Alpek beefing up polyester presence

Mexican chemical maker Alpek has made a small polyethylene terephthalate (PET) acquisition in Canada and may make a big one in Brazil. Alpek’s U.S. subsidiary, DAK Americas, has bought control of Selenis Canada, which operates a small PET plant in Montréal, from Portugal’s IMG Group. Meanwhile, Alpek is in exclusive negotiations to buy Petroquímica Suape, a PET complex in Pernambuco, Brazil, from Brazilian state oil company Petrobras. Opened in 2013 the complex makes PET, the PET raw material purified terephthalic acid, and polyester filament. Brazil’s economic downturn forced Petrobras to take a $1.1 billion write-down on the plants in 2014 and $200 million last year.