Braskem stock rating upgraded by Zacks Investment Research

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Braskem SA from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Intercooleronline reports.

They currently have USD16.00 price objective on the stock. According to Zacks, “Braskem SA figures as the largest petrochemical operation in Latin America and among the five largest private companies in Brazil. With industrial facilities located in Alagoas, Bahia, S?o Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, Braskem produces primary base petrochemicals such as ethylene, propylene, benzene, caprolactam, DMT and termoplastic resins (polypropylene, polyethylene, PVC and PET) gas and GLP. “

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Braskem SA stock. KBC Group raised its position in shares of Braskem SA by 263.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The hedge fund owned 38,087 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,603 shares during the period. KBC Group’s holdings in Braskem SA were worth USD321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Braskem SA opened at 14.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of USD5.85 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88. Braskem SA has a 52 week low of USD6.26 and a 52 week high of USD14.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is USD13.32 and its 200-day moving average is USD9.68.

Braskem SA last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported USD1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of USD0.55 by USD0.58. On average, equities research analysts expect that Braskem SA will post USD1.81 EPS for the current year.

As MRC wrote before, Braskem SA will soon decide whether to build a plant in Texas or Pennsylvania to convert low-cost natural gas into polypropylene. The factory would produce at least 1 billion pounds (450,000 metric tons) of resin a year and would be the U.S. polypropylene industry’s first world-scale project in about 12 years, said Mark Nikolich, a vice president at Braskem in June 2015. Preliminary engineering is under way for construction at existing Braskem sites in either La Porte, Texas, or Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.

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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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinochem has received approval from the Fujian Provincial Development and Reform Commission for a refinery expansion and petrochemicals project in Quanzhou, the China Chemical Fiber Group reporte, according to GV.

The USD 6.8-billion project will expand the refinery by 25 % to 300,000 b/d from the current 240,000 b/d capacity.

The company will also add a 1-million-t/y ethylene cracker, an 800,000-t/y paraxylene unit, a 400,000-t/y polyethylene plant, an aromatics extraction unit with 300,000 t/y of capacity, and secondary units.

Sinochem received clearance from the Fujian Environmental Protection Department in October. A schedule for the project was not given.

As MRC informed previously, last year Sinochem got approva from the National Development and Reform Commission for preliminary work for a 1 mln tpa ethylene project in Quanzhou of the southeastern Fujian province.

Sinochem Group engages in energy, agriculture, chemicals, real estate, and finance service businesses in China and internationally. It is involved in the exploration and production, refining and trading, warehousing and logistics, and distribution and retailing of oil and gas. The company also produces and distributes fertilizers, such as nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and other fertilizers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has approved law No.3533 "on the measures promoting foreign economic activity" that cancels additional import duties from January 1, 2016, as per the decision, posted on the government website.

A total of 268 MPs voted for a relevant decision.

Thus, the document canceled the law of Ukraine "on the measurers stabilizing Ukraine’s balance of payments in line with Article XII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade as of 1994" under which additional import duties of 5% and 10% were introduced for one year.

The law comes into effect on January 1, 2016.

As MRC reported earlier, the bill provides that the additional import duties should be levied on goods imported into the customs territory of Ukraine in the import regime, regardless of their country of origin. According to the draft law, the import of food products (product groups 1-24, according UKTVED) will be imposed by an additional duty of 10%, the rest goods (group 25-97) - at the rate of 5%. Polymers and products made of them belong to the group 39.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ravago Americas LLC has expanded its North American engineering resins business by acquiring Bay State Polymer Distribution Inc., said Canplastics.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Westlake, Ohio-based Bay State Polymer will become part of Ravago’s Amco Polymers business, a North American distributor of commodity, engineering and specialty polymers.

"We continue to search for high-quality companies that are a strategic fit for our company," said Jim Duffy, president of Orlando, Fla.-based Ravago. "Bay State Polymer has a strong reputation in the marketplace and will be a perfect complement to the Amco business."

As MRC informed earlier, the Board of Directors of Westlake Chemical Corporation on November 20, 2015 authorized the company to repurchase an additional USD150 million in shares of its common stock under its existing share repurchase program.

Founded in 1983, Bay State Polymer distributes nylon, thermoplastic polyurethane and other engineering resins for Lanxess, Covestro, and other material suppliers.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dragged down in part by a decline in the machinery industry, manufacturing sales fell 1.1 per cent to USD50.4 billion in October, the third consecutive decrease according to Statistics Canada, as per Canplastics.

Petroleum and coal products and aerospace products and parts were also responsible for the overall drop, StatsCan said. "Sales were down 5.7 per cent to USD4.5 billion in the petroleum and coal product industry, due in part to maintenance work at some refineries that began in September," the agency said.

The aerospace product and parts industry fell 10.3 per cent to USD1.6 billion, the agency continued, while machinery sales fell 4.6 per cent in October to USD2.8 billion.

The fall-off in machinery sales "largely reflects lower sales in the commercial and service machinery manufacturing sub-industry…which tends to fluctuate on the basis of the completion of large projects," StatsCan said.

Sales declined in five provinces in October, StatsCan said, with New Brunswick posting the largest decrease in dollar terms. "In New Brunswick, sales fell 23.9% to USD1.1 billion in October, as a result of lower non-durable goods sales," StatsCan said. "Manufacturing sales in the province have been on a generally downward trend since April 2015, when they were USD1.5 billion. Since then, sales have declined 28.2%."

Sales in Quebec declined 2.1% to USD11.8 billion in October, while Alberta manufacturing sales were down 1.9% to USD5.5 billion. "In Ontario, sales rose 0.6% to USD24.4 billion, offsetting some of the declines in the other provinces. The gain stemmed from a 4.8% increase in the motor vehicle assembly industry," StatsCan said. "This was the fifth sales increase in the motor vehicle assembly industry in six months."

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