Braskem S.A. (BRKM5) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. Good morning, everyone. We are now resuming going back to the first moments of my presentation. It's once again a pleasure to be here with you all today to talk about ESG and to talk about Braskem's pathway towards industrial decarbonization. As Roberto has already mentioned, we have made significant progress in the past few years, and I do believe I can share with you some good insights on the matter. Next slide, please. There you go. So what we have done throughout time, as Queiroz mentioned, we tried to put together a governance scheme to address net-zero level until 2050, and that's based around 3 pillars: emission reduction, number one, pretty much focused on efficiency gains in the energy industry and the use of low-carbon renewable energies. Carbon removal also, which will also be addressed by Walmir as we move forward the morning and of course, also using renewable feedstock. And number three, to be able to use it as feedstock. All of that around the so-called Braskem's facilitators, which we will be focusing on in a moment. I will now focus on emission reduction, pillar number one. What we've done for the past 2 years was to create a decarbonization program so that we can consolidate that strategy around an action plan, an organized action plan that will allow us to enforce initiatives, while I was bring our emissions by 15%. So we put together this program based on a pillar called culture and process, which is key to our process. Our industrial team has always focused on efficiencies around operation, production, energy, but greenhouse gases is a relatively new topic. So it's important for us to be able to include that topic across our organization, from the top management all the way down to factory leaders. That's why culture is and very important as well. Not only that, all our processes need to be addressed in the same way. So strengthening the processes around governance will allow the whole company from the engineer, all the way up to the top, can address emissions. On a third important pillar around culture and process is how to foster partnerships not only the technical front, but also to help develop solutions. We are aware that we need to have solid partnerships to do that, to reduce emissions. Along with culture and process, we have also put together other pathways. One of them focused on operation, the day-to-day activities of those industrial teams to focus on reduction of industrial CO2, continued improvement initiatives also put in place, trying to fine tune the operation to the max, thus reducing our emissions. We have been also focusing on loss reduction. And also from the greenhouse gas standpoint, we have been obtaining significant results as we go forward, reducing emissions and losses to the atmosphere. The second important pillar is around energy efficiency. We have invested significantly to reduce our emissions at the same time, optimizing our energy use. Number three, energy metrics, how to meet our energy demand through renewable energy and low carbon fuels, and I'll explore those pillars a little further down the road. And fourth pillar transformative projects or key initiatives, which can actually transform our work sites. So based on those 4 pillars and also on culture and process, we have developed a decarbonization program. A couple of examples of what I just mentioned in terms of culture. We have developed, which we call an industrial decarbonization track that touched upon all our team where we're able to. So what is a -- what decarbonization works in our day-to-day activities. We also recognized and tried to motivate the team, several projects around those topics. And next week, for example, we'll have -- we will hold a global decarbonization congress where we'll address all those initiatives. So the idea is to foster that culture across our operation. So under governance, we also have developed our MACC curve, M-A-C-C curve last year and the MACC curve is our marginal cost for carbon reduction curve. It's a very important curve. Our chart in our operations because it allows us to draw simulations on how to accelerate those reduction levels. By looking at that curve, we can calculate the economic return of each one of those initiatives. You can map out all those return levels. And we assess that through the cost of carbon equivalent of that initiative. And with this example, we were able to classify those initiatives. The ones below the access, they show that they have a positive return, irrespective of the CO2 pricing and those above [ access ] are linked to initiatives that we'll need to have a better CO2 pricing to provide a positive return. So that's how we can classify and provide more focus on those initiatives besides which ones are worth a while. So what we've done for the past few months, is with internal work involving all our industrial team have mapped out over 400 initiatives. Over 100 people were engaged, and the idea was to also to find partners that can encourage different solutions to reduce emission, we've held workshops in our regional offices. And actually, we're able to map those initiatives. We have prioritized an important series of initiatives, 90, to be sure of those initiatives we prioritize, we have advanced in pricing to try and better understand financial returns of those initiatives and also trying to get a better grasp of the financials around those initiatives. Next. Okay. Thank you. So we also address the main industrial complexes and how we were performing in terms of emissions. And it's important to have a good grasp of that because the way towards decarbonization will be different depending on the decisions we make. So 1 initiative may be linked to another, but it needs to have interdependence. That's fundamental. So we have advocated some potential strategic routes. We work with the energy balances for each one of those and define our reduction curves for each of those scenarios. We have then defined the base scenarios for each regional area. And also, we drew a MACC curve