Braskem to start maintenance at Triunfo petrochemical complex from March to July

Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem is having a programmed maintenance at its Triunfo complex from March to July, the company said Feb. 22.

Braskem's longest cycle of stoppages will begin in April at the polyethylene and polypropylene plants, and at the raw materials center, it said. The company's projection is that the activities will take place until July 30.

The company said one polyethylene plant is already under maintenance since Feb. 14, the Slurry 1, from PE-5.

"As it will be a cycle of stoppages, the production units will not stop all at the same time, guaranteeing the supply of material to the other industries in the chain. In addition, during the stop in Rio Grande do Sul, Braskem will be able to supply its customers with production from its complexes in other states," Braskem said.

According to the company, the Green Ethane plant will not be part of the maintenance at the moment, while its stoppage is programmed for November.

The Olefins 2 plant will not be part of the maintenance stoppage plan, as it had its maintenance in 2018, it said. At that time, estimated cost was Real 300 million and involved taking one of the plant's two steam crackers offline for 40 days.

The Triunfo complex is located in the Rio Grande do Sul state, in the south of Brazil. The maintenance project at Triunfo complex came with an estimated cost exceeding Real 840 million (around $166 million).

The company had postponed the stoppage for 30 days due to the omicron variant, it said.

Braskem's Triunfo complex has a nameplate capacity of 1.252 million mt/year for ethylene and an additional 200,000 mt/year of branded Green Ethylene capacity, company records show. Additionally, Braskem can produce up to 660,000 mt/year of propylene and 209,000 mt/year of butadiene at Triunfo, records showed.

Market reaction mixed

Distributors and traders had mixed reactions on Feb. 22, with some not expecting much volatility in prices or product availability, while others believed the situation could push increases for March already.

"Braskem's stop is scheduled so it shouldn't cause any major problems in supply. Regarding prices, the market is waiting to see where the dollar and international prices will go," the source said.

Two other market players expected further drops in domestic prices for March amid the ongoing uncertainty.

"Brazilian market is betting that there will be a shortage of product and Braskem will have to review prices in March," a trader said.