Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A Stock price
Compare with Peer Group
📊 Peer Group
📈 What is it?
The peer group consists of the companies with the most similar business model. They serve as a benchmark for putting a stock into context.
🧮 How is it selected?
Based on similarity of business model, meaning companies from the same industry with comparable products and a similar customer base. That's the only way to compare apples to apples.
🏛️ Why does it matter?
Whether a stock is cheap or expensive is best judged by comparison. A P/E of 18 or an EV/FCF of 20 can look cheap or expensive depending on the yardstick. The peer group gives you the most accurate one: companies with a similar business model that operate under the same conditions.
🎯 What does it mean for investors?
When a metric sits below the peer average, the stock is valued more cheaply relative to its competitors, and above the average more expensively. A discount to the peer group can be an opportunity, but it can also have a reason (for example lower growth). The comparison is a starting point, not a verdict.
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Key metrics
📘 Market Capitalization
📈 What is it?
Market capitalization shows how much a company is currently worth on the stock market.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps classify companies by size (Large, Mid, Small Cap) and indicates their market presence and relative stability.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Large-cap companies tend to be more stable, often pay dividends, but may grow more slowly.
- Smaller firms may offer higher growth potential but come with more volatility.
- Market capitalization is a useful indicator of company size — but not a measure of whether a stock is undervalued or overvalued.
📘 Enterprise Value (EV)
📈 What is it?
Enterprise Value represents the total cost to acquire a company — including its debt and excluding its cash reserves.
🧮 How is it calculated?
(= Market Cap + Net Debt)
🏛️ Why is it important?
EV gives a more complete picture of a company's value than market cap alone and is used in key valuation ratios like EV/FCF or EV/Sales.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Enterprise Value shows the true cost of buying a company, including all financial obligations.
- It is more accurate than just looking at market cap, especially when comparing companies with different levels of debt or cash.
- Professional investors prefer EV-based multiples because they better reflect the company’s full financial footprint.
📘 Net Debt
📈 What is it?
Net Debt shows how much debt remains after subtracting a company’s available cash reserves.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It indicates how dependent a company is on borrowed money and how easily it can service its debt in the short term.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Low or negative net debt signals financial strength and flexibility.
- Companies with strong cash positions are better positioned in crises.
- High net debt increases financial risk — especially in environments with rising interest rates or economic downturns.
📘 Cash
📈 What is it?
Cash represents all liquid assets a company can access immediately — including cash, bank deposits, and short-term investments.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It reflects a company’s financial flexibility and resilience — enabling investments, buybacks, or buffer in downturns.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A strong cash position means greater room for maneuver and crisis resistance.
- Cash-rich companies can invest, pay down debt, or repurchase shares.
- But excess idle cash might indicate a lack of growth opportunities.
📘 Shares Outstanding
📈 What is it?
Shares outstanding represent the total number of a company’s shares currently held by investors — excluding treasury stock.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It’s the basis for key metrics like Earnings Per Share (EPS), Market Capitalization, or the Price/Earnings ratio (P/E).
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Fewer shares in circulation typically increase earnings per share — making each share more valuable.
- Share buybacks reduce the number of shares and boost per-share metrics.
- Issuing new shares does the opposite — diluting shareholder value and lowering per-share figures.
📘 Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)
📈 What is it?
The P/E ratio shows how many times a company's earnings per share are reflected in its current share price — in other words, how "expensive" the stock appears relative to its profits.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The P/E ratio is one of the most widely used valuation metrics. It helps investors assess whether a stock appears cheap or expensive compared to its earnings power.
🧮 Calculation
📊 P/E (TTM) = Based on earnings from the last 12 months (Trailing Twelve Months):🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low P/E may indicate undervaluation — or signal underlying issues.
- A high P/E may reflect strong growth expectations — or an overvalued stock.
📘 Price-to-Sales Ratio (P/S)
📈 What is it?
The P/S ratio shows how much investors are paying for $1 of the company’s revenue – regardless of profitability.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
P/S is especially useful for evaluating growth companies or businesses not yet profitable. It reflects how the market values the company’s sales.
🧮 Calculation
Market Cap = $591.48m | Revenue (TTM) = $12.88b
Market Cap = $591.48m | Estimated Revenue = $15.24b
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low P/S may indicate undervaluation — or low profitability.
- A high P/S can reflect strong growth expectations — or excessive optimism.
- Especially helpful when evaluating companies where profits are low, volatile, or negative.
📘 Enterprise Value to Sales (EV/Sales)
📈 What is it?
EV/Sales shows how much investors are paying for $1 of revenue — considering not just equity, but also debt and cash. It’s the capital structure–adjusted version of the P/S ratio.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It’s ideal for comparing companies with different levels of debt. It reflects a company's true cost relative to its revenue.
🧮 Calculation
Enterprise Value = $12.29b | Revenue (TTM) = $12.88b
Enterprise Value = $12.29b | Forward Revenue = $15.24b
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- EV/Sales allows for capital structure–neutral company comparisons.
- A lower ratio may indicate undervaluation; a higher one may signal strong growth expectations or overvaluation.
- Especially helpful when evaluating high-growth companies with low or negative earnings.
📘 Enterprise Value to Free Cash Flow (EV/FCF)
📈 What is it?
EV/FCF shows how many years it would take for a company to "pay back" its enterprise value using its free cash flow.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It focuses on real cash generation, ignoring accounting noise — ideal for assessing profitability and value based on liquidity, not earnings.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low EV/FCF may signal undervaluation and strong cash generation.
- A high EV/FCF might reflect weak recent cash flow or aggressive growth expectations.
- Best suited for stable, mature businesses with predictable free cash flows.
📘 Price-to-Book Ratio (P/B)
📈 What is it?
The P/B ratio compares a company’s market value to its book value — showing how much investors are paying for each dollar of net assets.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
P/B is commonly used for asset-heavy industries like banks or industrials. It helps assess whether a stock is trading above or below its net asset value.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A P/B below 1 may signal undervaluation — or weak profitability.
- A P/B above 1 implies the market expects future value creation (e.g., brand, IP, growth).
- Best used for companies with tangible assets and strong balance sheets.
📘 Dividend per Share (DPS)
📈 What is it?
Dividend per Share shows how much cash a company pays out to shareholders for each share they own – usually on an annual or quarterly basis.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
DPS is the absolute value of the payout per share – crucial for income-focused investors and dividend strategies.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A stable or growing DPS often signals a strong, shareholder-friendly business.
- DPS alone doesn’t tell you how attractive the payout is – the stock price also matters (→ see Dividend Yield).
- Long-term dividend growth is often a hallmark of high-quality companies – like the dividend aristocrats.
📘 Dividend Yield
📈 What is it?
Dividend yield shows how large a company’s dividend is in relation to its current share price.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It allows investors to compare dividend payouts across stocks, regardless of price or payout size.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A stable yield can reflect reliable distributions.
- Comparing 1Y and 5Y yield shows whether dividend growth keeps pace with stock price appreciation.
- A low yield isn’t always negative – it can signal strong past performance or growth focus.
📘 Dividend Growth
📈 What is it?
Dividend growth shows how much a company has increased its dividend per share over time.
🧮 How is it calculated?
5Y: Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
🏛️ Why is it important?
Consistently rising dividends are often a sign of financial strength and shareholder orientation – especially relevant for long-term investors.
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Stable dividend growth is a sign of sustainable earning power.
- High dividend growth can significantly boost your total return:
- If a company pays $1 in dividends and increases it by 15% annually over 5 years, you’ll receive $2 per share in year 5 – twice as much as at the start!
📘 Payout Ratio
📈 What is it?
The payout ratio shows what percentage of a company’s earnings (per share) is distributed to shareholders as dividends.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps assess whether the dividend is sustainable – especially in relation to the company’s profitability.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low payout ratio means the company retains more earnings for reinvestment – typical for growth companies.
- A moderate payout (e.g. 25–50%) indicates a healthy balance between returns and reinvestment.
- High payout ratios may seem attractive but can carry risk if earnings decline.
📘 Consecutive Dividend Increases
📈 What is it?
This metric shows how many consecutive years a company has raised its dividend per share – without any cuts or pauses.
🧮 How is it calculated?
(Special dividends are not considered.)
🏛️ Why is it important?
A long track record of increases reflects financial strength, consistency, and shareholder commitment.
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A long dividend increase streak builds confidence – especially in volatile markets.
- Such companies are seen as reliable and income-friendly investments.
- The longer the streak, the stronger the company’s dividend discipline.
📘 Revenue
📈 What is it?
Revenue shows how much a company earns in total from selling its products and services – the gross income before any costs are deducted.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Revenue is one of the key figures to assess a company’s size, market position, and growth potential.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growing revenue indicates rising demand and can be an early signal of future earnings growth.
- Comparing actual and expected revenue reveals trends in the market environment and analyst sentiment.
- Note: Strong revenue alone isn’t enough – margins and profitability matter just as much.
📘 EBITDA
📈 What is it?
EBITDA stands for “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.” It reflects a company’s operating profit before the effects of financing, taxes, and accounting depreciation.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBITDA is widely used to evaluate a company’s operating performance – especially across capital-intensive sectors or international comparisons.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high or growing EBITDA indicates strong operational profitability – independent of taxes, interest, or accounting methods.
- It’s especially useful for comparing companies across sectors or geographies.
- Important: EBITDA is not a net income figure – it excludes key costs like depreciation and interest.
📘 EBIT
📈 What is it?
EBIT stands for “Earnings Before Interest and Taxes.” It reflects a company’s operating profit after depreciation, but before interest and tax expenses.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBIT is a core profitability metric that shows how well the company performs in its main business operations – independent of capital structure and tax environment.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBIT indicates strong profitability from the company’s core business – before financial and tax effects.
- It allows better comparison between companies with different debt levels or tax structures.
- Compared to EBITDA, EBIT already accounts for depreciation and reflects capital intensity more clearly.
📘 Net Income
📈 What is it?
Net income is the company’s total profit – the amount left after all expenses, taxes, interest, and depreciation have been deducted.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net income is the most comprehensive measure of a company’s profitability – showing how much actual profit remains after all business and financing costs.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growing net income indicates that the company is managing all of its costs efficiently.
- It directly influences valuation metrics like P/E ratio and the company’s dividend capacity.
- Over time, net income trends reveal how resilient and profitable the business model really is.
📘 Free Cash Flow (FCF)
📈 What is it?
Free Cash Flow shows how much actual cash remains after a company covers its operating expenses and capital expenditures.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
FCF reflects a company’s real financial strength – regardless of accounting profits. It shows how much flexibility a company has for dividends, share buybacks, or debt reduction.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- High free cash flow means the company generates real, usable cash – independent of reported net income.
- It’s often the most reliable base for sustainable dividends and buybacks.
- Declining FCF can be an early warning sign – even when profits appear stable.
📘 Revenue Growth
📈 What is it?
Revenue growth shows how much a company’s sales have changed compared to the previous year – both on a trailing basis (TTM) and based on forward projections.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected revenue ÷ Revenue in prior year − 1) × 100
Forward growth is based on analyst estimates for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Rising revenue signals growing demand, business expansion, and market share gains – especially important for growth-oriented companies.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growth is the engine of long-term value creation – especially in tech and growth sectors.
- What matters is not just current growth, but its sustainability.
- Forward projections reflect whether analysts expect continued momentum – or a slowdown.
📘 EBITDA Growth
📈 What is it?
EBITDA growth shows how much a company’s operating profit (before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) has increased or decreased compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected EBITDA ÷ EBITDA from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate is based on analyst projections for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Growing EBITDA indicates improving operational profitability – regardless of financing or accounting effects.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Strong EBITDA growth signals operational efficiency and scalability – especially during growth phases.
- EBITDA growth can be an early indicator of margin and earnings expansion – but should be assessed alongside revenue and EBIT.
📘 EBIT Growth
📈 What is it?
EBIT growth shows how much a company’s operating profit (after depreciation, but before interest and taxes) has increased compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected EBIT ÷ EBIT from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate is based on analyst projections for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBIT growth is a direct indicator of a company’s business performance – taking into account capital intensity through depreciation.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Rising EBIT signals improving operating profitability – even after accounting for depreciation.
- It’s especially important for evaluating companies with significant capital expenditures.
- Combined with revenue and EBITDA growth, EBIT growth provides a well-rounded view of operational progress.
📘 Net Income Growth
📈 What is it?
Net income growth shows how much a company’s bottom-line profit has increased or decreased compared to the previous year – both on a trailing basis (TTM) and based on analyst projections.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected net income ÷ Net income from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate reflects analysts’ expectations for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net income is the ultimate measure of profitability. Growing net income signals stronger efficiency, cost control, and sustainable earnings power.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Stronger net income boosts valuation, dividend potential, and investor confidence.
- If profits stall while revenue grows, it may signal margin pressure.
📘 Free Cash Flow Growth
📈 What is it?
Free cash flow (FCF) growth shows how a company’s available cash – after covering operating expenses and capital expenditures – has changed compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Free cash flow reflects real financial strength. Growing FCF indicates more flexibility for dividends, share buybacks, and reinvestment.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Declining FCF may point to rising investments, increasing costs, or weaker operating performance.
- Especially for dividend investors, FCF growth is critical – since dividends are paid from actual available cash.
- A negative trend isn't always bad, but it deserves closer attention.
📘 Gross Margin
📈 What is it?
Gross margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains after deducting the direct costs of goods sold (like materials and production). It represents the company’s “raw profit” before fixed costs, taxes, and interest.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Or simply: Gross Margin = Gross Profit ÷ Revenue × 100
🏛️ Why is it important?
Gross margin indicates how efficiently a company can produce or procure what it sells. It is a key measure of product-level profitability and pricing power.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high gross margin suggests strong pricing power and efficient production.
- Falling margins may signal rising input costs or competitive pressure.
- Compared to peers, gross margin offers insights into the quality of a business model.
📘 EBITDA Margin
📈 What is it?
The EBITDA margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as operating profit before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.It reflects operating efficiency without being distorted by financing or accounting factors.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The EBITDA margin reveals how much operating income a company generates per dollar of revenue – independent of capital structure and tax effects.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBITDA margin reflects strong core profitability – before accounting distortions.
- It allows for effective comparisons across companies and sectors.
- A stable or growing margin signals efficient cost control and business scalability.
📘 EBIT Margin
📈 What is it?
The EBIT margin shows what percentage of revenue remains as operating profit after depreciation but before interest and taxes.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The EBIT margin reflects a company’s core profitability while accounting for capital intensity (e.g. machinery, infrastructure). It’s especially useful for comparing businesses with different levels of depreciation.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBIT margin shows that the company remains efficient even after factoring in depreciation.
- It’s especially relevant for capital-intensive industries.
- Stable or rising EBIT margins over time are a strong indicator of pricing power and business quality.
📘 Net margin
📈 What is it?
Net margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as bottom-line profit after deducting all costs, interest, taxes, and depreciation.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net margin reflects a company’s overall efficiency – across operations, financing, and taxation. It shows how much actual profit is generated from each dollar of revenue.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high net margin means the company is not only strong operationally but also manages financing and taxes efficiently.
- Peer comparisons reveal business quality and competitiveness.
- Declining margins despite revenue growth can be a red flag for rising costs or inefficiencies.
📘 Free cash flow margin
📈 What is it?
The free cash flow (FCF) margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as actual free cash after covering all operating expenses and capital expenditures.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
This margin reflects the true liquidity generated by the business – independent of accounting rules or depreciation. It’s especially relevant for dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment decisions.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high FCF margin means a company consistently generates strong cash flow.
- It’s a positive signal for financial stability and shareholder returns.
- The long-term trend is key – a declining margin may indicate rising investments or weakening operating efficiency.
📘 Equity Ratio
📈 What is it?
The equity ratio indicates what portion of a company’s total assets is financed by shareholders’ equity – in other words, how much it relies on its own capital.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
A high equity ratio reflects financial strength and stability, especially during downturns. It’s a key indicator of a company’s solvency and long-term risk profile.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Companies with high equity ratios are generally more resilient and less dependent on external debt.
- Low equity ratios can signal higher risk or aggressive financial strategies.
- Important: Always assess the equity ratio in combination with the return on equity (ROE). This shows not just how stable the company is – but also how efficiently it uses shareholder capital.
📘 Return on Equity (ROE)
📈 What is it?
Return on equity (ROE) shows how efficiently a company uses its shareholders’ equity to generate profit. In other words: how much net income is earned per dollar of equity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROE is a core profitability metric. It helps investors understand whether a company delivers attractive returns on the capital provided by its shareholders.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROE indicates that the company is using its capital efficiently and profitably.
- It’s especially meaningful for capital-intensive businesses or firms with high equity bases.
- Important: A very high ROE can also result from high debt levels – always interpret it alongside the equity ratio to assess financial health.
📘 Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
📈 What is it?
ROCE measures how efficiently a company generates profits from its total capital – including both equity and interest-bearing debt.
🧮 How is it calculated?
It evaluates the return on all capital employed, regardless of how it’s financed.
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROCE is ideal for comparing companies with different financing structures. It shows how well management uses capital to create value for both shareholders and creditors.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROCE means the company uses its capital efficiently – regardless of whether it's funded by debt or equity.
- The higher the ROCE compared to peers, the more value the company creates with its invested capital.
- Especially relevant for capital-intensive sectors like industrials, energy, or infrastructure.
📘 Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
📈 What is it?
ROIC measures how efficiently a company generates returns from the capital invested in its core operations – regardless of whether the capital comes from equity or debt.
🧮 How is it calculated?
- NOPAT = Net Operating Profit After Taxes
- Invested Capital = Operating assets minus non-interest-bearing liabilities
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROIC is one of the most accurate indicators of capital efficiency. Unlike return on equity, it is not distorted by leverage and shows how much value is created for all capital providers.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROIC shows how effectively a company uses the capital that is truly invested in its core operations.
- Unlike ROCE, ROIC focuses only on the capital that is actively used to run the business – and that requires a return (i.e. interest-bearing).
- Especially useful when comparing companies with large amounts of excess cash or non-interest-bearing liabilities – giving a more realistic picture of capital efficiency.
📘 Leverage Ratio (Debt-to-Equity)
📈 What is it?
The leverage ratio indicates how much a company relies on interest-bearing debt (such as loans and bonds) relative to its shareholders’ equity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
This ratio helps assess a company’s financial structure and risk profile. High leverage can enhance returns – but also increases exposure to interest rate changes and financial stress.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low leverage ratio signals financial strength and independence.
- A higher ratio can improve returns in good times but increases risk during downturns or rising interest rate periods.
- 👉 Always interpret in the context of industry, capital intensity, and interest rate environment.
📘 Earnings per share (EPS)
📈 What is it?
Earnings per Share (EPS) shows how much profit is attributable to a single share – and is one of the most important metrics for evaluating a company's performance.
🧮 How is it calculated?
The diluted share count reflects potential new shares that could be issued through options, convertible bonds, or other rights.
🏛️ Why is it important?
EPS is the basis for many key valuation metrics like P/E ratio, PEG ratio, or payout ratio. It enables comparisons of profitability across companies, regardless of their size.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- EPS captures per-share profitability and is especially useful for comparisons over time or with analyst estimates.
- Rising EPS may signal consistent growth or share buybacks.
- Important: Always use diluted EPS for more realistic valuations – especially in companies with stock-based compensation.
📘 Free cash flow per share (FCF per share)
📈 What is it?
Free Cash Flow per Share shows how much free cash flow a company generates per outstanding share – after investments, but before dividends or debt repayments.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Free cash flow is calculated as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures (CapEx).
🏛️ Why is it important?
FCF per Share reveals how much real cash is available per share – useful for dividends, buybacks, or reducing debt. Unlike net income, free cash flow is harder to manipulate and often seen as a more reliable metric.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- High FCF per share signals strong financial flexibility.