for Braskem with over 160 initiatives, which allows us to have significant progress across this project. And we have also a road map, including 69 initiatives that will allow Braskem to reach its target, which is to bring reductions down by 15%. This is the updated MACC curve 260 initiatives. And they are in different stages of development. That's important to see. We have initiatives which have run their course have been implemented, some which are under execution now and others which are still being analyzed. So the idea is to connect all those initiatives under the same process. Those 69 initiatives, which were firstly prioritize, all of those 33 are ongoing, which gives us over 800,000 tons of CO2 in terms of reduction, CO2 equivalent. So that's a significant gain that the company is enjoying now. In addition to that, we selected other initiatives for us to move forward in those studies and those initiatives will, therefore, allow us to reach our target for CO2 reduction. So all the preliminary calculations point to the fact that we will be able to reach that target, 2.6 -- rather 3.4 million tons of CO2 and part of those initiatives, again, are more tangible. They are already in place, [ 800 kt ], but there is great potential of 2.6 million tons potential to be tapped, and which take into account different levels of uncertainties because of different levels of maturity and also different levels of financial return. This -- that still need to be assessed. So all this work was put in place to show that we are moving forward with those studies. But based on what we've done, we're going towards the right direction that we will be able to reach our 15% reduction target with a positive return financially speaking. That's what our numbers point to. Again, despite some uncertainty levels yet. All indicators point to the fact that we will be able to reach our target with again a positive economic return. Some of the examples that I could share with you today are here. Things have been done in the past periods. Number one, the first project worth mentioning around efficiency gain and also reduction of emissions. This has been going on for the past few years in ABC along with Siemens. We -- about Siemens in partnership with Braskem worked to co-generate and we electrified the machines. And those partner-based solutions are very interesting because they changed the whole energy configuration of the industrial complex. So we went with electricity, replacing low efficiency turbines by high-efficiency engines. And that electrification allowed us to -- or will allow us to, at the end of the process, which is expected to happen late last year, will allow us to have a reduction of 100,000 tons of CO2 with an energy gain of over 7% at the site, a relevant reduction in water use in addition to a higher level of reliability for the system, which will increase or improve our efficiency in operational terms. Also important to mention the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable fuels. So just as an example, the use of biomass, a project which we started 4 years ago along with Veolia in the state of Alagoas to replace natural gas in the production of steam, and now we have natural gas being produced through eucalyptus. In other words, through biomass processing. We'll be using boilers in our operations to replace fossil fuels. This will be ramped up early in 2024. We'll be replacing over 150,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year, which -- when we do the math in our inventory balance for the state of Alagoas that accounts for 1/3 of our local emissions, 1/3. So we'll be replacing a significant amount of tonnage by a raw materials is much more efficient and more renewable in addition to developing an original local chain given the eucalyptus production, which will be dedicated to projects will happen at a distance of about 100 kilometers of our site. That's a new production site totally dedicated to this project. A third initiative, which is also worth mentioning, is the use of renewable electric energy in our operations. So several different initiatives can be displayed, several energy contracts for electricity from wind and solar projects with solid partners, well-known, well-reputed partners. I could highlight [ Oren ], Casa dos Ventos, Voltalia and EDF. Energy contracts for the long term, which add up to over 150-megawatt average, which account to -- is the equivalent of residential consumption, a city of about 2 million inhabitants. So also a considerable number. So we will start to consume those volumes as those contracts are enforced. And we estimate over 110,000 tons of CO2 being -- we removed starting in 2025, be it for renewable contracts or be it for self-production models. Braskem is starting partnerships, buying out stakes in those companies, thus becoming the largest solar -- or a larger solar and/or wind energy producer. So in summary, Braskem has achieved important positions. Some of those initiatives have already been implemented based on a very robust decarbonization program, which will allow us again to reach our target by 2030. So there is a whole governance scheme built around that program to allow us to fight climate change as described by our pillars, capture and removal, our MACC curve will be quite dynamic. That's important to remember that MACC curve will be developed this year, we will resume it when new initiatives come up. If one of the current initiatives are no longer viable for financial or regulatory reasons or technological reasons, we can always go back and rework on the curve. So it's a very dynamic process. Important to say we have clear in our mind the pathway to be followed. And that, again, will allow us to reach our target for 2030, which is to reduce our emissions by at least 50% with positive financial returns. And the path towards those targets are as clear to us now. So that's a bit of what I had to share with you today. It is a significant progress in terms of fighting climate change. I turn the floor back over to Edison, who will continue with his presentation.

