Businesses
CHEMICALS & PETROCHEMICALS
Created in 2002, Braskem is the leading company for the Odebrecht Group's Chemicals & Petrochemicals business.
The company's 13 plants are located in the Brazilian states of Alagoas, Bahia, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. They integrate production of upstream raw materials (ethylene, propylene and chlorine) with downstream petrochemical products. Braskem is Latin America's number-one producer of thermoplastic resins and one of the five largest private-sector Brazilian industrial companies.
The result of a series of investments in Chemicals & Petrochemicals that the Odebrecht Group has made since 1979, Braskem is a publicly traded company controlled by Odebrecht S.A. The main minority shareholders are Norquisa, Petroquisa, the Previ Foundation and the Petros Pension Fund. Fifty-three percent of its shares are traded on the São Paulo, New York and Madrid stock exchanges.
Braskem owns 29.5% of Copesul, the Triunfo Petrochemical Complex's central naphtha cracker in Rio Grande do Sul, and is a member of the group that controls that company. It also owns 20.1% of Petroflex, Latin America's leading producer of synthetic rubber. In March 2007, Braskem teamed up with Petrobras to acquire the Ipiranga Group's petrochemical assets, in which the Odebrecht subsidiary will own a 60% stake.
Its investments in innovation and technology resulted in last year's launch of the first Brazilian polypropylene resin based on nanotechnology, and major advances in research on "green polymers" made from renewable raw materials. Fourteen of the 151 patents the company currently owns in Brazil and abroad were obtained in 2006.
Among other accolades, Braskem was included in Bovespa's Corporate Sustainability Index in 2006 for the second consecutive year.
Researcher Susana Liebermann and
Manoel Lisboa display dthe Nanoresin
The first Brazilian nanoresin
Nanotechnology is a field of engineering that works with materials on a minuscule scale - one nanometer (nm) is a billionth of a meter. Just to have an idea, a strand of hair is 50,000 nm in diameter.
The Brazilian petrochemical industry is already using this new technology. The nation'sfirst nanoresin was launched in November 2006 after three years of joint research by Braskem, the Federal University at Rio Grande do Sul and the Federal University at São Carlos in São Paulo. "We've patented this product in Brazil and the United States and have already begun to market it," says Manoel Lisboa, who directs nanotechnology research at the Braskem Technology and Innovation Center at the Triunfo Petrochemical Complex in Rio Grande do Sul.
Manoel keeps the first item made from this new nanoresin on his desk: a vacuum flask whose plastic structure is four times more resistant to breakage and 20% more rigid than conventional polypropylene. Companies that make plastic utensils and components for the automotive industry are testing the nanoresin, which promises to win significant market share in the near future.
A module was installed in the home of Maria Neves Almeida (shown with her daughter Vanda, granddaughter Keciele and José Carlos Pierucetti), in Vitória
Lavatory modules for low-income communities
Architect José Carlos Pierucetti, from Braskem, is making a dream come true for millions of Brazilian households in low-income communities - having a private bathroom. He has developed a single-family lavatory module made primarily from PVC that includes a 1.70- sq.m bathroom with a 310-liter water tank, a toilet, washbasin, shower and external laundry tub. "I made full use of PVC's best features. It is versatile, durable and easy to clean, so it's ideal for civil construction projects," he says.
The exposed plumbing makes it easy to train communities to install these modules. The bathroom base and walls fit together like pieces of a Lego set and are then filled in with concrete, which makes the modules a permanent fixture. The entire process takes just one day. Prototypes have already been installed in slums in the cities of Vitória, Espírito Santo, and Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. The module was developed according to the specifications of the National Health Foundation's "Shower of Health Project," which encourages the installation of toilet facilities in urban homes.
Braskem exports petrochemical products from Brazil to over 60 countries. In 2006, the company's exports earned a record USD 1.4 billion (26% of its net earnings), and the volume exported rose 44% against 2005.
Exporting Petrochemical Products
Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Ulisses da Silva and Simone Giorlando, at Hipac´s Italian Plant in Brescia, Lombardy
Brazilian petrochemicals
in Europe
Braskem Europe BV's head office in the Dutch city of Rotterdam officially opened in September 2006. The company's first base outside the Americas, it represents a major step towards expanding Braskem's international presence.
The officer responsible for Braskem's operations in Europe is Ulisses da Silva. His first contacts in Italy included Simone Giorlando, from Hipac SRL, who was interested in the petrochemical company's line of thermoplastic products for manufacturing cast film for industrial packaging, including shrink wrap and stretch film. He placed an order for a monthly supply of 700 tonnes of polyethylene products for Hipac's three European plants (in Italy, Spain and Romania).
Now, Hipac is Braskem Europe BV's biggest client. "When Braskem began operations in Europe, we soon recognized its flexibility and technical expertise. We are pleased to see that the company is becoming one of Hipac's most important partners," says Simone Giorlando.
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