(Zacks, 12.Jun.2020) — Petrobras recently grabbed a bargain with a new five-year deal to supply naphtha to Braskem SA’s BAK unit in Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul states. Per the contract, Petrobras will supply at least 650,000 metric tonnes of naphtha annually to Braskem with an additional maximum capacity of 2.8 million metric tons. These new agreements will follow the existing sales contracts that are scheduled to close in December.
Management at Braskem, which is one of the largest petrochemical operations in Latin America, feels that this multi-year deal will help Braskem compete in the supply chain space, boost investments and expand business in the petrochemicals sector.
The five-year pact reflects a change in the plans of Petrobras, which reduced naphtha sales to Braskem in recent years amid its potential exit from the industry under its asset-sales program.
Petrobras intends to sell off its 36.1% stake in Braskem under its $20 -$30 billion divestment program for the 2020-2024 period. The divestiture can be made viable by converting Braskem’s share structure to a single class of common shares, which will allow the stock to be traded in São Paolo Stock Exchange’s Novo Mercado premium listing segment. This migration to the Novo Mercado will aid Petrobrasto to sell its interest in Braskem.
In a recent separate press release, the Brazilian state-run energy giant Petrobras informed that the divestment procedure of its stakes in five power plants in the Latin American country is already on track. Those are, namely BrasympeEnergia SA, EnergéticaSuape II SA, TermoelétricaPotiguar SA, CompanhiaEnergéticaManauara SA and BrentechEnergia SA.
Petrobras looks forward to divest 20-40% of its ownership in the power plants that generate natural gas and hydroelectricity with a complete capacity of almost 700 megawatt.
With these divestitures, the company plans to reduce its debt load and concentrate its investment and development efforts on the pre-salt area offshore Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states.
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By Zacks Equity Research