Good morning. Thank you, Gustavo. My name is Edison Terra. I'm responsible for Olefins and Polyolefins in South America. It is great to be here. I've been at the company for 20 years this month. So I have witnessed what my colleagues have just described in terms of history, background. So way before people started talking about ESG circular economy. We were already working on those fronts. We were doing significant free progress for the past 2 or 3 years, our initiatives have really taken off significantly. So we are very much in line with what our clients, shareholders and society demand now from us or expect from us. In terms of growth avenues. We're going to be touching upon 2 objectives of 1 million tons. So I'll be talking about our objective of having 1 million tons of products, including recycled content and 2030, and then, Walmir will come and talk about another objective, which is by 2030, to have 1 million tons of Green PE in our portfolio. So now in terms of circular economy, in addition to 1 million tons, it's important to highlight our target of having 1.5 million tons of plastic waste, which would have been sent for burning incineration or landfill. They would be sent elsewhere, and we introduced in the economy. So in addition to trading, that 1.5 million tons, we want to cause a significant impact, which will come from avoiding the incorrect or inadequate use of that in landfills and elsewhere. For that, we have 4 different fronts where we work on investing in our own portfolio of sustainable products through circular economy, the development of packaging. I'll talk about -- it is important for us to go back to the lab and redesign what's already in the market in terms of packaging. Consumer engagement that has to do with educating society as a whole and a partnership against waste or garbage or trash in the seas that comes from an ongoing problem. So for the first 3 pillars, we avoid a repetition of the problem. And for the fourth pillar, we address an issue which is a current problem coming from past legacies and trying to address those liabilities. So now focusing on the first topic, could create a portfolio of sustainable products through recycling. We have 2 main strategies here: mechanical recycling and advanced recycling. Mechanical recycling takes plastic waste and they're crushed, washed, dried impurities are removed, and they are reformatted into plastic raw material to be used across different industries. The importance of developing that type of portfolio lies in the fact that we are working with a polymer plastic, which continues as plastic throughout the process. We are not wasting all the energy, which was put into producing that polymer. We simply reuse that energy, but turning it into a new polymer at the end of the process. So our objective is to bring technology to process so that you can have mechanically recycled products, which are high quality because that will allow us to use that in complex applications. Today, when you talk about those recycled products, everybody here knows -- you have that in your trash bag that black trash bag, that's usually produced with recycled plastic. That's a low-cost application, but also low quality. Our objective is to create added value implications. With that, you will foster the change from end to end, you create, you add value to the waste at the end of the chain. You have more value, more people interested in correctly discarding and collecting those waste. But not everything can be mechanically recycled as we know, in some cases, we need to have what we call advanced or chemical recycling where we transform that waste into monomers. It will be backtracked to being an oil or a simpler molecular structure that will be introduced in the productive process in our petrochemical crackers to replace naphtha or in the place of gas and then the whole process restarts. Here, we have a very important innovation service from Braskem and the industry as a whole to develop new technologies for that way of recycling, both to improve the existing technologies, which is the pyrolysis technology, which can be improved, but also to develop disruptive technologies, which will allow us to gain even more efficiency across that process, and then you'll transform plastic back into raw material. It is reintroduced in the system through petrochemical crackers or through refineries. So that's the basic idea of reintroducing those plastics back into the industry. That's the growth curve that we have today vis-a-vis that objective, the target of 1 million tons by 2030. 