Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem (NYSE: BAK) and Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota have signed an agreement to sell green polyethylene in Asia, news media reported.
The operation is expected to start in 2011, the reports said.
Braskem developed green polyethylene using 100% renewable sources, specifically sugarcane, and has been producing it at a testing facility at the Triunfo petrochemical complex in Rio Grande do Sul state.
The company expects to start green polyethylene production on an industrial scale in 2010, with capacity of 200,000t/y, Braskem said in a statement.
According to Thursday's edition of Brazilian daily O Estado de S Paulo, the agreement is Braskem's first to sell green polyethylene and involves 50,000t/y of resins.
Under the deal, Toyota Tsusho, a trading arm of the carmaker, will distribute the resins to Asian clients, such as packaging manufacturers, O Estado said.
"The deal is important because it's the first relevant contract in terms of the volume of green polyethylene sold, and it's also an entry gate to the Asian market," a Braskem official was quoted as saying.
The company says the new biopolymer has the same technical and physical properties as petrochemical-based polyethylene, which is today the most used plastic in manufacturing of rigid and flexible packaging.
Braskem has said it will invest more than 1bn reais (US$539mn) over the next three years in the Triunfo complex.