- It shows how much capital the company can effectively reinvest or return to shareholders.
- Particularly relevant for dividend payers and capital-efficient businesses.
📘 Short interest
📈 What is it?
Short interest indicates how many shares of a company are currently sold short – that is, borrowed and sold by investors who expect the price to decline.
🧮 How is it calculated?
It reflects the percentage of a company’s shares that are being shorted relative to the total shares available.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Short interest serves as a sentiment indicator: A high value may signal skepticism or bearish expectations – but also increases the potential for a short squeeze if prices rise unexpectedly.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Low short interest usually indicates market confidence in the company.
- High short interest can be a warning sign – or an opportunity if sentiment shifts.
- Especially relevant in volatile markets or ahead of key earnings releases.
📘 Employees
📈 What is it?
The employee count shows how many people a company employs worldwide – offering insights into its size, structure, and business model.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps assess operational scale, labor intensity, and cost structure. Combined with revenue and profit, it enables key metrics like revenue per employee or productivity.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high headcount can signal operational complexity – but also significant growth capacity.
- Revenue per employee is a key indicator of efficiency.
- Especially useful for comparing tech, industrial, or service-heavy companies.
📘 Turnover per employee
📈 What is it?
Revenue per employee indicates how much revenue a company generates on average per employee – a key measure of efficiency and productivity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
The employee count is typically taken from the most recent annual report.
🏛️ Why is it important?
This metric helps compare business models – especially between labor-intensive and technology-driven companies. A high value suggests automation, operational efficiency, or strong value creation per head.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high revenue per employee indicates a scalable and margin-strong business model.
- A low figure may reflect labor-intensive operations or lower value-add.
- Especially helpful when comparing tech companies to industrial or service sectors.
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A Stock Analysis
Analyst Opinions
15 Analysts have issued a Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A forecast:
Analyst Opinions
15 Analysts have issued a Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A forecast:
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A Events
Past Events
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AUG
14
Q2 2026 Earnings Call
about one month ago
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MAY
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Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A — Q2 2026 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for waiting. Welcome to Braskem's Second Quarter of 2026 Results Conference Call.
With us here today, we have Mr. Helcio Tokeshi, Braskem's CEO; Mr. Carlos Brandao, Braskem's CFO; and Mrs. Rosana Avolio, Investor Relations, Strategic Planning and Global Market Intelligence Director.
We inform you that this event is being recorded. The presentation will be held in Portuguese with simultaneous translation into English. All participants can choose which language to listen to and see the presentation using the show captions and view options button respectively. After Braskem remarks, there will be a Q&A session. Please be advised that questions must be sent through the Q&A button. I will now repeat the same instructions in Portuguese.
We inform you that this event is being recorded. The presentation will be held in Portuguese with simultaneous translation into English. All participants can choose which language to listen to and see the presentation using the show captions and view options button respectively. After Braskem remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please note that questions should be submitted in writing through the Q&A button.
The audio of this event will be available on the Investor Relations website after it ends. We remind you that the participants will be able to submit questions to Braskem, which will be answered after the end of this conference by the RI (sic) [ IR ] department.
Before proceeding, we would like to clarify that any statements that may be made during this conference call regarding Braskem's business prospects, projections, operational and financial goals are beliefs and assumptions of the company's management as well as information currently available to Braskem.
Future considerations are not guarantee of performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as they refer to future events and therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors and analysts should understand that general conditions, industry conditions as well as other operational factors may affect Braskem's future results and may lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such future considerations.
Now I'll turn the conference over to Mrs. Rosana Avolio, Investor Relations, Strategic Planning and Global Market Intelligence Director. Mrs. Avolio, you may begin your presentation.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for participating in the Braskem earnings release conference call for the second quarter of 2026. Today, we will present the main operational and financial highlights for the period, discuss the market environment that affected our business, detail the performance of each segment and share our market outlook for the coming quarters as well as the company's priorities for the second half of 2026.
Following the agenda on Slide #3, we will begin by presenting the context observed in the second quarter of 2026, starting with Slide #4. In the second quarter of 2026, the global macroeconomic environment remained volatile due to the conflict in the Middle East, which restricted the global supply of feedstock, particularly to Asia and raised international market prices of oil and naphtha, the company's main feedstock.
Given the above context, production costs among marginal producers in Asia were higher, which positively impacted the prices of resins and chemicals on the international market. Prices were higher when compared to the first quarter of 2026. As you can see, this trend is evident in the main PE and PP spreads which were significantly higher than the average from 2016 to 2025. In the U.S. PE market, for example, the spread was almost 40% higher, driven mainly by the temporary widening of arbitrage between the U.S. and Asia.
This move opened up an export opportunity to the U.S. PE market with more attractive netbacks and higher margins, behavior similar to that observed in the U.S. PE-ethane market, which also saw significant increases given that the price of ethane in the U.S. market did not follow the price increases of other petrochemical feedstocks. It's worth noting that this improvement in international spreads results mainly from an on-off supply shock and not from a structural change in the dynamics of the global petrochemical cycle.
Moving on to the next slide. The performance of each segment of the company will be presented below, starting with Brazil on Slide #6. The petrochemical plants in the Brazil segment presented an average utilization rate in line with the previous quarter, higher by 1 percentage point. This result is mainly attributable to the strategy of maintaining production levels in response to the high volatility of feedstock prices in international markets, resulting from the conflict in the Middle East.
In relation to sales, the volume of resins in the Brazilian market was 2% lower compared to the previous quarter. This result is mainly attributable to a 6% decrease in polyethylene sales volume and a 1% decrease in PVC sales volume due to higher volumes of imported products during the period. This effect was partially offset by the 3% increase in polypropylene sales, in line with the growth in demand in the Brazilian market.
Sales volume of chemicals, however, was down 4%, mainly due to the lower availability of gasoline and benzene for sale and lower demand for ethylene and styrene in the Brazilian market.
Regarding the quarter's results, the segment recurring EBITDA was $869 million, an increase of 261% compared to the previous quarter. This result was mainly driven by the segment's higher contribution margin due to approximately 50% increase in the spreads for resins and major chemicals in the international market, 50%, as mentioned previously.
In addition to the positive impact of $115 million from PIS/COFINS credits on the purchase of feedstocks under the REIQ Insumos program. In addition, the recovery of nearly $27 million in credits related to vessel demurrage and the reversal of accounting provisions had a positive impact on the segment's results. These effects were partially offset by the 4% appreciation of the average Brazilian real against the average dollar for the period and by the lower sales volume of resin and major chemicals in the Brazilian market.
Next slide, please. In the second quarter of 2026, the green ethylene utilization rate was higher by 2 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2026, mainly due to the adjustment of production levels in response to higher demand. During the period, sales of green polyethylene increased by 49%, mainly due to greater commercial opportunities in Europe and the normalization of demand following the seasonal effect of the Chinese New Year in the previous quarter.
Highlights for the quarter include the renewal of our commercial partnership with New Balance to use I'm green bio-based EVA in the soles of running shoes, strengthening our existing commercial partnerships.
Next slide. The United States and Europe segment registered a utilization rate of 76% in the quarter. The reduction of 3 percentage points in relation to the previous quarter is explained by the scheduled maintenance shutdowns in plants in the U.S. and in Germany, lasting 35 and 30 days, respectively. It's worth noting that the higher sales volumes in the United States was offset by the lower sales volume in Europe, due to the inventory management and the processing chain in the region, which meant that the sales volume in the quarter was in line when compared to the first quarter of 2026.
In the quarter, the recurring EBITDA of the United States and Europe segment was $147 million. The increase in relation to the previous quarter is mainly explained by the positive impact of the higher polypropylene spreads in the international market arising from the conflict in the Middle East.
Moving on to the next slide. In Mexico, the capacity utilization rate for polyethylene plants was 43%, down 12 percentage points from the previous quarter, mainly due to the liquidity preservation measures adopted by Braskem Idesa. During the quarter, average ethane imports through the terminal amounted to 14,700 barrels per day, a decrease of approximately 3,000 barrels per day compared to the first quarter of 2026.
Additionally, the supply of ethane by PEMEX in the second quarter was 11,800 barrels per day, a reduction of about 3,000 barrels per day when compared with the first quarter of 2026. Polyethylene sales were lower by 11%, impacted by the lower availability of product for sale due to the lower utilization rate. In this context, the recurring EBITDA of the Mexico segment was $57 million in the second quarter of '26.
The improvement in relation to the previous quarter is mainly explained by the increase in the polyethylene spread in the United States by 73%, impacted by the uncertainties related to the conflict in the Middle East.
Next slide, please. In this next chapter, I will present the company's consolidated financial results. Consolidated recurring EBITDA in the second quarter of '26 was $1.043 billion with an EBITDA margin of 24%, representing an increase compared to the previous quarter. This increase compared to the previous quarter is mainly due to the increase of 82% and 98% in the average international spreads of resins and main chemicals in the Brazil and South America segment, a 28% increase in the average polypropylene spread in the United States and Europe market segments and a 73% increase in the international polyethylene spread in the Mexico market segment.
Additionally, results were positively impacted by $115 million or BRL 578 million result of PIS/COFINS credits for the purchase of feedstocks under the REIQ inputs program in Brazil. Such effects were partially offset by the average appreciation of the Brazilian real against the dollar of 4% during the period. Also, sales of resins and main chemicals decreased in the Brazilian market by 2% and 4%, respectively. Additionally, there was an 11% decrease in PE sales in Mexico.
Next slide, please. The company presented an operating cash generation of $385 million, which mainly reflected an increase in chemical and petrochemical spreads in the international market, driven by the conflict in the Middle East. Negative variation in working capital was mainly due to the high volatility of feedstock prices in international markets, and an increase in inventory volumes due to prioritization of sales with higher added value.
Recurring cash generation totaled approximately $210 million. Finally, when disbursements for Alagoas and payments related to lease purchase agreements are considered, the company presented a cash consumption of approximately $15 million in the period.
Next slide, please. As of the end of June 2026, work fronts in Maceio continued to move forward as planned. The relocation and compensation work front ended the quarter with a 99.9% completion rate through the Residents Relocation program. The same percentage of proposals were submitted under the Financial Compensation and Relocation Support Program and approximately 99.7% of the proposals were accepted and also paid out.
In parallel, we continue to move forward with the closing and monitoring of salt cavities. Every effort has been made along this work front to ensure, if necessary, that these 35 cavities require 0 maintenance over the long term. 6 cavities were filled naturally during the second quarter of 2026. A further 8 cavities were completed and the technical fill limit was reached in 6 cavities.
Finally, 3 are in the filling -- 3 cavities are in the filling process and 1 cavity in the planning phase. As a result, the total financial provision implemented for the event in Alagoas as of the end of June '26 was approximately BRL 18.2 billion, which approximately BRL 14.6 billion was previously disbursed and nearly BRL 1.2 billion were reclassified under other payables. As a result, the total provision balance as of the end of the second quarter of '26 was BRL 3.2 billion.
Next slide, please. The next few slides will present the chemical and petrochemical scenario perspectives. Slide 15 presents the expected scenario for the second half of 2026 and 2027. The base scenarios prepared by consulting firms for these periods point to moderate spreads and potential occasional upsides. The gradual normalization of trade flows will tend to reduce the premium observed in the second quarter of '26. However, geopolitical, logistical and operational risks may continue to sustain volatility and value capture opportunities.
This trend can be observed in the main spreads. With regards to Brazilian PE naphtha, external consulting firms expect a 59% decrease between the second and third quarters of '26, given that a reduction in arbitrage between the United States and Asia is expected starting in the third quarter. Similar results are expected for Brazilian PP naphtha and Mexican PE-ethane, which also saw a decrease.
Consultants are predicting a base scenario marked by the normalization of spreads, driven by the redirection of flows, moderate demand and excess global supply. However, potential upsides remain possible if disruptions persist or intensify. I would, therefore, like to reiterate that we remain attentive to these potential trajectories, and we are ready to capture opportunities whenever the environment allows.
Slide 16 presents an outlook for the global petrochemical industry from specialized external consultants. Despite improvements observed during the second quarter of '26, the petrochemical cycle is expected to remain structurally challenging over the coming periods. The increase in spreads in the second quarter of '26 resulted from a supply shock. Medium-term fundamentals, meanwhile, remain under pressure due to overcapacity and moderate demand.
Global operating rates remain under pressure in both the PE and PP sectors, a reflection of global overcapacity, particularly in Asia and continued moderate demand. The structural challenges such as excess supply, a need for rationalization of capacity and greater operational discipline existed before the conflict and will tend to persist even after trade flows are normalized. It is, therefore, important to emphasize that the scenario for the second quarter of '26 should be interpreted as a tactical capture of value and not as a structural change in the cycle.
Let's move on to the next slide. I will end off by commenting the company's priorities for the second half of 2026. Braskem review its targets and priorities for the second half of '26 in response to recent changes in the company's environment and business activities. These changes are due to external and internal factors within the global scenario in the petrochemical industry and Braskem new shareholding structure. I'd like to highlight our new priorities for the second half of the year, given the above context in relation to our pillars of action. We will move forward along 2 complementary work fronts under the restructuring pillars.
These efforts will focus on optimizing Braskem capital structures, including Braskem Idesa, guaranteeing business continuity and activities. Additionally, given the ongoing challenges faced in global industry, the company remains committed to discipline in capital allocation, focused on preserving and optimizing financial liquidity. We are expanding our ambition to strengthen our business structure competitiveness under our operational and commercial pillar through the implementation of an operational excellence program, synergies and the strengthening of commercial value capture levers.
Furthermore, we remain committed to reinforcing our institutional performance and promoting a more competitive business environment for the Brazilian chemical and petrochemical industries.
Additionally, we will remain focused on completing the mapping of further value creation opportunities and beginning to capture these benefits through the transformation plan. Finally, we are moving forward with our commitment to fulfilling agreements related to geological event in Alagoas and with regards to safety, which remains as a nonnegotiable value at the company. We remain dedicated to guarantee reliable and safe operations, protecting people and safeguarding the integrity of our processes across all regions where we operate.
We've reached the end of our presentation of Braskem results for the second quarter of 2026. I would like to thank you all for your attention, and we will now begin our Q&A session.
[Operator Instructions] Our first -- so the company may proceed, please.
Global macroeconomic and petrochemical sectors. Over the next few years, we are going to live in a very challenging scenario with a high level of volatility. This is a very important time for the industry. But I also see this with very positive view because we have a highly qualified team, a lot of institutional knowledge, and we're very serious about what we do. We are focused on building and strengthening relationships based on trust. And to that end, we will continue to share with you not just our results, but also our opinions about our outlook and Braskem's conditions.
And so I would like to provide some context about Braskem's current status and outlook. Q2 was positive in terms of operations. We had favorable results given the conflict in the Middle East. And based on our team's agility and thanks to our institutional knowledge, we were able to capture many different markets with a positive reflection on our results. And so we closed the quarter in essentially neutral financials. We were able to capture energy as well, although due to the increase in feedstocks and lines of credit, things became a little bit more difficult.
Now over the past few weeks, we've seen numbers return to levels close to what they were at before the war, which brings us back to a scenario where we can act with discipline in an environment we are accustomed to doing business in. And so in conclusion, we must consider the structural adverse environment that the petrochemical industry is in and also our need for financial restructuring.
More than looking at just 1 quarter's performance, we now have an important moment where we can look at Braskem's future. This begins a new phase for the company. We are entering this new stage with a clear objective to build a company that is stronger, more competitive, financially solid and prepared to generate value consistently in the long term for our shareholders and other stakeholders.
Our priority is to move forward in developing sustainable capital. We want to establish solid foundations that allow Braskem to generate value consistently in the long term. In parallel, we continue to move forward in our transformation project, which is focused on generating and capturing cash and EBITDA through operational excellence, cost discipline and capturing synergies throughout our organization. These agendas do not move separately. They move hand in hand. For us, Braskem's future necessarily involves 2 complementary pillars: a sustainable capital structure and the constant strengthening of our competitiveness.
Going back to what I mentioned at the beginning, we have operational excellence, ability to innovate a global presence and most importantly, people with a huge ability to execute. Our work now is to transform these strengths into greater efficiency, greater cash generation and sustainable value generation. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, and this will demand discipline, speed and consistency. Yet we are clear about our priorities, and we will continue to implement them.
Thank you all for joining us once again, and we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Thank you.
Thank you, Helcio. This is Rosana. Well, the dynamics will be similar to other calls. We will welcome the questions. Some questions are similar. So we will answer your questions in block. Okay. So let's check the questions by some of the market analysts regarding the financial restructuration of the company. Basically, the main question has to do with the status of this process. So Mr. Brandao, our CFO, will discuss the status of this restructuring process focused on the company's capital structure.
Just a moment, please. Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us this quarter for our earnings call, and thanks for your questions. As we've just mentioned, the restructuring efforts are one of the primary priorities for us in the short term. And we've been discussing this with some major groups of creditors.
One has -- is majority composed of representatives of banks and others are bondholders who hold shares of the company. As we always reiterate, our goal is for a consensual restructuring, which is moving forward with dialogue from all parties. And I believe we are moving toward a development that will once again rebalance the company's capital structure in the long term.
Thank you, Mr. Brandao. Now we have a question about CapEx in the first half of '26 was different from the [ round 8 ] to get to reach to the guidance. Can we expect a full catch-up in the second half of the year? And could you detail what CapEx lagging -- is lagging and what will be majorly allocated through the year?
I will answer this, and then Brandao can comment to. But historically, let me talk about the run rate of the company is around $500 million. There is an effort of the company to optimize to -- this is an important effort given the dynamics of the petrochemical industry, which was broadly discussed during the presentation. And as far as '26 goes, we have a global asset CapEx, excepting Idesa of $485 million. And up to this moment, we have spent 35% of what we expect for the year.
Regarding your question, [ Mr. Caso ], if we go back to what -- to the '25 disbursement at the same moment by the end of the first semester was equal, 35%. So we are in line. When the company opens the year, we have a plan to follow the preapproved plan in the budget, which is broadly discussed and presented to the Board. And naturally, there's a major disbursement during the second half of '25, and we expect to reach what was shared as Braskem investment expectation.
And next question has to do with the -- regarding Braskem Idesa. As we have discussed in the presentation, Braskem Idesa has reduced its operations to preserve liquidity. So the question has to do with that, whether the company expects, given the financial restructuring efforts that Brandao mentioned, if we expect to have the same initiative here in terms of utilization rate in Brazil. Brandao?
Thank you, Rosana, and thanks for the question, too. These things are all connected. Restructuring the capital structure in our operations, they're all connected. And so these measures protect the company and they protect the capital structure, too. And they allow the company to continue doing business. And so the company continues to seek opportunities that the market makes available. There is no indication that there will be any change to demand for our products. And to that end, we don't foresee any change to our operation rates.
Thank you very much. Moving on, let me take [ Safra ] question. How have you seen the inventory levels across the supply chain evolving since the end of the quarter? Has there been any recovery in demand alongside the drawdown of inventory? Is there any movement towards restocking yet?
I will start answering this question, and then you can complement it. Well, in this quarter, [ Conrado ], we have seen a growth in demand in the Brazilian market. And before talking about the Brazilian market, let me talk briefly about the global demand dynamics. We've had this conflict that started in February 28. The initial expectation was that if there was a lack of products in the world, so those producers who have access to feedstock, input stock, dedicated feedstock, the case of Braskem, we expect it to be privileged.
But what we saw is that in spite of this supply shock that was very particular, there is a dependency on Middle East and Asia for feedstock, especially oil and natural gas. So we realized that the world adjusted to the demand. So the spreads, should they get to normality, we have to see that as we presented.
And now moving on to the dynamics in Brazil. As I mentioned, we saw a demand growth in the quarter also motivated by the conflict in the Middle East. We would imagine that we would lack products. But again, the world has adjusted. There is an expectation that this war will be ended. The company expects that aligned with external consulting firms, by the way. And then we have seen a, let me call, weakened demand in the world and also in Brazil. So we can compare this to demand expectation in Brazil.