300,000 tons by 2025 an interim target. We've been growing significantly. We will reach 54,000 tons this year, 140% more than last year, 2021, and all this growth, all this evolution that's been happening since 2019 has been based on partnerships with recycling entities. We are helping them develop new products. And at the same time, we are using our own market knowledge to take those products back into the market for new users. So as we use an already existing structure that allows us to reinforce our initiatives to support cooperatives of plastic scrapers and -- and the very industry that has grown around the recycling space. But for our objective, that's not enough. So this year, we -- this was a decision rather, which was made last year, decided to invest in partnership with Valoren to create our own recycling capabilities, mechanical recycling. So we acquired Wise, a company which we are still assessing that at the federal consumer defense agencies assessing that acquisition now. And the acquisition of Terra Circular in Europe, that's a joint venture. So across those 3 initiatives, we're talking about over BRL 300 million which by 2025 will impacting 100,000 tons of capacity for Braskem, helping us reach that target of 300,000 tons by 2025. In advanced recycling, our main objective is through partnerships to develop our own technologies. Our objective in the areas where we operate, we want to foster the chain and so that we can contribute to a better use of those residues and waste. So we have projects here in Europe, in the U.S., in Mexico, and the objective is to put together a technology portfolio that includes advanced recycling processes. Examples of our partnerships in Europe, the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology here in Brazil with an , a new partnership with Valoren for a plant, which will be open early next year and also investment in Nexus Circular in the U.S. And here, we're talking about over BRL 60 million invested across all those initiatives so far. So that closes that pillar, which is around having our own sustainable products portfolio. But much of what we want to recycle today was not designed to be recycled. So when we talk about circular packaging, that's what we're trying to address. How can we go back to the design phase to revisit products, packaging, which were designed back in the day without that concern in mind? In other words, the concern of reintroducing that back into the economy. So reducing materials, reducing thickness, reducing weight, simpler packaging units preferably using mono materials, all of that will help us have a more a product which would lend itself to be more easily recycled. All the packaging has a smaller printing area today, and that entails less contamination less ink on the bags and fewer impurities in the process having a pure product on our packaging in that recycling process. So Casulo is our innovation hub. Actually, it's a design lab where we want to bring together our knowledge with that of brand owners, designers, start-ups and the academia in a space of 450 square meters in Sao Paulo, whose objective is to have a co-creation and prototyping space for packages. We want to redesign products that will facilitate recycling that are through methodologies used in that lab. The first 1 is what we call DfE, Design for Environment. The objective is to analyze the environmental impacts of packaging in order to choose the best material so that at the end of that packaging life cycle, it will cause the least impact. So the environmental impact of the packages, how that packaging may become circular with the systems approach. There is no point just having a recycled product. I must make sure that throughout the life cycle, that product can be recycled and the measurement of the impact that measurement is done through another technology called Life Cycle Analysis. Many studies are conducted by the Braskem team in a partnership with certified entities using scientific knowledge. And with that, we are able to compare materials, situations, users, having a clearer definition of the best solutions to reduce environmental impact. Let me give you an example. Those straws that are so controversial. If we compare the carbon footprint and water consumption of the 3 types of straws made of paper, steel and plastic. In terms of carbon footprint, the plastic straw is the most efficient one. In the case of water concern, plastic straws are also the best solution. The figures are on the screen, assuming that the stainless-steel straws is being used 500 times throughout its lifetime. So if you do not need to use a don't, but if you do use the plastic straw and dispose it appropriately because that's the best alternative from the environmental standpoint, Both in terms of CO2 emissions, greenhouse gases, water consumption. So Casulo is a hub to bring together brand owners, clients, designers, start-ups. We have a dairy company that came to us with a briefing. And in 4 days, they already had the prototype with the look and feel of what the product would look like on supermarket shelves. More than engaging people, we want to educate them, educate society, and Brazil is similar to Mexico, where we also operate. From the standpoint of consumer engagement, we have 3 partnerships today, Molécoola, Coletando and Ambipar. Consumers can take their packages correctly dispose them, making sure they will be reintroduced into the economy and receiving a bonus that can be donated to a charitable institution or that can be exchanged for products. We had similar initiatives during Rock in Rio and Lollapalooza with a significant engagement of our partners. We have a partnership with [indiscernible] edupark. We want that park to become a 0-waste park, and I want to mention 2 initiatives that have been around for some time at Braskem. One of them is called Ser+ surmise to promote -- to improve the lives of scrappers, those that