Braskem Reactivates Chlorine and Caustic Soda Plant after Pipe Burst

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Latin America (Cordoba, Argentina)--Braskem SA (NYSE:BAK) (Sao Paulo, Brazil) is performing maintenance work to reactivate its chlorine and caustic soda plant in Maceio, Alagoas, in the northeastern area of Brazil. The facility, which produces 460,000 metric tons per year of caustic soda and 400,000 metric tons per year of chlorine, has been offline since May 21 because of two incidents that forced the company to shut down the site.

Two weeks ago, a chlorine leak was detected at the plant, which resulted in the hospitalization of residents living in the nearby area. Two days later, on May 23, a pipe burst at the same site, which injured five workers and caused the facility to go offline. Although the situation was under control within hours after the event, maintenance teams at the Maceio plant have been performing studies to determine what caused the explosion. Maintenance work is under way to repair the damaged pipe. Although there is not a firm date, the restart of the plant is expected to take place on Monday, June 6.

Braskem's Camacari petrochemical plant, in Bahia state, has enabled the company to ensure the necessary chlorine, caustic soda and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) supply for internal usage and the market. While Maceio's chlorine production is internally used to produce PVC by the company, the caustic soda and PVC are sold to third parties.

Braskem currently has a new 240,000-metric-ton-per-year PVC unit under construction at its Marechal Deodoro PVC plant, also in Alagoas state, one of the eight operational processing sites the company has in Brazil, which is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2012. The chemical producer is studying the possibility of upgrading the technology used at its chlorine/caustic soda unit at Camacari complex by mid-2016.

Braskem is Brazil's biggest ethylene producer, with a total production capacity of about 8.2 billion pounds per year in seven different processing units located at four different sites: the Santo Andre de Capuava, Triunfo, Duque de Caxias and Camacari complexes.

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