This Friday, the 25th, Braskem inaugurates its industrial polypropylene unit in Paulínia, in the state of São Paulo, adding 350 thousand tons per year to its resin production capacity, which is undergoing one of the highest growth rates in consumption. The inauguration event shall have the presence of President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who in February 2007 had already participated in the launching of the unit’s corner stone.

"The project was concluded in record time and a very competitive investment cost, which demonstrates the management capacity of our new unit implementation teams," says José Carlos Grubisich, president of Braskem. "This growth strategy consolidates the company’s leadership in the Latin American polypropylene market and confirms its position as the third largest producer of resins in the Americas. It is also an important step in Braskem’s strategy to become one of the ten most important petrochemical plants in the world," he says.

The Paulínia unit, in which nearly R$ 700 million were invested, combines global scale, cutting edge technology and it is located in the middle of the country’s main consumer center, which adds differentiated competitiveness to the project.

The venture was originally conceived as a joint venture founded in 2006, Petroquímica Paulínia S.A., where Braskem had a 60% share and Petrobras, 40%. With the Investment Agreement signed between Braskem and Petrobras and announced November 2007, which consolidated the strategic partnership between the companies, Braskem assumes control of this unit with 100% of the capital. Through this agreement, Petrobras will control 25% of Braskem’s capital.

The new factory also establishes a landmark in the trajectory to diversify the raw materials used by Braskem, thus expanding its strategic and operational flexibility.  Paulínia was designed to use propylene from refinery gas supplied by Petrobras through Replan and Revap, both in the state of São Paulo. This plant, plus the green polymer projects from ethanol and those to be installed in Venezuela from natural gas, will reduce naphtha’s participation in the set of main raw materials by about 50%.

In order to supply the new industrial polypropylene unit’s raw material needs, Petrobras is investing US$ 450 million in the Replan propylene plant in Paulínia, and Revap’s in São José dos Campos. The two plants are being fully carried out by Petrobras.

The Spheripol technology used in Paulínia was provided by Braskem and it is the state-of-the-art in technologies available in the international market, providing high performance in productivity with minimal environmental impact. The project met all sustainability requirements, including rainwater collectors for reuse in administrative buildings, built using the modern PVC-Concrete system and solar energy in non-critical processes.

"The new unit reflects Braskem’s commitment with sustainable development and its confidence in the sustained growth of the Brazilian economy, which should maintain high demand for thermoplastic resins over the coming years," says Grubisich.