will be directly impacted by the program people that collect garbage on the street. And edukatu where we have over 60,000 students that have already been impacted by these initiatives that try and promote a more conscious consumption. Another initiative to prevent waste from being dumped into the oceans. There is a program called Ocean Clean Sweep or 0 pellet. So pellets must remain with the participating companies in the supply chain. Those pallets are those plastic beads and that our practices that have been certified, allowing us to prevent that contamination in the oceans. Besides, we sponsor the Blue Keepers project coordinated by the Brazil Global Compact to fight the pollution of plastics in rivers and oceans in Brazil, Braskem is one of the sponsors of the project. And the #1 objective is to use our partners and face the challenge, which is the disposal of plastics in the oceans. We are also members of the Alliance to end plastic waste, almost 100 companies that in 5 years, we invest $1.5 billion in initiatives to depollute oceans. This is a global initiative. Braskem has a contribution with the fund. Our contribution is $7.5 million. And we also have our own initiatives, and this is something we achieved last year, investing $15 million in specific initiatives in order to prevent waste from being dumped into the oceans. And to encompass all that. Last week, Braskem launched a new ecosystem called Wenew. On this platform, we have circular products, technology, education and circular design initiatives in order to coordinate this ecosystem and increase the impact of our initiatives because we want to achieve our targets. I now turn it over to Walmir, who will speak about Green PE in our objectives. Thank you.

Good morning, everyone, or good afternoon those on the same time zone as I am. I'm speaking from the Netherlands that are people following us on YouTube, and there are some people in Asia, and good evening to you in Asia. I'm VP for Europe and Asia, and I'm also in-charge of green polyethylene. It is made up of a very diverse portfolio of products that are present in every continent. I'd like to draw your attention that both for Europe and Asia, where we have an important part of our sales. Biopolymers are also part of our circular economy. It reuses carbon in the atmosphere as feedstock to produce plastic. So thus reusing that CO2 in the atmosphere, it's turned into sugar in the specific case in Brazil, we do it using sugarcane, that's where we obtain our raw material from. So CO2 is synthetized it becomes sugar, and that sugar is fermented to produce ethanol. That ethanol undergoes a conversion process to create polyethylene, which is an ethene. From the molecule, we polymerized that molecule to obtain polyethylene that is used in a wide array of products from food packaging, fleeting packaging products, caps, disposable diapers among other applications, just to mention a few. On this slide, I'll come at this later on. Our objective is to get to 1 million tons by 2030. And I'll describe how we will get there. One might ask, how relevant is Braskem in that market? We are pioneers at the large-scale production of biopolymers and we are world leaders in the production of biopolymers with an installed capacity of 200,000 tons a year in the [indiscernible] complex. In our portfolio using renewable raw materials, we have different grades of polyethylene's and also EVA use, for instance, in footwear applications. Serving many customers and applications, as I said, in every continent. The platform of biopolymers led us to a leading position in the world market. We have a consolidated brand called I’m green and that gave Braskem a lot of visibility and access to different markets across the globe. I would say that the value of this platform goes beyond products because a concern we had from the very beginning was to develop a sustainable ecosystem for that renewable raw material. What does that entail? Well, best practices in terms of responsible supply support to biodiversity, better practices in the management of the different areas. Respect for human rights. We're not just talking about converting an ethanol molecule into a polymer but we want to know where that ethanol came from, how it was produced and how sustainable the ecosystem is and the impact of that ethanol production within the product supply chain. On this slide, for illustration sake, the list is much bigger than that. But there are international brands, were green polyethylene or I'm green is shown as a value-added product. Later on, I'll give you the characteristics with a negative carbon footprint besides being produced completely based on new or renewable carbon. And that's something else we produce, and we can [ date carbon, ] which is the same technology used in archaeology to determine the age of fossils. We can use the same technology to determine the age of the carbon. We can prove that in our green polyethylene, that's recent carbon and not fossil carbon used from fossil fuels. So why is our green PE unique, I draw your attention. The removal of carbon green polyethylene allows us to remove carbon from the atmosphere. For every ton of green polyethylene produced, we remove the equivalent of 3 tons of carbon from