Braskem, the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas, announces the celebration of the successful one-year anniversary of commercial production at its newest world class polypropylene (PP) production line in La Porte, Texas.

Mark Nikolich, Braskem America CEO, commented, "Braskem's first full year of commercial operations at our newest world class polypropylene line in La Porte, Texas, exceeded our expectations for quality and performance at a time in the industry when our clients needed us most. Our decision to invest in North America's largest polypropylene production facility reflects our commitment to our leadership position in the U.S. market and more importantly, enhancing our ability to meet the current and future needs of our clients. The enhanced production capabilities from this new facility proved critically important as the larger industry supply was negatively impacted by Winter Storm Uri."

Initial commercial production was launched September 10, 2020, at Braskem's newest PP production line with a nameplate production capacity of 450 kilotons (kt) or 1 billion pounds per year. In the first full year of commercial operation, the plant produced over 800 million pounds (365 kt) despite the challenges faced from Winter Storm Uri and it consistently ran at or above its nameplate capacity through the year.   

Alexandre Elias, Vice President U.S. Olefins & Polyolefins, Braskem America said, "The launch of production at our newest manufacturing line in La Porte has significantly improved the capacity as well as efficiency of our entire U.S. polypropylene production portfolio, with our new line producing some of the highest volume commercial grades at significant scale. This combined with design innovations as well as advances in production sustainability have enabled us to deliver performance improvements on every level."

"Our internal team was matched with unprecedented international collaboration from our global partners and suppliers, who together broke new ground in terms of virtual collaboration due to the COVID-19 pandemic including around the clock efforts to bring expertise and field experience to bear in ways never thought possible. We achieved all this amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while always keeping our team member safety as our top priority.  This combined team delivered exceptional performance throughout this record first year of production and is a true testament to their commitment to professional excellence," said Chris Bland, Vice President Manufacturing, Braskem America.