The ink has not yet dried on Braskem’s (São Paulo / Brazil; www.braskem.com) takeover of Quattor (São Paulo; www.quattor.com.br) and already the Brazilian group is dominating the news again. On 1 February 2010, Braskem CEO Bernardo Gradin announced that the group had acquired the PP activities of US oil company Sunoco (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; www.sunocoinc.com) at a cost of USD 350m. The deal partially answers the question of what Braskem will do with the approximately EUR 1.7-1.9 bn generated by the sale of new shares. It seems this will not be Braskem’s last American purchase. Gradin explained that the group wants to increase its presence in North America through additional acquisitions and strategic alliances.

In buying the Sunoco Chemicals division, Braskem will acquire three PP plants, in La Porte (Texas), Marcus Hook (Pennsylvania) and Neal (West Virginia). Together, these three sites produce about 950,000 t/y of PP, some 13% of total US capacity. Sunoco Chemical’s plant in Bayport (Texas) was shut down in the spring of 2009 – see Plasteurope.com of 21.01.2009. Sunoco Chemicals will retain the manufacture of plastic feedstocks, including bisphenol A, benzene, toluene and paraxylene.

Following the transaction, which is to be completed within 60 days, Braskem’s PP capacity will increase to about 3m t/y, almost equivalent to its PE capacity.