Brazilian giant set to get plant running

Braskem, a Brazilian company, will start up its second Houston-area plastics plant in La Porte this month, adding to the growth of the region’s booming petrochemical industry.

The plant, which will open after completing construction in October, gives Latin America’s largest petrochemical company an expanded Texas presence after buying plants from Sunoco and Dow Chemical Co. beginning in 2010. This is the first time Braskem will produce its ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, known as “UTEC” in the U.S., said Chris Gee, Braskem’s global business director.

The plastic is a stronger specialty version of the world’s most common plastic, polyethylene, to serve more industrial purposes and compete with steel.

“It’s a big deal because Braskem has largely been a regional player,” said Gee. “It’s one of Braskem’s ambitions to keep growing in the U.S.”

Like many other pet-

rochemical companies, Braskem has looked to expand in the Houston area because of the easy access to cheap natural gas and the Houston Ship Channel, Gee said.

Braskem made its first big move into the U.S. in 2010 when it bought Sunoco’s polypropylene plastics plants in La Porte, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Braskem continued growing in Texas a year later when it bought polypropylene plants in Freeport and Seadrift from Dow.

There’s a small global market for the UTEC polyethylene product of about 200 kilotons annually, Gee said. Because of the small but competitive market size, Braskem won’t release the production capacity of the new plant or the project costs.

Most of the products will be sold in the United States, Gee said, although some will get exported to Asia and other markets.