MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shares in Brazil's Braskem SA plunged after state-run oil company Petrobras said it has yet to decide when and how to proceed with the proposed sale of its stake in the petrochemicals producer, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, said in a securities filing that it is still conducting studies on the planned deal. Shares in Braskem were down 5.8% at 54.65 reais in early trading in Sao Paulo, making it the biggest loser on the Bovespa index, which fell by 1.3%.
Petrobras, which owns 36.1% of Braskem, has repeatedly expressed its intention to sell its stake. The latest remarks came after the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported that Petrobras and Brazilian conglomerate Novonor were expected to start selling their stakes through a share offering in February.
Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht, declined to comment. Last week the conglomerate said it was considering exiting its 38.3% stake in Braskem via a share offering.
Novonor had previously sought bidders for its stake in Braskem. After that process failed, various media outlets, including Reuters, reported that the company was planning to exit Braskem via a share offering.
We remind that Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem's 450,000 mt/year PP plant in LaPorte, Texas, along the Houston Ship Channel completed its initial commercial production, as per the company's statement as of Sept. 10. "The launch of commercial production at our new world-class PP production line in La Porte clearly affirms Braskem's position as the North American polypropylene market leader," Braskem America CEO Mark Nikolich said in a statement. With a USD750 million investment, the new PP plant's construction started in October 2017 and was completed in June, 2020.
Braskem operates five other US PP plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, with a cumulative capacity of 1.57 million mt/year that the company acquired. The new plant in La Porte, Texas, is Braskem America's first PP new build.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).