Revenues up 16% at Braskem in Q3 of 2013

In this context, consolidated net revenue reached R$10.7 billion, increasing 12% from the prior quarter and 16% from same quarter last year, driven by the variables mentioned above. In U.S. dollar, net revenue amounted to US$4.7 billion, increasing 2% from 2Q13 and 3% from 3Q12. In the first nine months of 2013, net revenue amounted to R$29.5 billion or US$13.9 billion, which represents growth on the prior-year period of 12% and 2%, respectively.

"The improvement in the global economy and the tax relief for our raw materials in response to industry demands made positive contributions to Braskem's performance and were also fundamental in supporting a partial recovery in the competitiveness of Brazil's petrochemical chain," said Carlos Fadigas, Braskem's CEO. "This has allowed us to strengthen our capacity to invest sustainably through projects like Comperj in order to accompany the growth in the Brazilian market," he added.

In response to the stimulus measures for the industry recently implemented by the federal government, Braskem, working together with the plastics manufacturing industry, developed the Plan to Promote Competitiveness in the Plastics Chain (PIC), which came into effect in the third quarter.

The plan's initiatives include special conditions for resin sales to manufacturers with the aim of doubling exports of manufactured plastic goods within two years, promoting innovation to support the market's expansion, improving the qualifications of professionals and management at companies and promoting the advantages offered by plastics.

Braskem also announced investments to expand one of its polyethylene production lines in the state of Bahia to produce metallocene-based LLDPE. The Company also signed a memorandum of understanding with Styrolution to evaluate the possibility of producing the resin acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) at the Camaçari Complex in Bahia.

Despite the better scenario, Brazil's domestic demand for thermoplastic resins contracted by 8% in the third quarter compared to 2Q13, which is explained by the consumption of inventories built up in the prior quarter and the slowdown in industrial production. In the first nine months of the year, resin demand amounted to 4.0 million tons, or 9% more than in the same period of 2012, fueled by the strong performance of sectors such as agriculture, automotive, food and infrastructure.

Click here to read full results

Braskem