When we opened here by the end -- by the beginning of the year and up until now in the Brazilian market, if -- apart from PVC due to the Sanitation Law, but this is a particular thing. It's not a structural market change. We see that demand tends to be lower than the initial -- what was initially expected. And as far as your question go, we have seen a level of inventory that is balanced in the chain and import levels that are getting into the Brazilian market, especially in polyethylene with a cost of production that is more competitive than the Brazilian cost. Ethylene -- I mean, an ethane-based competitive for ethylene and also the price of the molecule.
So the company, in this sense, as we have reported, has been trying to find a balance by looking for opportunity, but Braskem has -- can fully supply the Brazilian market. This is one of our top priorities when it comes to Brazilian production. We'll always try to meet the demands of the Brazilian market in meeting the demands of our Brazilian customers.
Now moving on, let me take a question regarding working capital. The question is that given that commercial reduction of risk consumption of the company, how can you manage working capital to deal with decrease in utilization rates in petrochemical plants in Brazil and in Mexico.
I will talk about Brazil specifically. In Brazil, utilization rate is already a function that captures the demand and also captures opportunities and even payment condition. It has to do with the industrial productive planning that has an important input. This reduction you mentioned has been taking place for a year, 1.5 years due to the downgrade we had of credit rating agencies, credit rating agencies. But we've been managing this from the operating standpoint, a commercial standpoint.
We visit clients. We see them, trying to activate our long-term relationships. You can see in our quarter information, there is an explanatory note mentioning a reduction in the average price of clients' receivables. So that's how the company have managed -- is managing the working capital here in Brazil.
Just one thing I would like to add. Regarding the volatility of the external scenario, it's not that the company could not increase the operation and we didn't. In fact, we have taken all the opportunities we could find, but we are pretty cautious because this volatile scenario requires us to be cautious and we've been doing so.
Just to add, of course, Rosana has mentioned the effects of working capital, and we've seen effects since September of last year, and we knew we were speaking of opening a capital restructuring plan.
We were particularly cautious about our results. This quarter, the impacts were significantly better. And we expect that moving forward, the impact will absolutely be neutral as we move forward with the precautionary measure.
Now moving on, we have the consolidation of the new shared governance between IG4 and Petrobras under Helcio Tokeshi's leadership, the market wants to understand the long-term plan.
So Petrobras is a strategic partner, how can the Board balance the reduction in leverage with investments in synergies, operating synergies planned for the second half -- second quarter regarding the new controllers.
It's very important for us to be very familiar with the nature of the industry where we do business. In this industry, many of our units have decades of history. Of course, they go through revamps and improvements, but these assets are extremely long-lived. This is an industry where it does not make any sense to think in the very short term. It just doesn't work that way.
And the changes we've been seeing now are the results of that. For instance, China is now seeing the fruits of things that they started planning 35 years ago. In other words, from our perspective, from the perspective of a collegiate Board, it doesn't make sense for us to have any other kind of viewpoint other than a long-term one because this is a view that allows us to have solid, robust decisions. Of course, we do also think in the short term, but those are opening measures.
There are 2 pillars. And one is the transformation because this is not a transformation that will occur in the quarterly or yearly basis. Instead, this is a structural transformation that will allow us to have the efficiency, sustainability and solid results that we need because this is the new reality where all of us will continue to live for a long time yet. So it makes no sense to have a short-term view. We always need to balance short-term view with long-term view. That is what is going to give us a robust sustainable and competitive results for Braskem so that we can continue to generate value for our stakeholders.
And just to add to what he said, I think the complementary nature of the profiles of the new partners who are now part of the collegiate Board is particularly valuable for value generation. IG4 is not focused in the short term. It's a manager focused on long-term value creation, which is built by implementing the right strategies, which in turn allow the company's strengths to be focused on. And we see this in the day-to-day, as we do business with Petrobras, which has been particularly positive and high synergy in these 2 different abilities.
Now moving on. There is a question -- I mean, there are some questions, in fact, related to the returning to -- of the spreads to the normality in the sector in the segment. How you see this returning to normal? And what -- I mean, under this context, there is another question regarding sales volumes for the next quarter. How is the entering of exports in Brazil? How has this behaving?
Yes, you're right. It's also part of the results presentation. I will divide all of this conflict dynamics into some parts. As I said before, first of all, when the conflict started back then, we had this expectation of the industry as a whole of lacking products. So spreads reached a high cycle. There was a cycle uptrend. We didn't expect this or other consulting firms didn't expect this. But the world has adjusted to this reality, I mean, the global demand, which led to that the fact that from June on with the announcement of a possible cease fire, these demands would adjust even more and the spread would get back to normal, let's say.
So nowadays, the expectation and what we put in our earnings presentation is an average of specialized consulting firms. They expect that these spreads will return to levels that were close to pre-conflict levels, especially in the first quarter. And in some situations, spreads that will be even lower than that.
I would like to reinforce not only the tactics, but the fundamentals of it. We are in the middle of a war. We don't know it's going to scale or it's going to end. There's a lot of volatility in oil.
We are waiting for -- to see how it unfolds, but the fundamentals of the industry are maintained to pre-conflict levels. These are fundamental pillars. By the end of 2025, we had already observed almost 20 million tons of oversupply in the world. And I'm talking about polyethylene, it's almost 15% of the industry capacity today. This is an operation rate that is in the lowest level. This is the fundamental aspect of the industry, and we need to get ready for that regardless of any optimistic or waiting for a spread to change due to the conflict.
And now what we expect for the third quarter, usually, third quarter, and we always mentioned this, they have a seasonality effect, especially by the end of the third quarter because we expect preparations for end of the year parties, but we are not seeing the seasonability. So in fact, it's really hard to predict how we'll do to that. But we will be ready to capture opportunities, meet the demands of the Brazilian market.
There's no doubt that the American -- the U.S. producers due to this known lack of products in the world, they keep on placing products for a lower level of price lower than the petrochemical industry in Brazil. We're trying to revert this to change this as well as we can by having good relationships with long-term clients or maybe working with federal authorities and so on in the context of the polyethylene antidumping idea.
So we expect a recovery in sales for the next few months, maybe before this recovery of the market. We are working very hard to achieve that. But right now, it's hard to set an expectation on what's going to happen in the next few months.
All right. Now moving on, there's a question about antidumping related to -- in line with what I just said about the antidumping measure currently applied to the polyethylene from the U.S. Has Braskem been actively participating in this process with Brazilian authorities? And in the company's view, what would be the main impact on the domestic market, in the Brazilian market if the measure -- or if the measures were extended? Helcio, please.
Antidumping is a process that is very well handled by the authorities and the different ministries and GECEX, which is the ministry that handles that. They perform a meticulous technical study based on data from those companies. And when they detect that there has been dumping, which is what occurred, there is a causal relationship. The government understood that it did need to modulate things, and it has performed that.
So today, we do have an antidumping measure in effect effective today. We believe that these measures need to be reviewed and revised, and we are in discussion with all ministries in GECEX. And we are clearly -- we understand that they clearly understand that the flows need to be balanced due to this imbalance that is occurring because of the dumping that's been performed. And we think that things could be improved. We've made requests to improve the degree of protection. This is currently under discussion, and we hope that -- and expect the government to take a responsible decision, responsible measures over the coming weeks, and we will wait and see.
Ladies and gentlemen, we now complete the Q&A conference call for Braskem. Mr. Helcio, the floor is yours.
Well, thanks again. I'm very, very grateful that you all took the time to take part in our earnings call. I'd like to conclude really by reinforcing the fact that we have 2 complementary pillars. One is to attain and secure a sustainable capital structure in a constructive manner by performing discussions with our creditors. And the second is by -- is to continuously strengthen our competitive nature. That is why we launched the transformation plan.
That is why we do most of what we do. We have a phenomenal team with extremely high quality. We have a fantastic amount of quality of people with us. And this makes us cautiously optimistic that we will be able to do good work in this direction. And over the coming months and years, we will all be able to have many more of these earnings calls and improve our relationship even further. This is strong work that the company has been engaging in with all of you for a long time now, and we believe that we will continue to improve things over time. Thank you.
The Braskem teleconference is hereby closed. Thank you all for your participation, and have a nice afternoon.
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A — Q2 2026 Earnings Call
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A — Q1 2026 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Good morning, and thank you for holding. Welcome to Braskem's First Quarter of 2026 Results Conference Call. With us here today, we have Mr. Roberto Ramos, Braskem's CEO; Mr. Felipe Jens, Braskem's CFO; and Ms. Rosana Avolio, Investor Relations, Strategic Planning and Corporate Market Intelligence Director. Please note that today's event is being recorded. The presentation will be delivered in Portuguese with simultaneous interpreting into English.
In Zoom, participants may select their preferred audio language and view using the interpretation and view options buttons respectively. Options are also available using the show captions buttons. Following Braskem's remarks, we will open the call for questions. Questions should be submitted through the Q&A button. I will now repeat the same instruction.
The presentation will be held in Portuguese and simultaneously interpreted into English. You may select your preferred audio language and presentation view using the interpretation and view options buttons. You may also switch between languages using a button in the same menu. Following the remarks, we will open the call for questions. Please submit them using the Q&A button. Please remember that you may send questions to Braskem to be answered after the call as well.
Before we proceed, I'd like to note that any forward-looking statements made during this conference call regarding Braskem's business outlook, projections and operating or financial targets are based on the beliefs and assumptions of the company's management as well as on information currently available to Braskem. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as they relate to future events and therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not occur.
Investors and analysts should understand that general economic conditions, industry conditions and other operating factors may affect Braskem's future results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements.
I will now turn the call over to Ms. Rosana Avolio, Director of Investor Relations, Strategic Planning and Corporate Market Intelligence. Ms. Avolio, please go ahead.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining Braskem's earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2026. Following the agenda on Slide #3, we will start with the company's main highlights for the period, beginning on Slide #4.
In the first quarter of 2026, operations at Braskem's petrochemical complexes in Brazil delivered a utilization rate 10 percentage points higher than in the last quarter of 2025. In relation to the United States and Europe segment, the utilization rate was higher by 8 percentage points. And in the Mexico segment, the utilization rate was lower by 30 percentage points, impacted by the feedstock supply and Braskem Idesa's liquidity needs.
Regarding safety, a nonnegotiable value for the company, the average global frequency rate of accidents in the period was 0.18 events per 1 million hours worked, the best rate in the first quarter result in the last 10 years. In the quarter, the company reported consolidated recurring EBITDA of USD 192 million, up by 76% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025.
Regarding cash flow -- operating cash flow, the company presented an operating cash consumption of approximately USD 603 million in the period. Regarding indebtedness, the average maturity was approximately 7 years with 61% of the corporate debt maturing as of 2030. Braskem's cash position ended the first quarter of 2026 at USD 1.1 billion, considering the standby facility maturing in December 2026.
Finally, it's worth highlighting Braskem's return to ISE B3, the Corporate Sustainability Index, integrating the 2026 portfolio. The return to the ISE is a recognition of the company's efforts and initiatives on the sustainability topics.
Now moving on to the next slide. The performance of each segment of the company will be presented below, starting with Brazil on Slide #6. The petrochemical plants in the Brazil segment had a higher average utilization rate when compared to the fourth quarter of 2025 by 10 percentage points, mainly explained by the normalization of operations at the petrochemical plant in Bahia after the scheduled maintenance shutdown started in the fourth quarter of 2025 and concluded in January 2026.
In addition, results were impacted by inventory buildup ahead of the scheduled maintenance shutdown at the Rio Grande do Sul petrochemical plant, which started in March and ended in April 2026. In addition, the higher feedstock supply to the São Paulo petrochemical complex during the period also contributed to the increase in the utilization rate in the quarter.
Regarding sales, the volume of sales of resins in the Brazilian market was 5% higher compared to the previous quarter, impacted by higher sales of polyethylene and PVC, reflecting the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East. Chemical sales volume also increased by 5%, mainly due to higher product availability with highlights, including higher sales of gasoline, toluene and benzene.
Regarding results, the segment's recurring EBITDA was USD 241 million, an increase of 69% versus the previous quarter. This was mainly driven by the segment's higher contribution margin, explained by the PIS/COFINS credit on feedstock purchases totaling $32 million, which had a positive impact on the segment's COGS. On the other hand, the appreciation of the average real against the average dollar by 3% in the period negatively impacted recurring EBITDA by about $10 million.
Moving on to the next slide. In the first quarter of 2026, the green ethylene utilization rate was 3 percentage points lower when compared to the last quarter of 2025. During the period, sales of green polyethylene were impacted by the lower demand due to the Chinese New Year. I would like to highlight that in early April, Braskem announced that it will be the first chemical company to receive the Celo Verde Brasil certification. The Selo Verde is a program of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services designed to recognize products and services aligned with rigorous sustainability criteria based on a specific standard for renewable polymers in line with the Brazilian Association of Technical standards.
With this advancement, products in the Braskem's and green bio-based portfolio are positioned to become the first to receive the Silver Brazil certification, which is expected to be concluded in the second half of this year.
Now let's move on to the next slide. In the quarter, the utilization rate of the United States and Europe segment was 8 percentage points higher when compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, mainly due to the normalization of the plants after maintenance shutdowns in Europe and in the increase in production in the United States.
In this context, sales volume in the quarter was 3% higher, mainly explained by the higher sales volume in the United States due to the geopolitical environment. The segment reported recurring EBITDA of USD 21 million, driven by the increase in the polypropylene spread in the United States and Europe and by the allocation of part of the chemical expenses previously recorded in the U.S. and Europe segment to the Brazil segment to better reflect the commercial efforts in each region.
Now let's move on to the next slide. In Mexico, the polyethylene plant utilization rate was 55%, 30 percentage points lower than in the previous quarter, explained by the lower average import ethane through the terminal of 13,800 barrels per day compared to the 29,400 barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025, in line with Braskem Idesa's need for liquidity.
Also contributing to the lower utilization rate was the lower supply of ethane by PEMEX in the quarter of 14,800 barrels per day compared to 16,900 barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025. The polyethylene sales were lower by 37%, impacted by the lower availability of product for sale due to the lower utilization rate. The segment reported negative recurring EBITDA of $15 million, mainly impacted by lower sales volume due to lower product availability for sale associated with the lower utilization rate in the period and by the decrease in other revenues, partially offset by a positive impact in SG&A due to the ethane resale operation recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Moving on to the next slide. In the next section, I will present the company's consolidated performance. The consolidated recurring EBITDA in the first quarter of 2026 was USD 192 million, 76% higher when compared to the previous quarter. This increase in relation to the last quarter is mainly explained by the increase of 16% in the average international spreads of resins in Brazil segment by the positive impact of USD 32 million related to the rate increase in the acquisition of raw materials in the Brazil segment and by the 6% increase in the international spread of polypropylene-based polypropylene in the United States and Europe segment and by the increase in polypropylene sales volume in the United States and Europe segment.
Additionally, the reduction of approximately $30 million or BRL 180 million and other recurring expenses related to environmental provisions, fines, terminations, indemnities and plant maintenance expenses recorded in the Brazil and South America segment in the fourth quarter of 2024 had a positive impact on the consolidated recurring EBITDA in the period. These effects were partially offset by higher idle costs and the scheduled shutdown impacts across all reportable segments of approximately USD 41 million and by the 3% appreciation of the average Brazilian real against the average U.S. dollar during the period.
Now let's move on to the next slide. By the end of March 2026, work streams in Maceio continued to progress as planned. The relocation and compensation front ended the quarter with 99.9% of execution of the resident relocation program. The same percentage applies to the number of proposals submitted under the financial compensation and relocation support program with approximately 99.6% of the proposals being accepted and 99.6% being paid. In parallel, the execution of the closure and monitoring of the sold cavities remains under implementation. On this front, all actions are provisioned, if necessary to ensure that the 35 cavities reach a maintenance-free state in the long term.
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, 6 caverns were naturally filled, 6 were completed, 4 with their technical limit filled and 6 cavities being sold and 2 were in the preparation phase. Thus, in relation to the financial provision, the total provision for the Alagoas event at the end of March 2026 was about BRL 18.1 billion, of which about BRL 14.4 billion have already been disbursed and approximately BRL 1.2 billion have been reclassified to other obligations to be paid. As a result, the total balance provisioned by the end of the first quarter of 2026 was BRL 3.4 billion.
Now let's move on to the next slide. The company reported an operating cash consumption of BRL 3.2 billion, mainly due to the negative change in working capital explained by the reduction in the availability of certain payment arrangements with financial institutions and suppliers and by the replenishment of inventories following the optimization carried out during the fourth quarter of 2025. The recurring cash consumption was impacted by interest payments on debt securities issued in the international market, which occur in the first and third quarters of any year. Finally, including Alagoas disbursements, the company reported a cash consumption of approximately BRL 5.0 billion in the period.
Now let's move on to the next slide. By the end of the first quarter of 2026, Braskem's adjusted net debt, excluding Braskem Idesa, was USD 8.5 billion. The weighted average cost of debt was foreign exchange variation plus 6.34% and the corporate leverage at the end of the first quarter was 16.81x. Finally, the available cash of USD 1.1 billion includes the withdrawal made in October of the standby line in the amount of USD 1 billion.
Moving on to the next slide. In the next slide, I will comment on the petrochemical scenario. On Slide 16, we provide an update on the global petrochemical scenario, focusing on the risks associated with the geopolitical environment. Since our last call with investors, the geopolitical environment has remained uncertain. On February 28, the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran. And in retaliation, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, impacting global energy and petrochemical markets. The closure of the Strait represents one of the biggest disruptions to global energy supply. Brent has accumulated so far an increase of more than 50% since the beginning of the war at the end of February with an estimated daily production deficit of 15 million barrels, only offset by oil exports via alternative routes and increased production in other regions.
Naphtha has followed the volatility of oil, in pressure on the cost of the global petrochemical chain. The prices of chemical and petrochemical products in the international market have increased significantly due to the direct impact of the increase in the price of naphtha. The disruption in the international logistics brought changes in the global flows, partially reflecting on imports parities and prices in the Brazilian market.
I emphasize that although negotiations between the United States and Iran are ongoing, the outcome remains uncertain, and the company will continue to monitor these developments continuously. I also reinforce that the impact presented on this slide represent hypothesis and may or may not materialize depending on the evolution of the geopolitical scenario and possible logistical constraints such as those in the Strait of Hormuz.
Now let's move on to the next slide. Regarding petrochemical spreads, according to external consultancies, a material improvement trajectory is expected throughout the second quarter of 2026 in the company's 3 segments, driven by the global supply shock resulting from the conflict. From the third quarter of 2026, spreads tend to follow a normalization path in line with expectations of lower feedstock costs and greater supply availability.
This dynamic is also in line with expectations for the year 2026 as a whole, although relevant uncertainties remain regarding the duration and potential resolution of the conflict. It's important to note that the projections above incorporate the hypothesis that the conflict will end during May. An eventual extension of the conflict beyond this horizon could further impact spread in the short term as well as increased risks to global demand growth and feedstock costs.
Now let's move on to the next slide. Finally, I will comment on the company's priorities for the year 2026. Next slide. I would like to highlight the company's main priorities for 2026, aligned with Braskem's strategic direction, considering the global petrochemical industry scenario and the preservation of business sustainability. As a first priority, we will continue the reorganization of the company's capital structure with the objective of creating necessary conditions to ensure the business continuity across petrochemical cycles.
We will also continue with the implementation of the resilience plan with a focus on preserving the company's financial liquidity through strict control of costs and discipline in capital allocation. As a third priority, we have initiatives under the transformation plan to strengthen the company's competitiveness. In the context of sustainability, the company will also continue exploring opportunities to expand its portfolio of products with sustainable attributes.
