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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem's third-quarter
net loss widened on the back of an additional provision related to its former
mining operation in Alagoas and the depreciation of the Brazilian real (R)
against the US dollar, said the company.
The Company's recurring
EBITDA was USD699 million, 126% higher than 2Q20, mainly explained by (i) the
better spreads of PE in Brazil, PP in the United States and PE in Mexico and
(ii) an increase in sales volume in Brazil and in the United States due to the
recovery in demand for resins in the Brazilian market and PP in North America.
In relation to the same period of the previous year, the Company's recurring
EBITDA in US dollars was 69% higher, due to (i) the better spreads of PE and PVC
in Brazil, PP in Europe and PE in Mexico and (ii) the increase in sales volume
in Brazil, United States and Mexico. In Brazilian Real, the recurring EBITDA was
R3,765 million, 127% and 129% higher than 2Q20 and 3Q19, respectively, due to
the depreciation of the Brazilian Real against the US dollar.
Braskem
incurred an additional provision of R3.56bn in the third quarter related to the
geological damage caused by its former salt mining operation in the state of
Alagoas in northeast Brazil.
In the third quarter, due to the recovery in
demand for resins in the Brazilian market and demand for polypropylene (PP) in
North America, the utilisation rate of the crackers in Brazil normalised to 87%,
as well as the operation rate of the industrial units in the
US.
Production at Braskem's new PP plant in the US was at 36,000 tonnes
in October, close to the monthly production capacity of the plant of around
38,000 tonnes.
As MRC reported
previously, Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem's 450,000 mt/year
polypropylene (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, PP
shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of
2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports,
exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased
exclusively of PP random copolymer.
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). |
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