Braskem taps into shale

Brazil’s largest chemical maker, Braskem, plans to spend $100 million converting 15% of its production of ethylene at its site in Camaçari, Brazil, from naphtha feedstock over to ethane. In addition to upgrades to the facility, the company has signed a contract with Enterprise Products to ship the shale-derived ethane from Morgan’s Point, Texas, to a port in Bahia, Brazil, near Braskem’s facility. The shipments of ethane are scheduled to begin next year. Braskem isn’t the only overseas chemical maker to take advantage of low-cost U.S. shale-based feedstocks. Recently, Ineos shipped its first load of shale-gas-based ethane from Philadelphia to its Rafnes, Norway, ethylene cracker.