Additionally, we will maintain our commitment to the full compliance with the agreements related to the geological event in Alagoas. Finally, safety, a perpetual and nonnegotiable value for the company continues to guide the operations so that they can be safe and reliable in line with the best practices of the global industry.
Thus, we conclude the presentation of Braskem's results for the first quarter of 2026. Thank you very much for your attention. We will now start the Q&A session.
[Operator Instructions] I will now turn the floor over to the company for their remarks.
Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. As a guidance, I'm going to take the questions beginning from Vicente speaking of Bradesco. He asks us about the gross indebtedness. He asks, what's the growth indebtedness -- with this indebtedness above $9 million, what would the company consider as sustainable? So Felipe will answer this. Thank you, Vincente for the question.
Good morning, everyone. Thanks again for joining us for this earnings conference. This question is, of course, strongly linked to the 2 ratings that compose leverage, net debt and EBITDA. As you know, this company's EBITDA has been updated constantly due to the events occurring in the Middle East, which has raised spreads. And this is not marginal when it comes to the positive economic impacts when it comes to improving the company's EBITDA.
That being said, what the company always holds is that in low cycles, that means when the EBITDA is lower than the company's generation ability, we -- the company aims or accepts an indebtedness or leverage that is roughly around 4.5%. And in high cycles, this leverage can be reduced to 3x or 2.5x. So we are looking not just at the gross indebtedness level, but also the cash generation ability and EBITDA, which makes that sustainable in the medium and long term, resulting in the leverage levels that I've just mentioned.
Thank you, Felipe. Now moving on. There is a number of questions we received about the -- also about the indebtedness and potential alternatives that are being considered by the company. Technical support are included in the question. So I'll turn over to Felipe for him to provide updates how this process goes in relation to the reorganization of the capital structure. Over to you.
Excellent. Thanks once again for the question. I'll answer in 2 parts. First is liquidity. As you've been seeing, in our presentations and relevant facts, the company has been employing significant efforts to improve and maintain its working capital over the past 2 quarters, which has been kept at a level that allows the company to keep its operating abilities and functions while also keeping our cash and working capital at good levels. As I said, this scenario starts really inflecting starting in March, so Q1, as we've confirmed now in April and May. All of this has, of course, economic impacts on the company.
Now in a broader sense, when we talk about restructuring Braskem's capital structure, I need to make it very clear that at the present moment, there is nothing that is off the table nor is there anything that has been defined with governance bodies and entities. Everything pertains to discussions that occurs. These are ongoing discussions, and we have kept all of you apprised since the second half of last year. The company has been updating all of our stakeholders.
It's important to note that, yes, some very important marks, very important points have occurred with regard to shifts in the company's controlling stakeholders as it pertains to Petrobras and an MOU and other documents signed with Novonor and IG4. This has also been announced to the market vis-a-vis a new shareholder agreement, a potential new shareholder agreement.
Now, no shares have been transferred yet, but this is under discussion. And this has also already produced important changes to the company's Board. There are members in Petrobras that now occupy positions in Braskem's Board, starting with the President, Magda, who is now the President of Braskem's Administrative Board and also discussions with members of IG4 who participate and interact with the company already in the sense of better understanding the company's dynamics and also respecting the fact that they have not, at the present time, assumed any responsibilities because they are not, at the moment, shareholders of the company.
So they are firmly aware that this capital restructuring is an ongoing project as we've been discussing. Of course, they also do make -- they contribute to discussions, of course. And that pertains both to creditors in the capital market and our financial creditors who are the object of these discussions and the potential restructuring of the company's finance and keeping its financial creditors and operating vendors and suppliers and strategic vendors also intact.
Thank you, Felipe. I'm going to ask a question from Alejandra. This is a question. Considering the cash position at the end of the first quarter of about $1 billion, how is the company managing its operations for the second quarter of 2026? Inventory reductions suggest this or is the company working with operation rates lower than those that were posted for this first quarter?
I'm going to start answering the question, and then you can add. Thank you, Alejandra, for the question. First, speaking of the cash position of $1 billion, I'm going to explain why we had -- we posted that drop. If you observe any first quarter of the company, there is a natural movement of inventory formation of any year so that the company can start serving especially the Brazilian market, which is our main priority when I talk about Brazil operations, supply, Brazilian market. And we always see a beginning of demand recovery along the first quarter. So this is why we usually increase the stock levels. And you saw the consumption of about BRL 1 billion.
Another main impact was the reduction of exposures that we have with suppliers and the financial institutions of about BRL 1 billion. And the third impact was on the receivables account because of lower sales of the previous quarter. We have 35 days to receive the accounts. So this was the impact that we felt in the first quarter. In relation to the second quarter, there was a material change in the external scenario that had been supporting the spread in the international market for the industry and for Braskem. So Braskem has a local supplier in Brazil and also suppliers outside Brazil by means of agreements. So we have very important collaterals in the receiving of free stocks. And this allows us to capture all those spreads that we have been observing.
From the cash viewpoint, and this has been the biggest short-term challenge that we have this cash management when we see the turnover of receivables accounts and payable accounts. So we have been making weekly decisions. Whenever there is a material change in the scenario, the company gets together and we discuss on a weekly basis to make decisions especially in relation to production and sales, which is the heart of the company. And so far, we made a decision to have the operation similar to what we've been doing so far so that we can capture the advantages.
So in relation to the cash flow, the challenge that I just mentioned, there is a very important work done by the commercial team so that we can have a reduction of the accounts receivable, and we have been very successful so far. Of course, the difficulty is to maintain as such for the months to come. And the company has been talking to the main suppliers of feedstock so that we can increase the credit limit and also expand the payment terms.
Alejandra, this is how we have been managing. In other words, in a very cautious way because the scenario is very uncertain, and they bring opportunities to the industry and for Braskem. But we have to be very cautious and we have to be on the lookout of the cash position and preserving the liquidity of the company.
Well -- and moving on to the next question. The question is the following. In relation to the spread increase that was observed in March, it's already captured in the first quarter versus what you expect for the second quarter? And what's the current expectation for the average spreads for the next quarter, considering the continuation of the contract? How do you see the short-term scenario and the structure of the sector after the war?
In relation to the first quarter of 2026, and we wanted to have everything very transparent in the earnings release. In fact, we did not see any material impact. If we observe the average spread of January, February and March, March, we saw a significant increase in the prices of feedstock and the petrochemical product prices. So we do not see a lot of impact yet because so far, our decision or our commercial policy of pricing is done on a monthly basis. So months had a lot of planning and had a lot of planning. So I go back to what I said in relation to preserving cash and preserving liquidity.
So March was a month when we were getting prepared when we were defining our strategy in order to capture the highest possible value without hurting the liquidity of the company. So the impact of those spreads that we even included the view from external consulting firms. So this is not our vision, but the market consulting firms' vision. So consulting firms have the expectation that chemical spreads will increase, bringing numbers as a reference. In the presentation, we mentioned that the historical level of the spread of chemicals in Brazil and the historical average first 2 years of 2010 and 2025. So we consider multiple 5. So we consider the mid cycle. This is the size of the cycle. So we consider an increase of about 30% of the spread of chemicals in Brazil.
For the second -- third quarter of the year. In relation to resin, we expect an increase of 20%, considering the historical -- based on the consulting firms. And we see the same movement in relation to other regions where the company operates. So we are very confident for the second quarter, but we have been very cautious, as I said, and this has been the main driver of the company. In other words, the preservation of the liquidity.
And providing an overview when you asked about the short and long terms. We have been working with some scenarios. The conflict in the Middle East may -- it's hard to find a historical benchmark to understand what would be the potential impact to expect for the next month should the conflict continue. So what are those scenarios? Those are scenarios that vary according to the time of the conflict and the time for the things to return to normal after the conflict. As our case base is based on the consulting firms, so the conflict might end in 3 months. So in other words, it might end in the next week.
Everybody has been watching the news, and we see that prices change throughout the day. And if we consider a 3-month conflict, we believe that this normality will happen in 10 months. In other words, we observe in line with the consulting firms, a better spread estimated for this year just as for next year. Now let's go back to the industry foundation. As this conflict, regardless of how long the normality will happen, the foundation of the industry is still of a surplus. It's a foundation where we continue observing new capacities. We continue observing regions that are searching for self-sufficiency.
And in fact, this trend of new offers across the world of polypropylene of polyethylene tends to materialize, of course, with the demand that is growing. But still, we're going to have an oversupply where the global market is likely to be close to the -- to reach a balance at the end of the decade. Just a consideration to mention, depending on the time of conflict because we believe that if the conflict lasts longer than 6 months, we will start to see impact or an expectation of an impact on the growth on the global demand, and that can even hurt the spreads in the long term. Roberto?
Good morning, everyone. I'd just like to add that it's hard to make a firm assessment, but we are working on that to see what exactly is the extent of the damage caused to the cracker and polyethylene and polypropylene plants in the conflict region, but also to the gas generation fields because the major change that occurs in the industry to progressively abandon naphtha and move toward ethane as a feedstock has been possible because there were major ethane producers in the region, that means Qatar. Qatar and Iran share the largest gas field in the planet, which is -- sorry, 1,000 trillion cubic feet of gas. In Qatar, this is called the North Field or the North Zone.
Qatar produces 77 billion tons a year of LNG and ethane as well, they are a major supplier of ethane, including for China. This field has been attacked by Iran. As you know, Iran and Qatar share this geological structure and Iran attacked Qatar, but that's what happens in a war. So we now need to reassess these fields because the situation may have changed. I don't know if you've been following, but since Trump applied the U.S. gas export tariffs, China stopped buying it from the U.S. and started buying ethane exclusively from Qatar and Russia.
Now with this recent visit that Trump made to Beijing, conversations have resumed between the U.S. and China working toward attempting to reduce those tariffs, aiming for China to once again buy ethane from the U.S. To me, this seems like an indication that part of Qatar's export capacity is out of order and therefore, may have suffered a damage that could take a while to be repaired. If they need to replace a compressor that takes 2 years, to produce a compressor for example.
So what I think will happen is that we will see greater stress when it comes to obtaining feedstocks and many companies are going to end up short on feedstocks. This in turn will translate into higher prices because if you have a permanent increase in feedstocks, then you need to raise your prices. So in my view, it could be that spreads may not evolve, but the nominal spreads will need to remain at a high level because the increase in feedstocks, whether that's naphtha or ethane, I believe it's going to be permanent for a number of years until there is a complete replenishment of these products and feedstocks and everything that has been impacted by the attacks, including naphtha.
Thank you, Roberto. Moving on, Rodrigo with BTG asks the following. I would like to discuss the working capital of the company, especially in the light of the higher prices of feedstock in Brazil and the financing restrictions. It would be important to understand if the increase of feedstock prices have fully reported in the balance of the first quarter of 2026 or because of the delay in pricing, we are going to have higher expenses with feedstock in 2026. If I'm not mistaken, the third quarter is the best demand period. How can we think about the permission of inventory in the next months, especially in a moment when imported resins may be losing competitiveness in the local market?
I'm going to start answering the question and then Roberto can complement. In relation to the working capital and the dynamics of prices of feedstock, both feedstock in Brazil and imported feedstock, a reminder, naphtha in Brazil, considering the current operation level, it's about 45%, 50% from local suppliers and the remaining amount is imported, and we pay cash practically.
In the first quarter and considering the average of the previous month, when I talk about the local suppliers, in the first quarter, March, naphtha price increased almost 50%. In fact, this consumption in the inventory, depending on how we are modeling the analysis is going to be observed, especially in the second quarter. So the first price increase between March and April, especially in April and in the month of May because of the transit inventory that would demand a longer period.
And now considering the average term of payment, I'm considering the feedstock and other players of the company. In a general way, I'm talking about accounts payable accounts. The average price of payment considering the historical levels of the company is about 20 days. So when I observe the receiving term because what we have seen is that the price of the resins increased in relation to the feedstock. And we have seen that the industry, not only the company, but the industry at large, whoever has availability would pass through the increases in the feedstock in their prices.
So the receiving price has been about 30 or 35 days. And historically, I mentioned 35 days. But in the short term, I even mentioned previously when I answered the question I answered at the beginning of the call, there is a work which is very important that is done by the commercial team, trying to find an alignment of our cash flow alignment. So the effect of the war, material impact on the EBITDA of the company or on the cash flow of the company, we are going to start observing them as of the second quarter as we have already observed in the month of April.
In relation to your question, when you ask about the demand, you're right when you say that. Usually, the third quarter is the best with the best global demand and also in the region, especially because it's an anticipation of clients for their inventories for the year-end parties. But this year, because of the conflict, the trend will be different.
We have seen a level of demand in the world, and my comment is at the global level that the demand is different from the others. So the conflict started on February 28, and we started receiving additional orders due to the uncertainties. But now if we consider what the external consulting say, they consider that the conflict will end at the end of this month. So we see that the demand has weakened because the expectation is that the conflict will end. And of course, we will still need a moment of normality, but prices tend to fall. So Rodrigo, the seasonality of the demand may be different from what we usually observe. Roberto, over to you.
Rodrigo, I'd just like to add that if you want to imagine a proxy between reduced oil demand and reduced naphtha and consequently resin demand, the International Energy Agency yesterday revised their oil demand to -- by 400,000 barrels and reduced the same forecast by 200,000 barrels. That's something between 0.2% and 0.4% of the daily use of oil.
I believe it's still a moderate impact. They're obviously doing the math. For me, in my opinion, that's based on assuming that a conflict will begin resolving starting at the end of May. Now that's the question everyone is asking and no one has the answer to, which is how much longer is that region going to remain in the state of war. The fact that there is no bombing currently occurring, but the Strait of Hormuz is still closed makes the risk rate to remain very high. And as a result, you don't have any guaranteed feedstock provisions coming out from there. It's not just the case of naphtha and gas, which is our working area we work with. But Iran also is a major producer of sulfur, benzene, [ ethadiene ]. These are all products that are produced at those refineries, which today are embargoed.
So yes, there's going to be lower demand. It's very difficult to estimate because it's difficult to estimate not when the conflict will end because the conflict is, in theory, is suspended. But I mean when will the conflict be resolved? And what are the conditions that will allow this conflict to be resolved? Definitely, the extent of which if you want to set up a proxy with oil, something between 0.2% and 0.4%, but we will see what happens.
Thank you, Roberto. There are some questions related to the working capital. I have already addressed that topic, but I'm going to turn over to Felipe for him to talk about the initiatives. So as to mitigate the potential working capital consumption based on what has been explained before. In other words, what are the main trends that are being implemented to mitigate the effect of the conflict on the cash flow of the company?
Thank you, Rosana. The broader explanation has been given. Rosana mentioned the economic and stocks and sales aspects, but looking at the more micro and operational aspects, we have been engaging in operations, focusing on through sales for our receivables to anticipate future receivables through programs done with financial institutions. We are also in negotiation and have completed some negotiations already with some important suppliers of the companies that will allow working capital to build up and as a result, improve our spreads.
As we mentioned recently, this will allow us to capitalize on the company's economic condition. And we've also been discussing maintenance of a program that has been in practice since last year to monetize what we call nonliquid assets, so contingent and the future assets of the companies that do have some economic value, sometimes very large, but difficult to establish exactly. So we keep an economic gain that we call an earn-out for Braskem, but in a way that also allows us to use these assets, so to give us immediate liquidity in the cash. Some of these have already been completed and others are in the final implementation phase.
Thank you, Felipe. Moving on, I have a question by Raul with [ 91 ]. This is his question. If the company has had a higher liquidity, the utilization rate of the petrochemical activities and assets in general would be higher as well.
Undoubtedly, the answer is an outright yes. The challenge we have today is how can we raise funds that will allow us to increase utilization percentage. They're currently at 70%, but we could work at 90-plus percent because the market demands resins and part of the resin production capacity is currently reduced, whether it's because of the conflict zone or because of the lack of feedstocks. This is our challenge. Our process of trying to handle this is trying to convince all stakeholders, and I do mean all stakeholders that includes shareholders and resource donators that if we have greater access to working capital, we will have more EBITDA and in turn, more cash.
So it's immediate payback during the calendar year itself. I understand that the market perceives risk. I understand the risk perception. But having access to feedstocks, essentially, we consume naphtha from the U.S. or African markets. In other words, from outside the epicenter of the world. We -- of course, we have access to feedstocks, but it could be higher. And the demand level for resins, both in the Brazilian market and internationally is significant. This is also very much true for our operations in Mexico.
We are working with a very low load in Mexico. We could triple our current utilization there. Our challenge is how can we gain access to these resources that will allow us to purchase feedstocks and sustain this working capital delta for that number of days. So I do some math, see how much Braskem gets in sales per month and find out what a 15-day investment in our cash flow will be. That's our challenge, to increase our operational capacity.
Thank you, Roberto. I'm going to ask a question that came up a couple of times from some analysts and investors of the company. You related to the standby facility. Remember that we used it at the end of last year in the amount of $1 billion. So the question is related to the renegotiation of the standby which will mature at the end of the year. Felipe?
Yes, this is a relevant liability for the company in '26 as we have published in our statements and our conference call. And without any doubt, this renegotiation of the standby is part of the entire context of the capital restructure. It doesn't have a specific -- it's not specifically being discussed in any particular place because since the last year, we've been -- we've received a proposal to restructure the company's capital in a very broad way in order to stabilize the company and its finances.
In other words, we don't want to attack or reorganize any one specific financial covenant or agreement. What we're talking about is a major, a broad restructuring that we're interested in and something that will please all of our stakeholders, financial shareholders and everyone. So this is a very relevant discussion, and it's at the crux of every discussion we have with all of our stakeholders and all of our financial stakeholders and shareholders as well. And we're going to do that without any chance of breakage here at the company.
In relation to EBITDA level, this is from Regis with XP. Could you comment on the level of possible EBITDA considering the current spread level? In the past 10 years, it would come to $2.4 billion. And he asks if it would make sense to think that in the second quarter, we are going to have the recurring level considering the inventory levels are lower.
Thank you, Regis, for your question. So let's talk about the expectations from the consultancy companies in relation to the second quarter of 2026. And I'm going to make the comparison considering the average of spreads from 2017 to 2025, almost 10 years, excluding the outliers such as 2021, which had a different impact on the spreads. So we say that the potential of average spreads for the second quarter according to external consultancies in relation to history is a spread of nearly $800. And this average in this period that I mentioned is something about $470 per ton.
So if we continue observing this level of spread, also considering the conflict, the continuity of the conflict as we have explained here and even comparing with some quarters where we had this level of spread. So the EBIDTA potential is potential close to a high cycle moment. So this high cycle we would have in 2017. The first quarter as a reference, the first quarter of 2017 when we had similar levels of spreads realized in this first quarter of [ 2027 ] when compared to current expectations.
In the first quarter of [ 2017 ], so the EBITDA was nearly $1 billion. Of course, we just using as a reference. The context are different, but only using spread as a reference. So you're right when you say that there is a potential of creating value at the operational level. But putting together everything that was mentioned in this call in relation to the challenges, liquidity and how you have been searching solutions to mitigate the impact of the 15 days of the management of the cash of the company for the second quarter of 2026.
Ladies and gentlemen, we now conclude the question-and-answer session as well as Braskem's earnings conference call. We thank you all for joining us. Have a great day.
[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A — Q1 2026 Earnings Call
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A — Q4 2025 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Good morning, and thank you for waiting. Welcome to Braskem's video conference to discuss our results for Q4 2025 and the year 2025. Today, we have with us Mr. Roberto Ramos, CEO; Felipe Jens, CFO; and Rosana Avolio, Investor Relations, Strategic Planning and Market Intelligence.
Please note that this event is being recorded. The presentation will be delivered in Portuguese with live translation and simultaneous interpreting into English. [Operator Instructions]
Before we proceed, we'd like to clarify that any statements that may be made during this conference call regarding Braskem's business prospects, projections, operational and financial goals constitute beliefs and assumptions of the company's management as well as information currently available to Braskem. Future considerations are not a guarantee of performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as they refer to future events and therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors and analysts should understand that general conditions, industry conditions and other operational factors may affect Braskem's future results and may lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such future conditions.