the atmosphere. Just for comparison's sake, with traditional polyethylene or fossil polyethylene; for every ton of fossil polyethylene produced, roughly 2 tons of carbon is released to the atmosphere. Our product is able to capture carbon from the atmosphere instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. The type of raw material which is renewable, as I said previously, ethanol, in Brazil, within that ecosystem. Brazil has a very important position, the second largest ethanol producer in the world. And sugarcane production in Brazil has a very high yield compared to other places, so the whole ethanol production system, along with energy cogeneration and the yields makes that material very sustainable. Today, there are alternatives for biopolymers in the market, but the advantage green polyethylene has is that it can be used by our customers and users with the current equipment, several biopolymers require new equipment, new CapEx or to use the existing machines that you may have productivity loss or the loss of chemical or biomechanical properties. In the case of green polyethylene, instead of using fossil carbon, we are capturing carbon from the atmosphere, the performance will be the same. That's a major advantage as compared to existing biopolymers in the market that will require investments or adjustments. Just like 100% recycled polyethylene, it can be recycled mechanically or chemically, and it has no difference as compared to traditional polyethylene applicability. The final properties of the product are the same as compared to conventional polyethylene. And finally, I would mention the technological scale. We've used that operation for 11 years. There are some initiatives to produce biopolymers at a smaller scale, not here. It is the same scale as a petrochemical plant, a commercial scale to serve the world market. Braskem has improving the operating and financial performance of this renewable business. In the first graph, we see the evolution of green PE and ETBE that is also made from ethanol, and we report the combined net revenue. We can see that on the revenue side, there is a significant growth from 2020 to 2021, the percentage you see on the first graph on the left, we have been operating these green plants since 2020 and 2021, you might ask, but the sale of green polyethylene hasn't followed suit. Well, that uncoupling is due to the fact that we had to build our inventory. So sales do not reflect the same proportion of our production. This is the path towards the growth of biopolymers by 2030. There are 3 routes we are using to get to the capacity of 1 million tons. The first and most obvious is the unbottling of our existing plants. That process is underway. We are eliminating the bottlenecks. We will get to 260,000 tons. Another path, our partnerships to expand our global reach, being closer to our customers. And finally, we want to develop and grow our asset base. Going into some details. That expansion is already underway. And we're close to transitioning to 260,000 tons. On the partnership side, we have an MOU to conduct the feasibility studies for green ethylene plant in Thailand, similar to the one we have in Brazil, a green ethylene plant, connected to polymerized products, SCG is one of the largest petrochemical players in Southeast Asia, they're headquartered in Thailand. And they are well respected in the region with good quality products. So an ethylene plant, rather not ethane. And that plant is likely to be operational in the first half of next year. Another important point was a partnership we developed with Lummus technology. They are one of the largest licensing companies for the chemical and the petrochemical industries. So we joined forces with them to license the green ethylene technology and increase the reach in order to achieve our growth ambitions in different regions of the world. This is a partnership that gives a lot of visibility to what we are doing as we want to work with renewable raw materials. And that gives us the possibility of new businesses, new partnerships or just to license our technology. We will see an accelerated growth in the next few years. And that objective will be achieved through strategic and financial partnerships that may be developed in that journey towards 1 million tons of green polyethylene. I now give the floor back to Pedro. And then later, we will have a Q&A session. So Pedro, over to you. Thank you.

Thank you, Walmir. We now move on to a Q&A session. I'd like to invite Antonio and Edison on to this stage as well as [ Jorge ], our Sustainable Development Director. Someone very important in this 20-year record, [ Mariana ] and Fabiana lead for circular economy in South America. And on the video, we have Roberto, Gustavo and Walmir. And we're going to take questions from the audience here. Just raise your hand.

Good morning. I'm Leonardo Marcondes from Bank of America, 2 questions. First, can you give us more details of your CapEx plan? How much do you intend to spend to reach those 2 targets, [ having ] recycled products and green PE. The second question about expansion or capacity expansion. You mentioned an operation in Mexico. But moving forward, we must think about capacity expansion on the ESG front.

