Brazilian petrochemical giant Braskem has no plans to discontinue production of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene in its domestic market following the company's expansion into the US, according to a company executive.
Braskem in January opened a new plant in La Porte, Texas, exclusively for the production of UHMWPE under the company trade name UTEC, with the plant achieving prime status sometime during the first quarter. Prior to that, Braskem produced UTEC only via a 160,000 mt/yr swing line at its plant in Camacari, Bahia state.
"The swing line is still flexible," said Edison Terra, senior vice president of Braskem's polyolefins business in South America and Europe and the company's renewable chemical division. "Once we increased production in the US, we reduced production in Brazil, but [Camacari] is still producing UTEC," he said Tuesday at Latin American Petrochemical Association meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
Braskem has not disclosed the expected annual capacity for the Texas plant. UHMWPE has long been termed a "niche market," with an estimated global demand of just 200,000 mt/year, by both a Braskem company official and others in the industry.
Market sources had said production of UTEC would cease in Brazil due to the company's US output. Braskem, however, has long maintained that production at both sites remains the company's goal, a sentiment reiterated this week by Terra.
Braskem will utilize the Camacari swing line in a way that allows the company to maximize production based on demand swings in Brazil and other markets.
"The flexibility is there, and it doesn't make sense for us to take it out," Terra said. "So, even if we don't produce [UTEC at Camacari] for a while, it doesn't mean that we can't produce it."
Additionally, should Braskem need to expand capacity in the US, the company's Brazilian production could be used to fill the needs of customers outside of South America.
"We also have room for debottlenecking the facility in the US ... so it's good to have the flexibility for that," Terra said. "It's always good to show customers that we don't depend on one single site, because, for example, what happened in the US with Harvey, so it's very relevant to be able to serve the market from multiple facilities."
Braskem's operations at the La Porte plant were not impacted by Hurricane Harvey, the company said in September. Several other petrochemical producers, however, either temporarily shut operations at La Porte, near the Houston Ship Channel, or declared force majeure on polymers produced there. For now, Braskem's US-based customers are being served from the La Porte plant, according to a Braskem America spokesman.
"One hundred percent of Braskem's US-based UTEC customers are now buying product, and are being supplied by production, from the UTEC plant in La Porte," said the spokesman, Erik Knettel.
UHMWPE is now utilized by industries focused in material handling, oil and gas, agriculture, pipe and mining, heavy equipment and consumer goods. Braskem America officials have said that automotive and porous plastic uses are possible going forward.