Now I'll turn the conference over to Rosana Avolio, Investor Relations, Strategic Planning and Corporate Market Intelligence Director. Ms. Avolio, you may begin your presentation.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for participating in Braskem's conference call for the fourth quarter and the full year 2025. As indicated in the agenda shown on Slide 3, I will begin the presentation with the company's main highlights for the period, starting on Slide 4.
During 2025, the petrochemical industry remained impacted by the prolonged downcycle with international petrochemical spreads below the historical industry average due to the continued imbalance between global supply and demand. These dynamics significantly affected the profitability and liquidity indicators of the global industry and therefore, the company in 2025. As a result, the utilization rate of the petrochemical complexes in Brazil in 2025 was 4 percentage points lower compared to the previous year. This reduction is mainly explained by the adjustments to production levels in line with demand, ensuring the Brazilian market demand remains supplied and prioritizing higher value sales.
In relation to international businesses in the United States and Europe, utilization rates remained in line with those recorded in 2024. In Mexico, production levels were lower than in 2024 due to the first general maintenance shutdown of the petrochemical complex in the country since the beginning of its operations completed at the end of July 2025. Regarding safety, the global accident frequency rate was 0.80 events per million hours worked. This was the second lowest rate since 2002, reinforcing that safety is and will always be a nonnegotiable value to the company.
In relation to the financial results, the company recorded recurring consolidated EBITDA of $109 million in the quarter. And for the full year, recurring consolidated EBITDA was $557 million. Regarding operating cash flow, the company posted operating cash generation of approximately $13 million in the quarter, and operating cash consumption was $246 million for the year, reflecting the lower EBITDA. Finally, the corporate cash at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 totaled approximately $2.1 billion, including $1 billion standby facility maturing in December 2026, and corporate leverage was approximately 14.74x.
Moving to the next slide. In 2025, the global macroeconomic environment was marked by volatile trade conditions driven by commercial tensions, geopolitical fragmentation and the economic slowdown of major economies, including China. These uncertainties impacted production decisions and inventory replenishment throughout the transformation. Thus considering the weakened demand and the global oversupply that has been occurring in recent years, international resin spreads, which are references for the products sold in the regions where we operate were lower when compared to 2024. In Brazil, after a 6% growth in resin demand in 2024, downstream converters sought to optimize inventory levels in light of global macroeconomic uncertainties. This resulted in a decline of approximately 2% in domestic resin demand in 2025. The same movement was observed in the United States, considering the growth in industrial activity.
Now moving to the next slide. The performance of each business segment will be presented next, beginning with Brazil on Slide 7. In the fourth quarter, utilization rates at the petrochemical complexes in Brazil were 6 percentage points lower when compared to the third quarter of 2025, mainly due to the scheduled maintenance shutdown at the Bahia complex completed in January 2026 and the continued adjustments in production levels to reflect lower seasonal demand while ensuring supply to the Brazilian market.
These effects also impacted the 2025 utilization rate versus the prior year. Domestic values -- sales volumes were 6% lower, mainly due to weaker seasonal demand in the period. Chemical sales were also lower due to reduced product availability resulting from lower utilization rates, as mentioned previously, especially at the Bahia complex. In this context, recurring EBITDA for the Brazil segment in 2025 was $698 million, 22% lower than in 2024, mainly due to the lower resin and chemical sales volumes and the lower average spreads, partially offset by the depreciation of the Brazilian real and cost reduction initiatives.
Moving to the next slide. In the quarter, United States and Europe segment posted utilization rates 8 percentage points lower when compared to the third quarter of 2025, mainly to the scheduled shutdowns at European plants completed in the fourth quarter of 2025 and also the inventory optimization in both regions. Lower quarterly volumes also reflect seasonality. For the year, utilization rates and sales volumes remained broadly stable. Recurring EBITDA for the year was negative $52 million, impacted by lower polypropylene, polyethylene spreads in Europe, inventory effects on the cost of goods sold in the United States and the reclassification of the expenses from the corporate into this segment following an organization change.
Moving to the next slide. In Mexico, polyethylene utilization in the fourth quarter of 2025 reached 85%, an increase of 38 percentage points versus the third quarter of 2025, driven by the ramp-up after the general maintenance shutdown completed in July of this year and higher imported ethane supply through the import terminal. For the year, utilization was 64%, a reduction of 14 percentage points compared to 2024 due to the same shutdown as previously mentioned. In the quarter, higher imported ethane volumes supported the gradual recovery after the shutdown, partially offset by continued lower deliveries from PEMEX. Recurring EBITDA for the segment totaled $2 million. The decline in comparison to the previous year reflects lower product availability due to the shutdown associated with the lower international polyethylene, ethane spreads.
Now moving on to the next slide. The next chapter covers consolidated performance of the company. Recurring consolidated EBITDA for the fourth quarter 2025 was $109 million. For the full year 2025, recurring consolidated EBITDA was $557 million, a 49% decrease versus 2024. The decline was mainly due to the lower contribution margins resulting from continued pressure on petrochemical spreads. Lower sales volumes reflected weaker resins and chemical volumes in Brazil and lower polyethylene sales in Mexico. These effects were partially offset by higher revenues from tax credit recoveries and by the depreciation of the Brazilian real, which averaged approximately $0.20.
Now let's move on to the next slide. By the end of December 2025, all work fronts in Maceio continue to advance as planned. The relocation and compensation program ended the quarter with 99.9% of relocation execution completed. The same percentage applies to proposals submitted, of which 99.6% were accepted and 99.5% were already paid. Together with that, the sealing and the monitoring of salt cavities continued as planned. All necessary actions to ensure the 35 cavities reach a long-term maintenance-free condition have already been provisioned for the long term.
By the end of 2025, 6 cavities were naturally filled, 6 were completed and 4 of those cavities reached their technical filling limit and 6 cavities remained in the filling process. Thus, the total provision for Alagoas event was approximately BRL 18 billion, of which around BRL 13.9 billion had already been disbursed and approximately BRL 1.4 billion have been classified to other payables. With this, the remaining provision at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 was BRL 3.5 billion.
Now let's move on to the next slide. For the year, the company posted operating cash consumption of BRL 1.4 billion, mainly due to lower EBITDA in 2025 as a result of the prolonged downcycle as seen in the petrochemical industry. The working capital consumption increase was due to lower availability of certain payment arrangements with financial institutions and suppliers. Recurring cash consumption was impacted by higher interest payments resulting from higher gross debt. Including Alagoas' disbursement, total cash consumption reached approximately BRL 7.3 billion in the period.
Next slide. At the end of 2025, Braskem's adjusted net debt was $7.5 billion, excluding Braskem Idesa. The weighted average cost was currency variation plus 6.2% per year, and the corporate leverage ended the year at 14.74x. Available cash of $2.1 billion includes the drawdown made in October from the $1 billion standby facility maturing in December 2026.
Following our agenda, let's move on to Slide 15. Global macroeconomic volatility, combined with the prolonged petrochemical downcycle has resulted in lowest industry operating rates in decades. Demand declined by approximately 3 million tons of polyethylene and polypropylene globally. So it reflects a lower consumption in the main regions. Operating rates reached historically low levels of 79% for polyethylene and 74% for polypropylene, pressurizing the profitability of the global industry. So the company tried to use the global program of resilience with the purpose of minimize the downturn cycle, preserving cash levels and maintain the sustainability of the business.
Throughout 2025, we implemented more than 70 action plans of over 700 initiatives across 6 major fronts: institutional agenda, supplier negotiations, commercial initiatives, asset monetization, optimization of employed capital and operational [indiscernible]. These were fundamental to minimize the effect of adverse scenario, preserve liquidity and reinforce the competitiveness of the company and of the Brazilian industry. At the same time, it continues moving forward with this restructuring agenda and also with transformation initiatives.
Now let's move on to Slide 16. The next slides cover the global petrochemical scenario. On Slide 17, we bring an update on the global petrochemical scenario, focusing on the risks associated with the geopolitical environment. In recent weeks, we have observed an escalation of tensions in the Middle East involving the United States Israel and Iran. This movement has reflected in greater volatility in commodity prices, especially Brent crude oil and naphtha in addition to additional pressures on international freights. Since the beginning of the conflict, Brent prices have shown significant increase, reflecting the strategic importance of the Middle East region for oil production and export. Naphtha has followed this volatility given its direct link to oil, which can impact the costs of the petrochemical chain, especially for marginal producers with greater exposure to this feedstock.
The prices of chemicals and petrochemicals have increased in the international market due to the direct impact of the increase in the price of naphtha. It's important to emphasize that impacts presented on the slide represent hypothesis. And this has to do with the additional increases of freight that can impact the parity of the export and the prices in the Brazilian market. As I said, it's important to point out that all those impacts are hypothesis that can or not materialize. And that would depend the geopolitical scenario and possible logical restrictions such as the Strait of Hormuz.
On this slide, we hypothetically explore the potential global productive impact resulting from a possible logistical restriction of the Strait of Hormuz should the geopolitical conflict intensify further. Strait of Hormuz is a critical point for the flow of feedstock and resins produced in the Middle East. In a scenario restriction, estimates indicate that global supply of polyethylene could be reduced between 6 million and 19 million tons, which represents about 4% to 11% of the global operating rate. In the case of polypropylene, the potential supply reduction could range between 7 and 10 million tons, equivalent to 4% to 5% of the global operating rates.
From the regional perspective, the effect would be very different. In North America, the combination of feedstock availability and structural competitive advantage could allow for the maximization of operation rates and eventual value capture through prices, both in polyethylene and polypropylene. In Europe, the expectation would be a reduction in import pressure in the short term. However, in the medium and long term, the process of capacity rationalization tends to continue reinforcing a more cautious stance regarding operational levels and working capital.
In Asia, lower availability of feedstock imported from the Middle East such as naphtha and propane could lead to shutdowns and production reductions, accelerating the rationalization processes. In this context, the priority tends to be meeting domestic demand to the detriment of exports. In the Middle East, in addition to logistics constraints, there would be additional pressures on ports, increased costs and operational risks related to security and safety, which could significantly impact the region's export capacity in the long term. In South America, a scenario of lower global supply could lead to an increase in operating rates to meet the shortage of resins. At the same time, the region would remain exposed to the volatility of the availability and price of feedstocks impacting costs.
For Braskem, these effects, the effects mentioned on the previous slide tend to be potentially positive in the short term compared to the scenario expected at the beginning of the year. However, we emphasize that all the impacts presented on this slide are potential scenarios, which may or may not materialize depending on the evolution of the geopolitical conflict and the international logistics conditions. The company continues to monitor these developments and their potential effects, maintaining discipline in the company's commercial, operational and financial management in face of this more volatile environment. Next, I will comment on the company's strategic direction for the coming years.
Moving on to the next slide, please. For the 2026 and 2028 cycle, we will reinforce the pillar of actions of the strategy as defined in the previous cycle, including the reorganization of the capital structure with the aim of balancing the company's capital structure, enabling business continuity. Our strategy maintains safety as a nonnegotiable value in addition to people and culture and governance as its foundation. On this basis, we will advance initiatives of resilience and financial soundness as well as transformation initiatives aimed at the perpetuity of the business.
In the area of resilience and financial soundness, we will focus on tactical initiatives to mitigate the impact of the downturn cycle and preserve liquidity, highlighting operational optimizations, strategic and commercial initiatives and feedstock initiatives in addition to initiatives for the defense of the Brazilian chemical industry. In transformation, we will seek to ensure competitiveness and continuity of the business through the implementation of an asset strategy and the expansion of the gas and renewable base in the company's feedstock profile. This strategy aims to enable the recovery of the company's value through an integrated set of actions, which will strengthen its capacity for value creation, maintenance of competitiveness and therefore, business sustainability.
Now let's move on to the next slide. Finally, I would like to highlight the main priorities for the company for the year 2026, aligned with the strategic direction, which take into consideration the challenging scenario of the global petrochemical industry and the preservation of the business sustainability. The first priority is the reorganization of the company's capital structure, creating the necessary conditions to ensure the continuity of operations throughout petrochemical cycles. In parallel, we will continue with the implementation of the resilience plan, focusing on the preservation of the company's financial liquidity through strict cost control, discipline in capital allocation and initiatives that reinforce operational cash generation to mitigate the impact of the adverse scenario.
The third priority concerns the transformation plan initiatives, focusing on seeking financing alternatives to ensure the necessary resources and make the strategic projects feasible, thus strengthening the company's competitiveness. We will also look for ways to continue growing the green portfolio -- green product portfolio, reinforcing its positioning in sustainable solutions and commercial differentiation in the long term. Additionally, we maintain our commitment to full compliance with the agreements related to the geological events in Alagoas. And finally, safety remains as a perpetual and nonnegotiable value for the company with safe and reliable operations aligned with the best practices of the global industry. These priorities will guide the company's decision throughout 2026.
Thus, we conclude the presentation of Braskem's fourth quarter and 2025 earnings results. Thank you very much for everyone's attention. We will now begin the Q&A session.
Ladies and gentlemen, I will now pass the floor to the company for their remarks.
Good morning. Before we begin the Q&A session, I'd like to highlight a few points. First, it's important to remember that the year 2025, and I know you all follow the scenario very closely, was a very challenging year, especially because of the external perspective considering the geopolitical conflicts and tariff wars. In this context, we see the continuous imbalance between global supply and demand, which had an even bigger impact on petrochemical spreads around the world, compressed industry margins and as a result, affected Braskem. To tackle these challenges, we adopted some initiatives over the year 2025, focusing on generating value for various different company stakeholders, focusing on maximizing EBITDA and improving and maximizing Braskem's cash generation.
Among these initiatives, I will highlight 3. First, defending the competitiveness of Brazilian petrochemical industry, where we maintained the 20% import rate for PE, PP and PVC resins. We approved the antidumping law affecting the United States and Canada and the PVC antidumping from PVC coming from the U.S. And lastly, approving PRESIQ and increasing and maximizing REIQ for the coming year, which are essential programs for the Brazilian chemical and petrochemical industries. Secondly, the transformation program. We hibernated the chlor-soda plant in 2025 with the goal of making Alagoas PVC more competitive and above all, more sustainable. And we approved the Transforma Rio program, which will transform Braskem's products through ethane and polyethylene.
And thirdly, but no less important, operational improvements. We established 79 action plans with over 700 internal initiatives, of which I will highlight the following: optimizing feedstocks and gases with CapEx, prioritizing resins with greater added value and the demand in the internal market and reducing downtime in transitions between grades, reducing logistics costs, improving the acquisition of feedstocks and raw materials and adopting tax grids. I should highlight that these initiatives adopted by Braskem gave us $500 million in EBITDA and $600 million in cash generation for 2025, which allowed Braskem to remain healthy financially to date.
Now with regard to the Alagoas' geological event, we signed an agreement with the state valued at BRL 1.2 billion in payment, of which the vast majority has already been paid. And so considering the total provisioned amount of BRL 18 billion and the payments that company has already disbursed by the end of 2025, we have a remaining provisioned amount of BRL 3.5 billion to be paid over the coming years, which demonstrates the company's strong commitment and healthy advances in improving the situation after the Alagoas event. I should also highlight the advances of our negotiations with our other parties with Braskem and Braskem Idesa, along with legal advisers and financial advisers the company hired for this purpose. This was announced to the market in various different events over the previous months. These events are essential for the financial health of both companies.
Now with regard to the change in the company's shareholder situation and controlling structure, the Brazilian CADE has approved. And now in the U.S., the -- their organization still needs to investigate and approve. Now with Novonor and the Shining (sic) [ Shine I ] credit funds, including with any related topics will all be announced to the market if and when they arise. Now with our perspectives for 2026, in spite of a lot of instability around the world, the war in the Middle East and the remaining closure in the Strait of Hormuz as well as the limited amount of feedstocks coming from the Middle East, we may see captures in certain regions, value captures, including the Americas as well as spreads for the international market. This means we must continue to assess risks and opportunities and preserve the company's liquidity.
Once again, we'd like to thank you all for joining our earnings call, and we'll now begin the Q&A session.
Good morning, everyone. As we did in the previous call, we received the questions. Of course, there are many questions related to the conflict in the Middle East. So I'm making a summary so that we can provide the answers. So these are the questions.
Considering the current context, could you provide a view of how the global industry has behaved? Have you seen reduction of relevant capacity or events of force majeure impacting the business?
And then there was also a question about how the petrochemical spreads are responding as a result of the conflict. I know that the company does not provide formal guidance, but what would be the effect of the war on the EBITDA of the company? Could we expect an EBITDA about $1 billion?
And there's also a question about sourcing of feedstock. In previous year, have you managed to -- you have been able to diversify the purchase of naphtha, reducing the exposure of naphtha for Petrobras. The lower availability of naphtha has been affecting your feedstock considering the global price at the global level.
So I'll turn the floor to Roberto for him to answer the questions.
I'll begin on the topic of sourcing with some relevant information first. First, the Asian petrochemical powers in Japan, South Korea and China, they have lower naphtha inventories than we do, roughly 15 days because the rate of replenishment of naphtha there is made much easier because of the fact that they purchased from the Middle East. So it's a shorter distance than what we have here in the Americas. So we started the war with a larger supply of feedstock than our competitors did. Naturally, we purchase -- we import naphtha, especially from the U.S. We also imported condensate from Algeria. We also have some shipments of naphtha coming from the Middle East. We do not purchase naphtha from Russia because of sanctions.
Actually, our main supplier of naphtha is the U.S. because the U.S. is long in naphtha and in gasoline. Shale oil has a density that is very similar to diesel oil. So when you refine that type of oil, we have what we call medium and light shale products, and that includes naphtha. So the U.S. has a surplus of naphtha supply. And so they are a net exporter of naphtha, and we are a significant purchaser of U.S. naphtha. As you know, Braskem is the biggest buyer of naphtha in the world. So with regard to our naphtha supply, since it comes from the U.S., it is not impacted by any of these conflicts. Of course, there is an impact in higher prices because U.S. naphtha now is also being fought over by the Asian petrochemical companies. But our price minus the price of transportation, purchase minus transport is still better than these prices for Japan, Korea and China.
But the question is very relevant because it is at the linchpin of our strategy, which is we want to reduce our dependency on naphtha. Today, we are 80% naphtha-based. The rest is gas and ethanol. And our plan is, by 2030, to reach 60% naphtha and 40% ethanol and gas, roughly 20% each. So we already had a very well-defined strategy to reduce our dependency on naphtha and look for others, not just ethanol, but also propane. Our plant 2 in Rio Grande do Sul, we are processing propane coming from Argentina. Argentina is potentially an important supplier. It already is for propane, but in the future, it could be for ethane as well, which we aim to use in plant 2 in Rio Grande do Sul.
We're also importing ethane from the U.S. to use this ethane in some of the machines we have in Bahia as a way of sidestepping the increasing cost of feedstocks because ethane prices went up practically almost nothing, whereas naphtha practically doubled in price. So looking into the future and naphtha sourcing for Braskem not being -- it's not at risk at the source, but it is impacted due to price. So what's happening in the Japanese and Korean petrochemical companies is they are reducing production and scale because essentially, they were supplied almost exclusively by naphtha coming from the Middle East. So our sourcing is not at risk. We have access to naphtha. Of course, we must pay the price. Our initial supply of naphtha was already bigger than our competitors. And in the future, we want to be less reliant or less dependent on naphtha.
Now the question is, how much time will this price increase that impacted naphtha resulting from the higher cost of oil? How long would this last? Well, that will depend considerably on how long the Iran conflict will last. And today, this is much more than a war between the U.S., Israel and Iran. It also involves other countries around the globe. I should also mention that the Gulf of Persia (sic) [ Persian Gulf ] and the Middle East has 50% of the energy inventory, energy stocks in the world, more than 50% of gas and oil. So the energy that can be stored because wind and solar cannot really be stocked. But storable energy overall, more than 50% of it is stored in the Middle East.
