# Braskem

Braskem is an Asset Manager based in São Paulo, Brazil.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** São Paulo, Brazil
- **Region:** Latin America
- **Address:** São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- **Founded:** 2002
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** braskem.com

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Braskem formed in August 2002 from the integration of Copene, OPP, Trikem, Proppet, Nitrocarbono, and Polialden, consolidating Brazil’s fragmented petrochemical sector under a single corporate umbrella. Controlling shareholder Novonor — the holding company formerly known as Odebrecht S.A. — retains a majority voting stake, while Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) holds a significant minority interest. The dual ownership embeds Braskem within both Brazil’s largest private industrial conglomerate and its state-controlled energy enterprise, a governance structure that shapes its capital allocation and strategy. The firm operates 41 manufacturing units across Brazil, the United States, Mexico, and Germany, producing a portfolio centered on polyethylene, polypropylene, and PVC — base chemicals that underpin the global plastics chain. Braskem’s U.S. operations include five polypropylene plants acquired from Dow Chemical in 2011 and a major petrochemical complex in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, cementing its position as the largest polypropylene producer on the continent. In Europe, Braskem Idesa’s Etileno XXI cracker in Mexico supplies the North American market, while its Rotterdam office coordinates commercial relationships across the EU. A defining product is “I’m green” bio-polyethylene — an ethylene made from sugarcane ethanol rather than fossil fuel, sold to brands including Lego, Tetra Pak, and Johnson & Johnson. Braskem reports approximately 8,500 direct employees and generates net revenues that exceeded $20 billion in 2021. Beyond core production, the company operates innovation centers in Pittsburgh and Triunfo, Brazil, alongside an R&D partnership with universities including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In June 2024, Braskem confirmed a liability settlement with the Alagoas state government over geological damage linked to its salt-mining operations in Maceió — an agreement that redefined its near-term financial outlook and environmental remediation obligations. Unlike pure-play chemical companies that sell to converters, Braskem owns the entire production logic from feedstock sourcing to polymer distribution, and increasingly to the brand-level partnerships that specify bio-based content in finished packaging. This vertical integration — spanning national oil-company relationships, deepwater naphtha logistics, and consumer-facing sustainability programs — gives Braskem a cost and substitution advantage that standalone petrochemical producers in Brazil cannot replicate.

## Sectors

- Energy Transition & Renewables
- Industrial Tech
- Infrastructure

## Offices

- Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Singapore

## People

- Roberto Bischoff — CEO
- Pedro Freitas — CFO & Head of Investor Relations

## Questions

### Who controls Braskem, and how does that influence its strategy?

Novonor (formerly Odebrecht S.A.) holds the controlling voting stake, while Petrobras retains a material equity position. This structure means Braskem sources naphtha feedstock primarily from Petrobras refineries yet reports to a private-sector board — generating a natural tension between state energy policy and commercial returns.

### What is Braskem's exposure to alternative feedstocks?

Braskem produces bio-polyethylene from sugarcane ethanol at its Triunfo, Brazil plant, marketing it under the "I'm green" brand. The company positions this as a distinct polymer line sold at a premium to brands seeking renewable content, but the product remains a minority share of total output relative to its naphtha- and gas-based volumes.

### How does the Maceió subsidence event affect the firm's risk profile?

Braskem's salt-mining operations in Maceió caused ground subsidence that led to the evacuation of entire neighborhoods. The June 2024 master settlement with Alagoas authorities addresses relocation and compensation costs, although additional federal-level litigation and environmental remediation obligations extend the event's financial tail.

### Where does Braskem fit in the global petrochemical cost curve?

Braskem's Brazilian crackers benefit from competitive ethanol and domestic naphtha pricing, while its U.S. and Mexican units run on ethane and low-cost natural gas. This asset footprint places the firm in the second quartile of the global polyethylene cost curve, though European logistics and a weaker Brazilian real can erode margin advantages in specific quarters.

### Does Braskem operate purely as an operating company, or does it manage third-party investment?

Braskem does not manage outside institutional capital; it is a publicly traded industrial operator and not an asset manager or investment fund. All deployment decisions are capital-expenditure allocations within its own integrated production network.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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