São Paulo – Exports by Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem rose 7% in terms of revenues in the third quarter of this year as against the previous three months, boosted mainly by resin and basic petrochemical price hikes on the international market. According to figures disclosed by the company today, revenues with foreign sales, from July to September, totalled US$ 579 million. In the accumulated result for the first nine months of this year, exports totalled US$ 1.5 billion, a value 20% lower than in the same months in 2008.
Braskem is the leader in production of thermoplastic resins in Latin America and has 18 industrial plants in Brazil, responsible for the production of 11 million tonnes a year of thermoplastic resin and other petrochemical products. In the third quarter of this year, the best figures obtained by the company had as their origin the domestic market. "The operational and financial performance of Braskem presented great positive evolution in the third quarter as against the previous period, signalling the return of petrochemical demand on the domestic market to the same level as prior to the global financial crisis,” says a company press statement.
The company Ebidta rose 48% in comparison with the previous quarter – April, May and June – totalling 838 million Brazilian reals (US$ 477 million). Braskem domestic sales grew 10%, mainly due to the good performance of sales of polypropylene and PVC, with sales growing 15% and 17% respectively. Sales of polypropylene were record, reaching 202,000 tonnes. The company’s accumulated Ebitda up to September has already reached almost US$ 1 billion, according to Braskem president Bernardo Gradin.
"Contributing to this result was the excellent recovery of domestic demand, a scenery of higher-than-expected petrochemical prices on the international market and personal investment of the team in closer ties with clients and in optimisation of operating efficiency,” said Gradin. Due to the good performance on the domestic market, the company has reduced the volumes shipped abroad. However, due to the high prices, there was an increase in export revenues.
Braskem net revenues totalled 4 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 2.3 billion) in the quarter and 11 billion reals (US$ 6.3 billion) in the accumulated result for the year. The net profit in the quarter was 645 million reals (US$ 367 million) and 1.8 billion reals (US$ 1 billion) in the accumulated result for the first nine months of the year.
*Translated by Mark Ament