So this conflict is not a conflict that involves just 3 countries. It involves a whole region, Iran, beyond Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar. So this conflict has a much bigger impact than just the incursions that the U.S. and Israel made in Iran last year. So this year's conflict is going to take much longer to be resolved and the impact on petrochemical supply and production chains and logistics chains is going to take a number of years before it is fully resolved.
Allow me to add, I'm going to read a question about the EBITDA impact. For sure, the company does not provide the formal guidance. So I'm going to use the history track from external consultancy services between 2014 and 2025. If we consider the historical consolidated EBITDA between 2014 and 2025, this is about [ $2.54 billion ]. And in this period, 2014 and 2025, we have a PE and ethane, which were very similar, which are the spread expected by the external consultancy. So this is a spread of the main chemicals and even higher than the average considering the increase in oil prices and the PE naphtha is a bit lower, about 10% below.
So considering this market reference, the expectation for the future in terms of average petrochemical spreads according to the external consultancy, we would reach the historical levels. And the external consultancy services have been using an average of timing. And this is what's going to define the impact and the upsides and downsides, an average of 1 month for the war with a later impact considering the structural impact that we have seen in the region. But it's too early to try to imagine a future scenario.
So we are considering different scenarios. We are getting ready for the best, for the worst. As Roberto mentioned, we see the price of the feedstock going up in a significant manner following the oil price, especially naphtha. And we can see that the rising prices have a lag so that it can be reflected in the results. And as Felipe mentioned, we are preserving cash and the liquidity, but we also have to be cautious because it's a dynamic scenario that changes at all times in real time, and this is the reason why we are considering different scenarios.
Well, moving on to the next question. I'm going to ask Felipe. This was related to Braskem Idesa as follows. With the default of the bond interest rates and the lower ratings to D and possible reorganization via Chapter 11, what's the real likelihood of this scenario to materialize? What are the next steps? And what would the consequences of Chapter 11 in the consolidated balance sheet and the control of its assets?
Thank you, Rosana. Thanks for the question. As you saw in the notes we published explaining our financial results recently, we are always very transparent and very objective. And we've been practicing this over the past years, explaining each and every step that occurred last year when we hired the Braskem Idesa legal and financial advisers to reorganize that company's capital structure. Now as the process progresses, we need to keep up our engagement in order to see what the final situation will be.
It is not up to me to speculate about what any of the routes forward may be. But what I can tell everyone here in this room is that this is an absolute priority as we have announced here at the beginning of this call and focusing on liquidity. As soon as we have material information about what this reorganization restructuring will look like, we will certainly share it with you so that you all stay apprised in real time about the company's coming steps.
Thank you, Felipe. Moving on, there's a question related to the antidumping process of polyethylene in Brazil. So this is the question. What was the result of the meeting that was held yesterday? And will the new protections be implemented? And the current logistics restrictions, freight increases and production restrictions, can they reduce the possibility of using antidumping actions in Brazil?
Well, we had an information on the MDIC site that Gecex opted not to consider the in-depth detailed study that was prepared by the technicians at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce that recommended a $700 per ton antidumping norm for ethylene coming from the U.S. and it opted to maintain the protection that had been granted by the provisional antidumping law from 6 months ago. Apparently, the information that we received was that apparently, this decision was taken due to the public interest. We will appeal this decision because it is our opinion that the antidumping case is very strong and very well demonstrated.
And there's actually access to information provided by the U.S.-based producers that effectively demonstrates that they were implementing a predatory pricing policy. So in effect, we have a concession of theirs about their infraction. And I think it's deplorable to consider that this information was not taken into account by the Brazilian Council and the technicians at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce were not informed by the Gecex. It's -- and there's more in particular, the sample of prices that were collected over the past year, including the provisional protection. This actually has been maintained as a result of the war because naphtha does follow the price fluctuation and our main feedstock is naphtha. So the unfair pricing that we suffer has been exacerbated by the war.
So the situation not only failed to improve, but it also became worse. So the Gecex actually should have detected that we are in -- we are literally in a war. So it's really difficult for me to understand what sort of public interest could possibly have impacted this decision, but I can only base my opinions on the short clip that was published by the Ministry of Commerce and Trade. So I -- again, I reiterate, it is deplorable that a research -- a project with enormous technical information and quality was not taken into account.
Thank you, Roberto. And moving on, Roberto, we have a question. Why there are questions in the capacity to continue operating as we saw in the financial report of Braskem?
Thank you [indiscernible] for the question. This question is very important. I need to make it very clear to start that the balance that has actually been confirmed by our auditors. It's one of the baseline assumptions of our statements, touches on the continued health, good health of the company and its operations. However, there is a plan that has been defined and approved by the company's Board. We've actually mentioned some of these topics recently. They involve a restructuring of Braskem's capital structure.
And just as every company and every entity, the auditors, the independent auditors must raise any issues about significant or less significant uncertainties about any plan they assess. Now given the company that we're talking about, Braskem, it was mentioned that there are uncertainties about this plan, but we've already been working since September of last year with full engagement from everyone, financial and legal advisers to implement this plan. So that is the reason. That's why there have been mentions about uncertainties and the assumptions were maintained about the company's operational continuity.
Thank you, Felipe. Talking about our transformation plan, this is a question. The company announced investment in the Transforma Rio project and continues with strategic investments. Considering the high leverage and cash burn, how is the company going to finance this CapEx without affecting its capital structure? Was there any reevaluation in the scope of those investments?
Thank you once again for this question. Yes, we already mentioned this in the last time we published the Q3 '25 results, and we maintain the same answer. Yes. This restructuring, this reorganization of the company's capital structure does include the necessary resources for this essential project to transform Braskem. So the resources for this purpose have been earmarked and are included for this purpose. It needs to be materialized and implemented, but there is no discussion about the need for this to occur whatsoever. This really helps us to corroborate our entire business plan that was approved by the company's Board and the project itself was also approved and announced to the market as soon as the Board approved it. This will allow Braskem to survive, to stay afloat and survive healthily and go back to the not so ancient past.
I'd like to highlight something about our strategy. We have a process underway where we are changing our feedstock. The Rio plant that is roughly 300,000 tons a year, it's gas-based. This allows us to pull Bahia's plant 1, which will be converted from a naphtha unit, and it will start processing ethanol. So the 300,000 tons that we are going to start producing in addition in Rio, plus the green ethane -- ethylene, sorry, that we produce in Bahia will replace the 600,000 naphtha-based ethylene. And in so doing, we are adding more competitivity and increasing our sustainability because whether it's because the prices are more interesting for us or because these feedstocks are more sustainable.
So don't look at the Rio expansion as an isolated event, oh, Braskem is ramping up production in Rio because it's cheaper. Well, that is true, but we're doing more than that. We are replacing naphtha with other feedstocks. We are switching from gas and we are switching to green, which is our fly up to green. These factors are all integrated. This is not a simple operation. And so financing this project takes all of that into consideration.
Thank you, Roberto. Moving on. The question is related to petrochemical spreads. Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, what we have seen has increase and what are the potential impacts? I'm going to answer these questions, and then Roberto and Felipe can add to what I said.
As I said, we are considering different scenarios. This is a very dynamic topic. Every day, there is something new and update. We learn about escalation of the conflict. So I'm going to talk about what we have seen in terms of consensus. In a more technical view, when we look at the feedstocks, if oil prices go up, naturally, as a co-product of the refinery will also have its price higher. So all those higher prices of naphtha that you have been observing in March will be the national reference that you will use as consumption of feedstock for next month. So we see that there's a working capital being consumed from the payables.
When we consider the resins or the main products, we see a quicker response in relation to the chemicals. So base naphtha producer also make other chemicals that also have an impact on the margin of the company that would account to 15% to 20% of the historic EBITDA of the company. We already see this consequence in the result of March. But in terms of spot price, we have seen some increases. But in our cash flow, we can expect a positive result a little bit in the future. In terms of expectations, what are of the spreads of the first or the second quarter, based on the consultancies, there's an expectation from the external consultancies of an increase of about 50% of the spreads as we have observed in the first quarter of 2026.
I'd like to add with a reflection about the length of the rise in prices. How long do we expect that to last? Now if there even is a negotiating table between the U.S. and Iran, Iran has 2 demands that I personally think are very difficult to meet. First, Iran demands reparations for the losses that it is suffering as a result of the war. This reminds me of the war reparations that were imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. If you like history and economics, this was often cited as a cause for the German hyperinflation and the rise of Hitler. Now that's not exactly true, but I'm not here to talk about history.
The fact of the matter is that the U.S. attacks destroyed Iran's fleet and Iran demands the U.S. and Israel to pay to rebuild that fleet. And Iran also demands that its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz be recognized internationally. This, if it occurred, would allow Iran to charge a toll on all goods that transit through the Strait. Now this will never be accepted by any party. So if these demands are real demands, if they are, in fact, stumbling blocks on the negotiation, then this negotiation will drag on for a very long time.
Thank you, Roberto. I'm going to move on to our last question. In relation to the potential change of control, could the company provide an update on the latest facts, please?
Thanks for the question. We do also -- we have mentioned this often. I'd just like to highlight that Braskem is not party to these discussions or to these negotiations. And when -- and if Braskem is notified, then we will, in turn, notify the market immediately. As we've mentioned at the beginning of the call, there was public information that was published by the CADE and was materialized by the U.S. in the beginning of March with regard to the antitrust and final negotiations with the shareholders. So this is a topic that for us, there is our due diligence, the analysis that's done by potential investors. This remains ongoing here at the company, and we continue to respond to these requests in a timely manner. So -- and to send them to the market so that the market remains apprised in a timely manner as well.
Thank you, Felipe. Our last question, Felipe. Could you provide more information on Petrobras? Could there be any type of support from Petrobras to Braskem considering that the transaction with IG4 has been approved and the new shareholders' agreement is likely to be signed briefly.
This question actually depends significantly on Petrobras, and it actually should be asked of Petrobras, not really Braskem. And with regard to the relevance between Petrobras and Braskem, we continue to work to develop future improvements and commercial conditions. Of course, respecting both parties so that both parties can reach an agreement that is fruitful for both companies. I believe that these discussions remain ongoing in parallel. They've always remained ongoing regardless of the -- any potential shareholder situation.
Just to add, Petrobras does hold a relevant stock in the company. They have 4 Board members in our Board. We have monthly meetings of the Board. So Petrobras is notified in a very timely manner of everything happening at Braskem. In addition, the Petrobras Board has direct access to the Braskem Board. And we talk every week, multiple times a week. So Petrobras is fully aware of the Braskem situation and the extremely negative petrochemical cycle. They are also enormously interested in the stake that they hold here at the company and the interest they have at the company. So what Felipe said is true, but I think the answer is a little obvious. Petrobras is enormously interested in Braskem and will remain interested.
Ladies and gentlemen, we now conclude the question-and-answer session and the Braskem video conference. Our conference is now complete. Thank you all for joining us, and have a great day.
[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A — Q4 2025 Earnings Call
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A — Q3 2025 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Good afternoon, and thank you for waiting. Welcome to Braskem's Third Quarter of 2025 Results Conference Call. With us here today, we have Mr. Roberto Ramos, Braskem's CEO; Felipe Jens, Braskem's CFO; and Rosana Avolio, Investor Relations, Strategic Planning and Corporate Market Intelligence Director.
Please note that this event is being recorded. The presentation will be held in Portuguese with simultaneous translation into English. [Operator Instructions] Now I will repeat the same instructions in Portuguese translated into English. The presentation is being held in Portuguese and simultaneous interpreting into English. [Operator Instructions] The audio for this event will be available on the Investor Relations website after it ends. We remind you that participants will be able to submit questions for Braskem, which will be answered after the end of the conference by the IR department.
Before we proceed, please note that any statements that may be made during this conference call regarding Braskem's business prospects, projections, operational and financial goals constitute beliefs and assumptions of the company's management as well as information currently available to Braskem. Future considerations are not a guarantee of performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as they refer to future events and therefore, depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors and analysts should understand that general conditions, industry conditions and other operational factors may affect Braskem's future results and may lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such future conditions. Now I'll turn the conference over to Ms. Rosana Avolio, Investor Relations, Strategic Planning and Corporate Market Intelligence Director. Ms. Avolio, you may begin your presentation.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for participating in Braskem's earnings conference call for the third quarter of 2025.
As indicated in the agenda described on Slide 3, I will begin the presentation with the company's main highlights in the period, starting on Slide 4. In the third quarter of 2025, the industry's performance continued to be impacted by the prolonged downward cycle. Utilization rate at petrochemical plants in Brazil were lower than in the second quarter due to the scheduled maintenance stoppage at the Rio de Janeiro plant and the continued implementation of the strategy to optimize production at naphtha-based plants, which takes into account demand levels and spreads on the international market.
In the United States and Europe, the increase is mainly due to the normalization of operations and the rebuilding of stocks in the United States, while production levels in Mexico remained lower given the first general maintenance stoppage since the start of production, which was completed at the end of July 2025.
With regard to safety and nonnegotiable value, Braskem recorded an average accident frequency rate of 0.75 events per million hours worked, down on the previous quarter and well below the global industry average.
In the quarter, the company recorded consolidated recurring EBITDA of $150 million, 104% higher than that in the first -- second quarter of '25, with Brazil, South America segment standing out. With regard to operating cash flow, despite the better EBITDA recorded in the quarter, the company had operating cash consumption of approximately $62 million.
Braskem's cash position at the end of the quarter was approximately $1.3 billion, sufficient to cover debt maturities over the next 27 months without taking into account the international standby revolving credit line in the full amount of $1 billion and maturing in December 2026. The company's total liquidity, including this credit line was approximately $2.3 billion at the end of the quarter.
Let's move on to the next slide. In the third quarter of 2025, the global macroeconomic scenario was marked by moderate growth, the accelerated inflation, high interest rates and strong geopolitical and trade tensions. And considering the still volatile scenario, we have seen a significant impact in the regions where we operate, resulting in lower industrial activity in resin processing and a typical downturn in demand for the period, reflecting the challenges faced by the industry on a global scale, especially in Brazil and Europe. In addition, most international petrochemical spreads fell in the period, remaining at historically low levels due to excess installed capacity, which together with weakened demand continue to put negative pressure on the sector's profitability at the global level.
Moving on to the next slide. The performance of each of the company's segments will presented below, starting with Brazil on Slide #7. In Brazil, the utilization rate at the petrochemical plants was lower due to the scheduled shutdown of the Rio de Janeiro petrochemical plant and the strategy of optimizing production at naphtha-based plants in face of demand levels. Resin sales in the Brazilian market were lower, mainly due to the higher volume of polyethylene imports and lower demand for polypropylene. This reduction was offset by higher sales of key chemicals. In the quarter, recurring EBITDA was $205 million, higher than in the previous quarter. This increase is explained by the prioritization of sales with higher added value, the implementation of the commercial strategy to supply the Brazilian market and the initiatives of the resilience program.
Let's move on to the next slide, please. In the third quarter of 2025, the utilization rate of green ethylene plant was 40%, 31 percentage points lower than the previous quarter, impacted by the continued implementation of measures to optimize stock levels, which is part of the resilience program. Sales were lower compared to the second quarter due to lower demand from Asian markets. In relation to the strategy of accelerating the production of new bioproducts and with the aim of seeking opportunities to create value, Braskem GreenCo was created at the end of 2023, a company that already owns the green ethylene assets in Rio Grande do Sul and which will concentrate the growth of Braskem's green portfolio.
Next slide, please. The utilization rate in the United States and Europe segment was higher due to the normalization of operations and the rebuilding of inventories in the United States. The lower sales volume compared to the previous quarter is mainly explained by the lower industrial activity in Europe and the weakened demand in the United States. The segment's results continued at negative levels, impacted by weakened demand in the regions pressured spreads and higher ship expenses. These effects were partially offset by the lower inventory effect of feedstock acquired in previous periods in the United States.
Moving on to the next slide, we will talk about the Mexico segment's performance in the quarter. The utilization rate for the quarter was 47%, still impacted by the first general maintenance stoppage since the plant start-up, which was concluded on July 31. With regard to ethane supply, the lower volume of ethane supplied by PEMEX compared to the previous quarter was offset by the increase in the volume imported through Fast Track and the start of supply from the ethane import terminal. In this scenario, the volume of polyethylene sales was lower than in the second quarter. Recurring EBITDA of the segment for the period was negative by $37 million, also impacted by the higher idle expenses in the quarter due to scheduled stoppages and lower provisions for fine receivable for delays in the construction of the terminal of ethane imports compared to the second quarter of 2025.
Now let's move on to the next slide. The general maintenance stoppage at Braskem Idesa petrochemical plant was completed at the end of July with the participation of more than 30,000 people. This was the first scheduled maintenance stoppage at the petrochemical complex in Mexico since its inauguration in 2016. In addition, the start of ethane supplies from Terminal Química Puerto México in September 2025 marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Braskem Idesa with the reduction of the need to use Fast Track solution and guaranteeing the possibility of access to 100% of Braskem Idesa's feedstock at lower logistics costs. This ethane will be transported using two ethane transport vessels leased by Braskem Trading and Shipping, which are dedicated to this operation. TQPM is connected to the petrochemical complex in Mexico via pipelines, guaranteeing greater reliability to the operation when compared to the Fast Track solution. It's worth noting that in September, TQPM supply of ethane to Braskem Idesa amounted to approximately 11,000 barrels per day.
Next slide, please. In the next chapter, we will discuss the company's consolidated results. Consolidated recurring EBITDA in the third quarter was $150 million. The increase in relation to the previous quarter is mainly explained by the prioritization of higher value-added sales, prioritization of supply to the Brazilian market, positively impacting the contribution margin, lower inventory effect in the United States and the implementation of the resilience plan initiatives with emphasis on reducing fixed costs in general. These effects were partially offset by higher idle expenses due to scheduled stoppages in Brazil and Mexico and by the appreciation of the real against the dollar.
Moving on to the next slide. By the end of September 2025, all work fronts in Maceió were progressing according to plan. The relocation and compensation front continue to show progress in its indicator and ended the quarter with 99.9% execution of the residents relocation program. The same percentage applies to the number of proposals submitted for the financial compensation and relocation support program of which around 99.6% were accepted and 99.5% were paid out.
At the same time, the closure and monitoring of the salt cavities is being implemented after all the actions have been taken, if necessary, to ensure that the 35 cavities reach a maintenance-free state in the long term. This quarter, we highlight the achievement of the technical filling limit of cavity 16. As a result, six cavities have now been naturally filled, six cavities have been completed, three have reached the technical filling limit and seven cavities are being filled.
Additionally, as announced by the company through a material fact, Braskem and the state of Alagoas signed an agreement related to the Alagoas geological event, providing for a total payment of BRL 1.2 billion, of which around BRL 139 million had already been paid. The outstanding balance is to be paid in 10 variable and adjusted annual installments, mainly after 2030, taking into account the company's payment capacity. The state agreement establishes compensation, indemnification and/or reimbursement to the state of Alagoas for full operation of any and all state property and of patrimonial damages and granted the company full discharge for any damages arising from and/or related to the geological event in Alagoas, including the extinction of the Alagoas state suit in action.
The signing of this agreement represents a significant and important step forward for the company in relation to the impact resulting from the geological event in Alagoas. Therefore, in relation to the final provision, the total provision related to Alagoas event was around BRL 18.1 billion, of which around BRL 13.6 billion have already been disbursed and approximately BRL 1.5 billion have been reclassified to other obligations payable, including those related to the agreement signed with the state of Alagoas as mentioned above. As a result, the total provisioned balance at the end of the third quarter of 2025 was BRL 3.8 billion.
