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(Braskem) -- Braskem attained a new level of competitiveness and scale with the acquisition, in early 2010, of Quattor and the polypropylene assets of the U.S. company Sunoco Chemicals (today Braskem America). These strategic transactions, which led Brazil to have the leading producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas and the eight-largest resin producer in the world, are already beginning to be reflected in the company's performance. In 2010, Braskem recorded EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) of R$4.1 billion, for growth of 27% from 2009. In U.S. dollar, EBITDA grew by 41% from 2009 to USD 2.3 billion.
This performance was driven by the significant improvement in operational efficiency at Quattor, whose EBITDA doubled in the period under Braskem's management, and by the average sales growth in the domestic market, which was supported by the solid performance of the Brazilian economy, with GDP growth of 7.5% in the period, which in turn fueled domestic demand for resins by 15%. The recovery in international prices for thermoplastic resins and basic petrochemicals, following the improvement in the global economic scenario in the second half of the year, also had a positive impact on the results.
"The year 2010 marked the start of a new cycle in the company's trajectory that was brought about by the various strategic achievements in the period, especially the merger of Quattor, which represents a decisive step forward in strengthening the country's petrochemical and plastics production chain," said Braskem CEO Carlos Fadigas. "On the international front, the acquisition in the United States launched the international expansion of our operations, which was accompanied by advances in the integrated polyethylene project in Mexico. Moreover, with the inauguration of Green PE production in the second half of the year, Braskem became the global leader in biopolymers," added Fadigas.