Plants: Braskem to expand PE/PVC capacity in Brazil; Arkema to close chlor-alkali plant in France

Brazilian petrochemical firm Braskem says it will pump in US$100 million to expand its current domestic production capacity by around 139,000 tonnes in the states of Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul, and Alagoas, Brazil. The investment will cover seven projects related to polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other chemical products, the company said.

The expansion projects will create over 2,200 jobs in Brazil and help to better meet the domestic market's polymer and chemicals demand through domestic production.

Braskem's PE production capacity in Brazil is 3.2 million tonnes/year, while PVC output capacity is 710,000 tonnes/year in Brazil at its units in Bahia and Alagoas.

Meanwhile, compatriot chemical producers Innova, OCQ and Unipar Carbocloro are also expected to announce investments, in response to a special tax regimen (REIQ) that reduces the PIS/COFINS taxes for the chemical and petrochemical industries and establishes benefits for companies that expand their installed capacity and/or install new plants.

Among the products covered by the new tax regimen are all polymers and their upstream inputs, such as naphtha, ethane, and propane.

In other news, French chemical firm Arkema says it will shut down the chlorine, soda, methyl chloride and technical fluids production activities at its Jarrie site, with a loss of 154 jobs. The Jarrie site has been impacted since October 2024, by the abrupt cessation of its salt supply by its long-term supplier Vencorex, which has been placed in receivership by its Thai shareholder PTT GC.

It adds it will reorganise the activities of its Jarrie site in order to ensure its future by refocusing on the hydrogen peroxide, chlorate and perchlorate activities, sectors in which Arkema is one of the world leaders.

Since Vencorex went into receivership in September 2024, Arkema says it has sought to identify viable, sustainable and competitive alternative industrial solutions to continue the activities of its Jarrie site, as the lack of an alternative supply of salt, in quantity and of a quality comparable to that of Vencorex, was a strong threat to maintaining the activity of the entire site.

An alternative scheme, based on a salt that requires no additional purification to be used directly by some of the existing units, has been studied in detail. While this salt ensures the sustainability of the site's hydrogen peroxide, chlorate and perchlorate units, it is not compatible in terms of specifications, cost and quantity, with maintaining all of the activities of the Jarrie site, it furthers.

The shutdown of the chlorine, soda, methyl chloride and technical fluids production activities, as well as the resulting reorganisation of the entire site, will lead to the loss of 154 positions out of a total of 344.

Upon the conclusion of the redeployment plan, the Jarrie site will retain its hydrogen peroxide, chlorate and perchlorate activities, sectors in which Arkema is one of the world leaders and whose development will be supported by the growth of applications in the recycling of electric vehicle batteries, electronics and the environment for hydrogen peroxide, as well as in the aerospace sector for perchlorate.

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