Now let's move on to the next slide. In the third quarter of 2025, the implementation of resilience measures, especially the optimization of inventory levels was important in partially mitigating the consumption of working capital. The company had an operating cash consumption of BRL 334 million, impacted mainly by the higher seasonal disbursement of operating investments, including the scheduled stoppage at the Rio de Janeiro petrochemical plant and in Mexico. Recurring cash consumption was mainly impacted by higher half yearly interest payments on debt securities issued on the international market by the company, which are concentrated in the first and third quarters of the year. The sales of fund quotas part of the resilience plan and the receipt of the last installment of the sale of Cetrel reduced this consumption by BRL 211 million. Finally, considering the disbursements in Alagoas, the company had a cash consumption of approximately BRL 2.2 billion.
Now let's move on to the next slide. Braskem ended the third quarter of the year with an elongated debt profile with 69% of its debt concentrated after 2030. In order to strengthen its liquidity position in the face of the industry prolonged downturn, the company drew down its standby line in the amount of $1 billion at the beginning of October. The current line matures in December 2026. The available cash of $1.3 billion is enough to cover the debt principal repayments over the next 27 months. Finally, corporate leverage stood at approximately 14.7x at the end of the third quarter of 2025, mainly due to the lower EBITDA over the last 12 months.
Moving on with our agenda on Slide 11. This concludes the overview of the results for the third quarter of 2025. And next, I will comment on the company's resilience and transformation program. Braskem continues to focus on implementing the initiatives set out in its global resilience and transformation program, considering the significant impact resulting from the prolonged downturn of the entire industry and the Brazilian chemical sector. To this end, the company has adopted measures aimed at generating sustainable value with an emphasis on maximizing EBITDA and mitigating cash consumption.
Braskem's resilience program is aimed at implementing tactical initiatives in the company's operations and processes and is structured around two pillars. initiatives with an impact on EBITDA and short-term cash generation and actions to defend the competitiveness of the Brazilian chemical industry with a focus on building a more competitive Braskem, resilient and sustainable. The transformation program brings together initiatives that support the perpetuity of the business and is structured around three pillars: optimization of naphtha base, increasing and flexibility of the gas base, and finally, migrating to products with renewable sources.
Now let's move on to the next slide. Following on from what was presented on the previous slide, the implementation of the global resilience program fronts have been intensified considering the prolonged downturn in the industry. So far, we have established 79 action plans globally, which have been broken down into more than 700 initiatives. These actions are distributed on fronts presented above, institutional agenda, commercial agenda, monetization of assets, negotiation with suppliers, optimization of capital employed and operational optimization. In 2025, the potential for capturing these actions is around $400 million in EBITDA and about $500 million in cash generation in relation to the business plan budget for the year 2025. Regarding the progress of the implementation of the actions, around 1/3 of the initiatives have already been implemented and other are in execution or partially implemented, demonstrating the progress of the program. This program is an essential pillar to get through the challenging scenario of the global industry.
Moving on to the next slide. Continuing what we saw in the previous slide, resilience initiatives have made progress that is fundamental to mitigating the impact of the prolonged downturn in the industry. On the regulatory side, we have made significant progress in strengthening the Brazilian chemical industry, ensuring fair competitiveness. Among them, the approval of the provisional application of the antidumping duty for the imported from the U.S. and Canada, mitigating the existing damage in the Brazilian market and the maintenance of the 20% import rate in Brazil for PE, PP and PVC resins.
In addition, the approval of Bill 892 of 2025 by the Chamber of Deputies represents a significant step forward for the Brazilian chemical industry, which has been operating at the highest rate in the last 30 years. This bill has the purpose of extending the break, the special regime for chemical industry in November and December 2025, in addition to instituting the PRESIQ, which is the special program for the sustainability of the chemical industry from 2027 to 2031.
The text of the bill is currently being processed in the Senate for approval and subsequent presidential sanction. Braskem, together with ABIQUIM and other companies in the sector, reinforces the importance of proving the Bill 892. ABIQUIM's technical studies indicate that this bill could generate an estimated positive impact of BRL 112 billion on the Brazilian GDP by 2029, create up to 1.7 million direct and indirect jobs recover up to BRL 65 billion in tax revenues as well as increasing the use of the sector's installed capacity, which currently operates at the lowest level in the industry. In addition, a series of initiatives with an impact on EBITDA were implemented, such as commercial optimizations, reductions of logistics costs, energy, supplies, input, raw materials, optimization of inventory levels as we commented on throughout the performance of the segment, monetization of tax credits, among others. These combined initiatives generated positive impact of around $240 million in EBITDA and approximately $330 million in cash in the year-to-date compared to the budget of the company's business plan for 2025. These results reinforce the importance of the resilience program in the current industry scenario.
Now let's move on to the next slide. With regard to the transformation program, the company also made progress on initiatives to increase the competitiveness of its operations in the medium and long term with the aim of ensuring the perpetuity of our business.
Starting with Transforma Alagoas, we highlight the beginning of actions to increase the competitiveness of the company's PVC operations and make them more sustainable. The chlorine-soda plant in Alagoas will be transformed into a unit dedicated to handling volumes of EDC, the raw material for the production of PVC. In this context, the chlorine-soda plant was hibernated in September 2025. the company started a new PVC operating model and will now import all its EDC needs through a long-term contract signed with an international supplier. Braskem, which has been present in Alagoas for 48 years, reaffirms its commitment to the socioeconomic development of the state, boosting the strengthening of the chemical and plastic chain.
With regard to Transforma Sul initiative, the study into importing LPG for use as feedstock has been completed. It's worth noting that the Rio Grande do Sul petrochemical plant is the most competitive naphtha-based plant in South America and the best positioned on the global ethylene cash cost curve. This study was carried out with the aim of taking advantage of the plant's existing gas processing flexibility, combined with greater logistical efficiency by importing LPG from Argentina, taking advantage of Vaca Muerta production. This initiative brings potential incremental profitability of about $110 per tonne compared to the using naphtha as a feedstock. These actions demonstrate how the company has sought to modify its operations to ensure efficiency, flexibility and long-term sustainability.
Now let's move on to the next slide. Concluding this chapter, we come to the biggest transformation initiative underway, Transform Rio. The expansion of the Rio de Janeiro plant's capacity was approved by the Board of Directors in October 2025. This project will add 220,000 tonnes per year of ethylene capacity with an equivalent expansion of PE, increasing the share of gas in Braskem's feedstock profile. The estimated investment of BRL 4.2 billion with completion estimated for the end of 2028.
The implementation of the project is conditional on obtaining funding in addition to the resources already approved under the REIQ investments benefit for 2025 and 2026 and a long-term supply contract with Petrobras. In addition to increasing the competitiveness of Brazil's most efficient petrochemical plant, this expansion will bring greater competitiveness to the Brazilian polyethylene market, which is in deficit and positive socioeconomic impacts such as revenue generation for the states and the creation of more than 7,500 jobs during the project execution. With this, we conclude the chapter by reinforcing that the resilience and transformation program is essential for getting through the industry's challenging cycle, guaranteeing competitiveness and sustainability.
On to the next slide. I will now comment on the company's strategic direction for the next five-year cycle and the outlook for the petrochemical scenario.
Now let's move on to the next slide. Every year, the company draws up its business plan with a five-year horizon through a regular process with a structured timetable and the involvement of various areas of the company. Discussions related to the strategic direction typically take place during the second half of the year, where we revisit our vision for the next five years. taking into account changes in the global scenario, trends and fundamentals in the energy and petrochemical industry. For this cycle between May and July, we kick off by drawing up future scenarios for the petrochemical industry. In August and September, after a detailed discussion, the macroeconomic and petrochemical scenarios were validated with the leadership. In October, we refined the market, operational, financial projections based on these validations. And in December, we will consolidate the strategic direction for approval by the Board of Directors.
Now let's move on to the next slide. When we look at the global scenario in 2025, what stands out most is the high level of uncertainty and volatility. This movement has been driven by trade tensions between the United States and China, which have escalated throughout the year. These tensions are accompanied by a series of factors that are likely to continue over the next years, such as more fragmented global chains, increasingly protectionist industrial policies and changes in investment flows, which directly affect international competitiveness.
Even with interest rate cuts, the risk of global economic slowdown is still present. When we look at the GDP projections, the consensus is for growth similar to the start of the decade, but limited by the uncertainties of the trade war. This means that we are facing a scenario in which globalization is weakening and protection is advancing. The main impacts of this scenario are uncertainty about the stability of the global economic growth and the profound transformations in the dynamics of international trade with additional risks of disruption in global supply chains. This is the macroeconomic backdrop that we are taking into consideration in our strategic discussions for the 2026 to 2030 cycle.
Moving on to the next slide. The current scenario combines two factors that put pressure on the petrochemical industry, which are lower oil prices and subdued global demand. This configuration tends to reduce resin prices on the international market as the marginal producers' cost falls, and there is not enough demand to sustain the price of resin on the international market, even with relatively stable spreads for the marginal producer based naphtha. Lower oil prices and consequently, naphtha and resins on the international market could be unfavorable for base gas producers as in the case of Mexico, depending on the magnitude of the drop in the naphtha prices if gas prices remain stable.
In 2025, the price of oil on the international market was intensified by the trade war between the United States and China, which brought uncertainties and reduced expectations of growth and global energy consumption. In addition, there was a significant increase in oil production, especially by OPEC, OPEC+, which gradually resumed its supply, contributing to adjustments in global supply and putting pressure on resin prices benchmarks. In this scenario, realized oil prices this year were lower than expected when compared to the assumption made in the company's 2025-2029 business plan as well as most of the market. This difference has resulted in a challenging environment for the petrochemical industry, with direct impact on competitiveness and profitability.
Now let's move on to the next slide. In the company's internal discussions supported by external consultants, it was concluded that dynamics of the petrochemical industry will remain structurally challenging until at least 2030, with China leading investments to achieve self-sufficiency. These investments, combined with the growth in demand impacted by the macroeconomic uncertainties, as mentioned above, contributed to the continued imbalance between supply and demand, putting pressure on overall operating rates, which should remain at historically low levels, even with moderate growth in demand. Given the current expectations about the rationalization scenario, it's expected that the sector will begin to recover towards the end of the decade.
Now let's move on to the next slide. Finally, when we look at the outlook for the petrochemical spreads until 2030, the scenario is structurally challenging, considering global trends and industry dynamics. The prolonged downward cycle is expected to last until the end of the decade with a modest recovery after 2029. This behavior reflects the structural excess of supply combined with moderate growth in demand, which has kept international spreads below the historical average for a prolonged period. This reality reinforces the importance of the initiatives we presented in previous chapters aimed at resilience and transformation as well as the need for increasingly assertive commercial and operational strategies.
With this, we end this chapter by emphasizing that in the face of a challenging global environment and pressured margins, Braskem's strategic advances will be essential to ensure competitiveness, sustainability and value generation.
I would now like to close the presentation by reinforcing the company's priorities for 2025 on the next slide. We will continue to make progress with the initiatives to transform our assets. This front of the resilience and transformation plan is strategic if we are to continuously increase the competitiveness, efficiency and sustainability of our business, making Braskem better prepared to face the adversities of the global petrochemical scenario and guaranteeing its perpetuity.
In order to guarantee the continued progress of the transformation, it's essential that the company continues to identify and implement resilience measures. These actions are fundamental to mitigating the impact of the cycle on the company's results and cash flow. strengthening the competitiveness of our business throughout this prolonged downturn.
Braskem reaffirms its commitment to the competitiveness of the Brazilian chemical industry together with associations, clients, suppliers and society. It will continue to promote initiatives that guarantee a level playing field and a fair competitiveness for the Brazilian industry, making a consistent contribution to the sector's development. In addition, the company maintains its commitment to the agreement signed in Maceió, conducting each stage with transparency, responsibility and respect for all parties involved.
Finally, it's essential to emphasize that all our priorities will be carried out while maintaining our commitment to safety in our operations. safety is and will continue to be a perpetual and nonnegotiable value in Braskem's strategy, guiding every action and decision the company makes. This concludes the presentation of Braskem for the third quarter of 2025.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Please, you may proceed.
Good afternoon, everyone. This is Roberto Ramos, President of Braskem. Before we begin the Q&A session, I'd like to highlight some aspects from the presentation in addition to some updates about the financial and economic alternatives for our capital structure, which are currently in effect in assistance from our external consultants as we announced in September '25. That work in developing our strategy for the 2026-2030 cycle began in August and have now been finished by the Administrative Board. We've made some significant conclusions about the company's mid- and long-term outlooks.
We have ascertained that the perspectives for the local and international petrochemical industry have suffered a significant negative impact for a number of reasons because China will continue to make significant expansions in its ethylene, propylene, propylene and polypropylene chains using different feedstocks and solutions, also because in the Middle East, there are similar movements. This movement by the Chinese government will have a significant impact on the global scenario with over 40 new crackers increasing production by 70 million or 100 million tonnes, respectively. This will have a significant effect as well on the different petrochemical plants idle capacities.
This, combined with the very timid rationalization in the petrochemical industry updates our idle projections. We project a significant gap between supply and demand up until at least the turning of the decade. As such, the companies and the petrochemical industry's mid- and long-term outlooks must be updated. And so this leads to our strategic planning project. So, in September, the company announced the contracting of external consultants to investigate a healthier capital structure. And this is given the projection that the downward cycle is going to be longer than we expected. Since then, we have been updating our mid- and long-term strategies and outlooks. This is made even more challenging by the 2025, '26 cycle. Any potential change about the path to -- path forward must consider these projections.
As always, the company will keep its investors and the market as a whole duly informed about all material developments and conclusions about the topic.
Lastly, please note that any -- in spite of any negative outlooks or projections, Braskem continues to move forward with its resiliency project, which was approved by its shareholders in '25 and focuses on increasing global competitivity around the world.
As such, I'd like to highlight some initiatives linked to value generation for various stakeholders, emphasizing on maximizing EBITDA and cash generation, which were announced recently by Rosana. First, defense of competitivity for the Brazilian industry. by maintaining the 20% import rate for various feedstocks; two, approving various antidumping laws and rights with regard to the U.S. and Canada and also with regard to PVC in the U.S.; three, approval in the Chamber of Deputies of a bill here PL 892/2025, which sets forth rules about the REIQ and PRESIQ, which is now going to the Brazilian Senate for approval.
Next, the hibernation of the chlorine-soda plant in September '25 with the goal of making PVC production in Alagoas more competitive and sustainable by importing EDC, this feedstock makes our PVC plant more competitive and also approving the transformer Rio project, which will make Braskem more competitive by using gas in its feedstock matrix to produce polyethylene. And next, operating improvements, which have been generated by over 700 initiatives in 79 different action plans, which include the use of inventories linked to CapEx, producing resin with lower -- or higher added value, reducing downtime in plants due to upgrades, which is something that used to hurt us, improving our use of feedstocks and inputs and also the use of fiscal incentives and credits.
So, that being said, I will now begin to answer our listeners' questions.
Thank you, Robert. I'll start with the questions that we received on the chat. And there is some convergence in some points. So I'm going to answer some individual questions, and then I'm going to answer the questions that are grouped in terms of content, starting with Vicente with Bradesco.
Vicente asked two questions. The first one, he made some comments as follows Lots have happened since the last fall and Braskem hire financial processors to help them in this restructuring. When are we going to have a decision on this? And does the company consider injecting equity now that Alagoas case seems to be completed? And Vicente also ask us resin volumes were very weak in this quarter. What was the main economic driver? What can we expect for the quarters to come?
Thank you, Rosana, and thank you, Vicente, for the question. I'll field the first one, and Rosana will handle your second question.
With regard to hiring the advisers, as you can imagine, this is something that comes up rather often. It's an important decision of the company, which was actually a relevant fact that was announced to the market in September. And what we can state right now is what Roberto has just read when he opened the Q&A session vis-a-vis any decision pertaining to whatever route we will move forward is still subject to the completion of this diagnostic and especially with the necessary adaptations by the company's Board.
At this moment, these discussions are already being elaborated on the results as well so that we can, as we mentioned previously, develop in conjunction with the company's main stakeholders, something that will effectively reorganize Braskem's capital structure. At the present moment, no options are discarded or confirmed. Everything is open. Rosana?
Yes, of course. Thank you for the question. You know the company quite well. On a quarterly basis, we see some dynamics of seasonability. And in the historic seasonability, the third quarter tends to be the best period because it anticipates the we -- end of year celebrations and the formation of inventory levels. It was different this year, however. If we consider 2025 compared to 2024, if we consider the demand growth of resins, we do not see a growth posted in this line. We see that demand of resins, the demand of plastic is strongly associated with the Brazilian GDP.
When we talk about PE and PP, we can see that there is a drop of about 4% for the next months. For the year to come, we see a recovery of about 3%, but without any doubt, there was a drop when compared to last year.
If you see because of the sanitation law, we have seen a very important demand from the sectors of [indiscernible] and civil construction that is a result from the sanitation law. So we expect a 3% growth for this year, just what -- just as we saw in the third quarter when we compare to the previous quarter, we saw a 3% growth. And for the next year, we expect a growth of 3% based on the sanitation law.
And a general comment I would like to make. We have seen from the global viewpoint, a very weakened demand or I would even say an uncertain demand due to tariff war that we have seen along the year of 2025.
Answer the next question by Gabriel with Citi. This is his question. It's about -- in relation to transform Rio project, could you provide us the time line of the investments and the impact expected on the EBITDA of the company? In addition, could you talk about the funding of the project? Could Petrobras take part in the funding of the project? And the second question is as follows. Could you provide an update on the PRESIQ? And what are the discussions like in Brazil? Is there a time line to provide? What would be the potential impact for the company?
All right. I'll begin with transformer Rio and Roberto can talk about PRESIQ afterwards.
So, with regard to Transformer Rio, as we -- as Rosana presented now, we have a schedule. The project will begin its engineering phase right now. And this persists until the end of '28 or the beginning of 2029, at which point the project will be completed.
If we do some math to calculate the added value that this could bring to the company's EBITDA and using a 220,000 tonnes installed capacity as announced and using an average from the spreads of the previous years, which is $860 per tonne, this brings us to just under $200 million per year of additional EBITDA that we will bring to the company.
With regard to financing this project, which is extremely important, as was also announced in our relevant fact, there is a condition for this project to persist so that it can have the needed resources and funds so that it can proceed with the company's cash flow. So, at this first stage, we use the funds that are already available for the company from the REIQ and investments. This allows us to neutralize those impacts to our cash by the first part of 2026. And after that, the need to raise additional funds is already included in the context.
So, actually, the first question that was asked with regard to restructuring the company, this has -- this already includes this project. Due to the nature of the project, very likely we were going to find funding sources, but this is not yet defined. It is still being discussed. It will be defined as soon as possible so that this project will not be delayed.
Roberto, could you talk about PRESIQ and our forecasts for next steps?
Yes, of course. The project, as you know, was approved by the chamber here in Brazil and was sent to the Senate, EBDQUIM and ourselves as members of EBDQUIM, the Brazilian chemical industry is pushing for this to be voted on with urgency so that it can be duly studied by the industry and Trade Commission and then follow on to the plenary session to actually be voted on.
We believe that if we manage to get it evaluated with urgency, it can still be signed this year, maybe in November, or if not November, then at least in December, so that it will have an impact on the 2026 results.
It's very difficult to make projections about how quickly these bills go through, whether it's in the chamber or in the Senate because political scenarios change every day. New scenarios produce the need for other discussions and other topics to be pushed forward. So it's very difficult for us to give any kind of forecast as to when we think this will happen. But it's our wish and our firm belief that this will be approved in 2025.
Thank you, Roberto, Felipe. Now a question about Alagoas about recent announcement. We disclosed a material fact yesterday. Since there are many questions, I'm going to try to focus on the main points. So, there's a request for more details about the agreement in Alagoas, especially in relation to the schedule of payment expected. And there's a question if there is flexibility of the amount considering each payment individually.
