Braskem Acquiring Dow’s Polypropylene Business

Dow Chemical is selling its global polypropylene business to the Brazilian firm Braskem for a total of $340 million. The business operates plants in Freeport and Seadrift, Texas, and Wesseling and Schkopau, Germany, with combined polypropylene capacity of 1.05 million metric tons per year. The sale doesn’t include catalyst and technology assets. Dow CEO Andrew N. Liveris says the business “has delivered historic margins that do not meet our expectations moving forward.” Dow earlier put its polypropylene and high-density polyethylene businesses up for sale, although sources tell C&EN that the firm has not marketed the latter in recent months. For Braskem, the deal follows the acquisition of Sunoco’s U.S. polypropylene business last year for $350 million. The company says it expects to capture approximately $140 million in synergies between the two businesses, which combined will be the leading polypropylene supplier in the U.S.