July, 20, 2012 - According to Valor Economico newspaper, Braskem has postponed to 2013 its plans for the construction of three new units of polyethylene and polypropylene. These three units comprise two plants for the production of ethanol-derived polyethylene and polypropylene, as well as a third plant in Camaçari Petrochemical Complex for the production of polypropylene from naphtha.

Braskem had planned to start the construction of those units in the next months, with approximate investment close to 1 billion reals.

In order to adapt to the global downturn in the petrochemical industry, Braskem's priorities have shifted to increasing the production capacity of existing plants and the modernization of its petrochemical units, according to Carlos Fadigas, Braskem´s CEO.

Other Braskem´s investments in progress comprise the completion of a new butadiene plant in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and a new unit of PVC in the State of Alagoas, which are included in the budget of 1.8 billion reals for 2012.

According to Carlos Fadigas, the ethanol-derived polypropylene project ("Green PP") is supposed to be started again as early as possible, before the other two projects for naphta-based PP and ethanol-based PE units.