Thanks for the question. The state of Alagoas, as we mentioned in the material fact, signed with Braskem this agreement. It now needs to once again go through the legal approval by the public sector. This is a BRL 1.2 billion, of which BRL 139 million have already been paid by Braskem. So the remaining balance, and this is a very important topic in the negotiations by both parties or all parties with regard to Braskem's present financial condition was established so that this agreement would be paid over a 10-year period. And so that's our material fact.
And the initial installments up until 2030 do respect the company's projected financial condition, which is a result of the entire tightening of the whole global petrochemical cycle and Braskem is tied to it. And after that period, these factors become even more material and move to make Braskem's financial condition recover, as Rosana mentioned in the beginning of the call, and that includes the transformation, switch to gas, fly up to green and all of our green projects in a context with more rational balance between supply and demand for the global petrochemical sector.
Thank you, Felipe. Moving on along the same lines, there's a question by Gustavo with BTG, which is consistent with what you just mentioned. In a scenario of a possible change of control in the pillar of transformation, what do you believe to be nonnegotiable to sustain the long-term cases. So there is the green agenda.
The second question, what is material in terms of hibernation of capacity in Europe and Asia? And how does it compare to the scenarios announced in the past? As the company sees it, the rationalization tends to be relevant within two years.
And lastly, in relation to Braskem Idesa, with ethane terminal in operation, what is the EBITDA capacity that you would consider to be normalized for Braskem Idesa? And how long this asset is likely to start contributing again for reducing the consolidated leverage level?
Of course. Thank you, Rosana, and thank you Gustavo. The answer to the first question is contained right in the question. It's, in fact, what the company believes it has as far as ability to add value to all its stakeholders. That is continuing with the transformation plan, our migration to gas, our focus on competitive assets and the green agenda or what we call here in-house as fly up to green.
A new, if a new potential shareholder has a different view, it's difficult to answer that because if we already had that view, we would certainly be implementing it right now. So it really will depend on what such a question would be, if and when such a new shareholder would be. With regard to our strategic plan, this is what we've been working on throughout 2025.
With regard to the perspectives of closing or hibernating Europe, that depends on rationalization and our rationalization strategy. What we've been seeing is that rationalization has been lower than what we initially projected. We know this from our own experience. We announced recently the hibernation of chlorine-soda. This is a decision that was made in the beginning of the year and was only implemented in September.
So these decisions all take significant time to implement with all the due care and precautions that are needed so that they can actually happen in the most sustainable and rational and also productive possible ways for the company. Roberto?
I have two points. First, our strategic plan was approved by our Board of Administrators which is composed of -- there's a significant stake by Petrobras there. So, Petrobras is certainly aligned with our vision, and I'm sure that Petrobras will continue to have that same vision regardless of whatever new shareholder comes in, if that happens. And again, this needs to be approved by all shareholders. We never do anything different from what is approved by the shareholders. So this new shareholder, if and when someone arrives, they will need to get involved in discussions with all shareholders as always.
With regard to Europe, what we are seeing in Europe is announced shutting down of units and refineries, one of the biggest petrochemical companies in the world, which has units in England and the Netherlands has closed dozens of refineries in the previous years. The President of a large European petrochemical company announced the closure of 12 million tonnes of capacity of ethylene production in Europe if they do not obtain the necessary protection measures that includes either antidumping or tariffs to prevent the arrival of products, especially from China that come into Europe. That also includes U.S. products that arrive in Europe without any import tariffs.
Now that being said, Europe is strategically long in propane. Now our polypropylene plants use propane as a feedstock. So it's really about finding the needed logistics. So if we need to replace any current suppliers, we'll do that. But the propane molecule, which is important for us, will continue to exist. So it will just be a matter of plugging the right numbers into the equation.
Thank you, Roberto. In relation to ethane terminal, to only to provide the context. Today, we have Braskem Idesa solution for the import of 80,000 barrels per day. Braskem Idesa to run the total capacity would require 660 barrels per day. And therefore, the total focus of Braskem team is to run full capacity. So an operation rate above 90% that in our industry, extremely high. That will be the focus. From the startup of the terminal, we have had operating results very positive, all in line with what we expected.
And when you made a comment about the consistent way of reducing the consolidated leverage. It's good to remember that Braskem Idesa since when we developed this project, it was devised by means lim recourse at the time, all the bonds, all the debt have no collateral by Braskem. Braskem as a controller of the asset. So every time we are announcing our cash position, our debt coverage and the consolidated leverage. We do not consider the cash position or EBITDA or the debt of Braskem Idesa.
The way it's going to contribute to the future is when there will be dividend payments impact since the startup of the plan in 2016, considering everything that we went through, the reduction of ethane supply, the renegotiation of ethane contract -- so there is a limitation of the availability of ethane in Mexico. And this is why we made this investment. So we received dividends only once in the past 10 years. So the total focus of the team is to increase the operating rate, increase the sales volume, focus on the Mexican market. This was the first purpose when the product was devised, which is to meet the demands of the Mexican market. And as there is a more balanced capital structure, we will consider the contribution for Braskem.
Rosana, Gustavo also asked about China and whether the movements in China tend to have an impact on the market. I believe Rosana already mentioned this in her presentation. We are looking at an increase in 20 million to 30 million tonnes of additional capacity in China over the next five years, essentially resulting from crackers, whether they are gas-based or naphtha based and also whether they are carbon based, believe it or not. And even gas for olefins and methanol for olefins plants.
So these are four different types of feedstocks that China is coordinating in its search for self-sufficiency with regard to PE consumption. And it's always very difficult to understand the scale of this shift. But this means that China's trend is just as it is in polypropylene to be a net importer of polyethylene. Today, it is currently an importer of polypropylene, but it will become self-sufficient after some time, and it will become a net exporter of polyethylene as well. This is the baseline scenario for us. And it's a scenario that leads us to conclude that this downward cycle will extend for many years.
Thank you, Roberto. Another question by Joaquin with Moneda. He asks about the context of transformer contract that has been recently announced by the company. The question is, have we signed a long-term contract with Petrobras to supply ethane or would that depend on the construction of the project?
Thanks for the question. Yes, as we mentioned in the material fact, Braskem's Board approved the terms of the negotiation between Petrobras and Braskem for ethane supply. But this contract has not yet been signed. It is still subject to being concluded. This has not yet occurred. It is still currently in negotiations. And so within the schedule that we announced recently, that Rosana announced recently. But we do not foresee any kind of change. The commercial conditions have already been agreed to officially. The only conditions that are still being discussed are secondary conditions that are not material to the contract.
Thank you. Moving on. Conrado from J. Safra, asked the following to whom you attribute the sequential improvement of the margin in Brazil, the focus that had a better margin and better cost efficiency? Or is there any special reason or a combination of all? Is there -- is it likely for the margin to continue improving?
Thank you, Conrado. I'm going to answer your question. Let's consider the historical viewpoint. Brazilian business is very important for the company. Without, we saw some improvement with an EBITDA margin from 5% to 9%, but below what would be a historical margin for this business as a result of everything that we mentioned in this call, capacity, the demand is weakened when compared to the historical levels, especially 2010, 2019, putting pressure on the petrochemical spread at the international level. And this is where our resiliency program stands.
So when you ask what were the factors? Without a doubt, this is a combination of different factors. Without a doubt, we are always going to prioritize the supply of the Brazilian market, the South American market, but we have been going for grades whose value added is higher for the company. In terms of cost reduction, we have made different renegotiations with our suppliers, and we've been seizing to reduce logistics costs.
And in addition, when considering the EBITDA and the cash flow, we captured along the year nearly $100 million as the numbers presented in the presentation, and that was driven by the optimization of inventory levels. And when the spread, which is the main contributor to the result of any petrochemical industry, when it stands at a level which is historically low, the company has to operate in such a way to mitigate this impact partially of this downward turn. And this is something we are going to continue doing. We are going to continue communicating.
I just wanted to add one thing. With regard to when Braskem was created 20 years ago, the major difference with regard to supply and demand is that at the time, the European petrochemical industry was very important. It was actually the largest in the world, and it gradually lost competitivity and has been replaced by the petrochemical industry that is being created in China and that already existed in the Middle East and was expanded.
The consequences are that the new petrochemical industries that were created and also with -- in Japan and Korea, but to a lesser extent. But China and Middle East react much more quickly to requests for higher demand than the European industry did. As a result, the high and low cycles are going to be less steep and longer. And as a result of that, the petrochemical industry must adjust its processes, reduce its costs so that it can coexist with the new reality for the future, where the EBITDA margins are not going to be exuberant as they were before, 20% or more. These margins are going to be more contained, closer to the refinery margins. And so we need to reinvent the way we operate petrochemical plants, for example, by reducing the impact of labor, increasing automation, using artificial intelligence tools to make the plant respond automatically to certain requests.
All of this will reduce direct cost and fixed cost. This movement is an intrinsic part of our resiliency plan. We've had results in 2025. We're going to capture even more of them in '26. This is inexorable. It's a new reality in the petrochemical industry, and everyone is going to need to adapt to this new way of doing business.
Thank you, Roberto. I'm going to read a question that we received from different people participating in this call in relation to the possible sale of Novonor and change of control, bringing the name of IG4 as a result of what we've seen in the media. So there is a question asking if we have any type of time line to complete the discussion, especially in the case of IG4.
I would really love to be able to give you that answer. Unfortunately, I can't. As we've been saying repeatedly, we are not party to that negotiation. The information we received from Novonor, everything we received, we immediately convey to the market through material facts. And we are not aware of any topics or any progress that leads to an imminent decision with regard to the sale of Novonor shares.
So we remain waiting just as the market as a whole is waiting, of course, it's a topic that is of interest to us. It's of interest to everyone. But we are not even side players. We are merely spectators. Sure, we may be in the first row, but we are spectators nonetheless.
Thank you, Roberto. There's a question of Anne with Bank of America in relation to our transformation in Alagoas. Can you provide more information about Braskem chlor-alkali for transformation plant? And we would like to understand a little bit more about Ode and if we saw the press release that was published by Ode, as you would like to understand how this relationship is going to play out. So at the end of the day is how to Transforma Alagoas will perform in general.
Well, what does this transformation bring us? Our chlor ethane process is based on electrolysis used with salt. This is something that's been in effect since we opened in 2021. It was a brine transformation. And this actually was -- it didn't generate value. It produced EDC at a cost that was harmful to the PVC plant. The PVC plant carried the cost of the lack of competitivity from the chlor soda plant.
This is a plant that dated from the 1970s and whose technology had already lost its competitivity and especially guided by the fact that we needed to bring salt, gem rock salt halite, which is different from sea salt from Chile. So this halite came all the way down -- down south through the coast of Chile through the Magellan Strait and then north all the way up through the Brazilian coast. So the logistics cost was actually just as high as, if not even higher than the halite itself. So this was something that could only work if the product, the polyethylene prices were high -- sorry, not polyethylene, he corrects himself, PVC. But if the costs were sufficient, so replacing EDC manufactured in Alagoas with a noncompetitive plant, such as EDC imported from the U.S. made using ethane resulting from shale gas. therefore, an appreciable comparative advantage. And it was transported using efficient cabotage to our Alagoas plant.
This makes the work of the PVC plant more competitive than it was before. And we were actually often forced to reduce the output of the PVC plant to stop losing money. Now with this change, we can run our PVC plant at its maximum capacity. We can even apply some improvements that will improve it by 25, maybe 30 per year -- tonnes per year. And it will also lead us to produce more material in a shorter amount of time. This is all based on the fact that it is going to be produced. The PVC is going to be produced from more efficient feedstocks.
In addition, in a partnership that we have signed, we are burning [ Kwako ], which is a renewable feedstock. This makes our PVC increasingly more and more green. This is going to improve the results for our sales as well.
With regard to the press release from Ode, I apologize, I haven't read it.
As we mentioned previously, when we were mentioning Transform Rio, any change, any project is necessary, requires raw material contract in order to maintain operational stability. With the change explained by Roberto, the answer is yes, we have an agreement for the supply of feedstock and it's a long-term contract.
Moving on, we have some questions by [indiscernible] about PRESIQ. And the question is repeated sometimes. So it's in relation to PRESIQ seems to be an important and necessary program in order to control the cash burn of the company. What are the expected impacts of PRESIQ?
Thanks for the question. This is a relevant fact, a material fact for the company. It deals with our resiliency and transformation plan. So I'll answer in two sections. With regard to the year 2026, during which rate will still be in effect and two rigs, the investment and feedstock rigs. Now the investment rate has no change from what is currently in effect. This is a fiscal benefit, a 1.5% benefit we have based on PIS and COFINS that Braskem pays. As we mentioned previously, this is something we use as our funding for the Transformer Rio project and other projects of the company.
And the second is the feedstocks rate, which today is 0.7. As of 2026, as Roberto mentioned, once this is approved by the President, this will move to 6.25% from the current 0.7. So this will mean something in the order of $280 million to $300 million of EBITDA in the year 2026, starting as of 2027, up until 2031, which is currently in PRESIQ. It has a yearly budget for the petrochemical industry. And of course, Braskem is part of that of BRL 3 billion per year, out of which BRL 2.5 billion will be the so-called PRESIQ feedstocks and another BRL 500 million for PRESIQ investments.
So this is what we are currently working on with our projections, and we currently await that signature as quickly as possible. We hope that it will be approved by the Senate firstly and then by the President.
Just a reminder, the sum is for the whole industry, the BRL 3 billion that Felipe mentioned, BRL 3 billion per year. sum is the grant that is being given to the industry as a whole. We imagine that Braskem will receive something in the order of 50% of that sum.
Thank you, Roberto. And to wrap up, due to time limits, we have last questions. And the remaining questions will be answered lately, later. And the question is about our projections. So there's a comment about our spreads projections, chemicals and petrochemical spreads. Why would make us so confident to believe that the cycle would continue below the historical levels in the next five years. And they believe that external consulting services has a weak track record to estimate what would be the spreads for the future. And why -- what they usually do is to extrapolate what's happening at the moment.
So I'm going to talk about our planning process at the conceptual level and how we carry out the mitigation. But before that, I would like to say that the downward cycle has been different from the other ones. So when we discuss the track record and the weakness and the weaknesses of the external consulting services, but this is the environment we have been experiencing since 2019. So we have seen a weakened demand when compared to the global GDP of 2010 to 2019, which was different to what we saw since 2019.
As a reminder, the demand for plastic is very connected to the global GDP. The higher the global GDP, the higher the consumption of plastic. So whenever there is a drop in plastic, even though it's been growing, but we see a drop of the global average GDP when compared to the previous decade.
In addition to that, there's a very important difference to consider. China with the driver with -- for new capacities, they are very based on sufficiency and to meet their own demand. And this is what we have seen, and this is aligned with the external consultancy. And this has created a very major oversupply. And this is something we showed in the results definition.
And there is a backlog, there's a backlog before offering demand. And the backlog is really huge. And when I look into the future, we still see capacity coming in, especially in China in its search for self-sufficiency. When we defined our projections, this is what we considered. By the way, this is an approval process, which is still going on. And this is a process which will end at the end of the year with the approval by the Board. as we have mentioned in this results presentation.
So for us to define the scenarios, we can consider different probabilities in different scenarios. We do not work with one case only. We incorporate different probabilities when we define the assumptions. And without any doubt, in our base case, we have been more conservative or even more realistic would be a better word when we do the rationalization because that could accelerate or could provide a better support to the better spread for the future.
But as we mentioned in this call, it's very difficult to estimate other people's decision. So there are external consultancies that provide the cash cost of all producers in the world. But we do not have the disclosure of any agreement between suppliers and clients. So the decision of investment to close a plant is a decision based only on cash cost. It starts from cash cost, but there is a definition at play, agreements, what's the best moment to make the decision for the rationalization.
So, again, in the past five or six years, there was a different downturn from the previous years. And there are players, there's this player that is going to include capacity up to 2030. So we consider the probability plus the definition of the assumption. And again, we were very realistic more than what we have been -- on what we have been observing.
Just to mention something else about the topic of rationalization. We have some perspectives for reductions. Some have been announced, others not yet, but there's a significant reduction in South Korea, which should reach maybe even 4 billion tonnes in China. The Chinese capitalist process encourages creation of various industries and allows those industries to fight for space. And then once some time has elapsed, the winners remain and the Chinese government rationalizes the winners and losers. So, of course, they have a lot of capacity spinning up. And of course, there's going to be rationalization.
And the biggest losers are Europe. Europe has 12 million tons of ethylene production that is currently at risk. Structurally, Europe's problem is much more serious because not only do they not have the feedstocks, they don't have the ethane. They don't have the oil. So they import oil. Yes, they refine it, but they import oil and they import ethane -- and their energy cost is also very high as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has shut down the supply of cheap Russian gas to Europe and especially to Germany.
So with the energy cost in Europe, which is currently almost 3x as high as it was before Ukraine was invaded and also considering that the petrochemical industry is highly energy intensive, combined with the fact that Europe doesn't produce any of these feedstocks, not even naphtha because they don't have oil or gas because they don't have oil reserves. And of course, I'm not considering Russia. This means that Europe's petrochemical industry is moving forward toward a state of the industrialization of total inexistence. And we have a significant amount of production capacity that is at risk during this sunset perspective.
Thank you, Roberto. Due to some limitations, the other questions we will answer later. So we would like to thank everyone for attending this call to discuss the results of the third quarter of 2025. And I'll see you next time when we -- for our next call. Thank you.
Thank you.
This concludes Braskem's conference call. Thank you all for joining us, and have a great afternoon.
Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A — Q3 2025 Earnings Call
Financial data from Braskem S.A. Sponsored ADR Pfd Class A
Revenue
Revenue is the sum of all sales generated by a company, e.g. for its products or services.
Revenue (TTM) metric explainedDirect Costs
Direct costs are the costs incurred directly in connection with the manufacture of the product or service.
Gross Profit
Gross Profit indicates how much of the revenue remains in the company after deducting direct production costs. If the percentage share of sales is calculated, this is referred to as the gross margin.
Gross Profit metric explainedSelling and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) include all expenses for marketing and sales as well as the general administration of the company.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development costs (R&D) provide information on how much the company invests in the research and development of its products. The costs are particularly interesting as a percentage of revenue and in comparison to direct competitors.
EBITDA
EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The EBITDA margin is calculated as a percentage of sales.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation represents reductions in the value of the company's assets (e.g. due to wear and tear on machinery).
EBIT (Operating Income)
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) is the company's profit before interest and taxes, also known as the operating income. The EBIT Margin is calculated as a percentage of sales at
.
Net Profit
Net Profit represents the profit or loss after deduction of all costs.
Net Profit metric explainedStocksGuide Premium
| Mar '26 |
+/-
%
|
||
| Revenue | 12,882 12,882 |
15%
15%
100%
|
|
| - Direct Costs | 12,622 12,622 |
10%
10%
98%
|
|
| Gross Profit | 260 260 |
78%
78%
2%
|
|
| - Selling and Administrative Expenses | 907 907 |
9%
9%
7%
|
|
| - Research and Development Expense | 84 84 |
-
1%
|
|
| EBITDA | 587 587 |
16%
16%
5%
|
|
| - Depreciation and Amortization | 898 898 |
101%
101%
7%
|
|
| EBIT (Operating Income) EBIT | -311 -311 |
226%
226%
-2%
|
|
| Net Profit | -1,763 -1,763 |
2%
2%
-14%
|
|
In millions USD.
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Company Profile
Braskem SA manufactures petrochemicals and other related products. It operates through the following business segments: Chemicals, Polyolefins, Vinyls, the U. S. and Europe, and Braskem Idesa. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Butanta, Brazil.
StocksGuide Premium
| Head office | Brazil |
| CEO | Mr. Ramos |
| Employees | 8,233 |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Website | www.braskem.com.br |


