improves its credit quality. The international credit risk analysis agencies elevated the company's rating, which is now one level below investment grade.

In November, the company announced a new agreement with Petrobras, in which the state-owned company will allocate its minority participations in Copesul, Ipiranga Química, Ipiranga Petroquímica and Petroquímica Paulínia, as well as its option in Petroquímica Triunfo, to Braskem.

In 2007, Braskem's capital investments totaled R$ 1.3 billion, compared to R$ 1.0 billion in 2006. Of this sum, nearly R$ 300 million were allocated to Petroquímica Paulínia, which should go into operation at the end of next March, rigorously within the planned deadline and cost. The unit will add 350 thousand annual tons of polypropylene to Braskem's capacity for this resin.

As a result of its focus on innovation and technology, in 2007 Braskem announced the first 100% green polyethylene with international certification, which won it the "Best Innovation in Bioplastics" award granted by European Bioplastics News. Also within the scope of its renewable raw material valorization program, the company decided to invest nearly R$ 100 million in the conversion of its units in Camaçari from MTBE, a gasoline additive, to ETBE, with environmental advantages. The conversion has already been done at the Copesul units, which have just exported their first shipment of ETBE to Japan.

Braskem was recognized as a model company in sustainability by Exame magazine, and for the third consecutive year, it is part of the Corporate Sustainability Index - ISE at the São Paulo Stock Exchange. It was also indicated as the Brazilian company with the best standard of corporate governance on Latibex - Madrid Stock Exchange.