Thank you, Leon. I'll speak about CapEx. And then you can all chime in. It's important to speak about recycled products, which requires a different type of CapEx when we compare to the development of a plant to work with fossil products. We made a recent acquisitions, 60% of the capacity that cost BRL 120 million. Obviously, every case is different, but the CapEx is smaller when compared to a commercial scale. Another reference I could mention about Green PE is the expansion itself. We are expanding our current capacity by 30%, 60,000 tons, so it cost $1,500 per ton. If we get 1 million tons, you can do the math. Then we will have partnerships in other regions, so we do not have a CapEx off the shelf. Every case is different. In terms of capacity expansion, I understand your question is about fossil products. Excellent question, by the way. We are talking about our growth strategy on the sustainability front, but we have other growth fronts for diversification, productivity. What will happen is that we will grow selectively our fossil pillar. We will assess the investment payback. But the fossil product is the cash generation for the company. I'd like to go back to Gustavo's presentation where he talked about decarbonization. There will be decarbonization initiatives for fossil products. You mentioned Braskem [indiscernible] in Mexico. We also have plants in Brazil, depending on the availability of raw material. We have products -- projects underway, rather. Thank you.

Hello, everyone. So first, thank you for the presentation. It's very, very rich. I'm from [ BBA, Elisa, ] my question is about your green PE analysis. It would be removing 3 tons vis-a-vis an emission of 2 tons. I would imagine you're considering the whole cycle. And I would imagine you have partnerships with plants -- power plants. How does that accounting unfold vis-a-vis that partnership? And how do you plan to roll that out to include other products of the company. Always thinking about the carbon footprint.

Well, thank you for the question. The carbon footprint for the green PE comes from the use of better practices of accounting, everything that happens with the product since it's -- since the sugarcane is planted, since the very early stages, how the soil is managed, how ethanol is produced, that transformation from ethanol into ethene and then polyethylene and then when we account for all of that, the net number is the removal level. So we'll remove CO2 from the atmosphere to the tune of 3x, give or take, per ton of products. For other products, that number will vary. Not all polymers have the same removal value. The thing is polyethylene is a stable polymer. So that carbon that at this phase is incorporated from sugarcane on is [ capped ] at the polymer level, so we can state for sure that 3 tons of CO2 can be removed per ton of product.

Congratulations for all your efforts. All companies should be making those efforts in terms of recycling, of using bioenergy, of using raw material from sugarcane to produce. But what is the cost in today's numbers, I would imagine that technology they requires high investments. How would you compare a ton of plastic produced by recycling or [ by ethanol ] to fossil-based production? Can you transfer that cost on -- I would imagine it's more expensive. Can you transfer that on to your clients or pass them on to your clients?

So Walmir can jump in, I'll start. We have to compare -- they are different processes, so recycling, mechanical and chemical recycling processes are different. We're talking about different scales. We're talking about processes that are different. The mechanically recycled products. With the properties we want to achieve to have added value uses, of course, they'll have higher costs, higher than a "virgin product" because of the scale that the industry has today, the level of inefficiencies that the industry has today. But with time, that should be mitigated. We have seen demand growing because of brand owners' commitments. So if we look at companies that have shelf products in supermarkets, they do have commitments, which are monitored through [indiscernible] reports and others report on the use of recycled content, residue generation and so on and so forth. And another important fact is that the cost to treat that waste is also there. So we're trying to transform that cost of treating waste into a cost of collecting that waste and bringing it back to the economy, which is much more efficient than simply discarding it or treating what we call the liability, right? Would you like to complement Fabiana or perhaps Walmir, would like to jump in?

Yes, I can. To your point, as for the bio front, what I would say is the following: and by the way, these questions always ask, how can we compare Green PE with fossil PE. There is no comparison in my view. If you're going for green PE, you're going for a biopolymer alternative either because you want to decarbonize the chain or because products made by natural sources is better. So the relevant comparison here that we do with the green PE is the most competitive biopolymer in the market, which ensures the lowest level of investment, the lowest cost. As it has the same properties of conventional PE, it can be used in the same equipment, the same machinery, do not need to invest in new equipment. You do not need to adjust or fine-tune or lose productivity in the equipment because of that. The properties are the same, for example, for packaging, would be an example in point. So in fact, the relevant comparison that you can make is the following: what are the other biopolymers, polymers and what is the advantage offered by Green PE vis-a-vis the other polymers and not vis-a-vis fossil PE because we're working at a different level, a different market, even though it is the same chemical products, they come from completely different concepts. And of course, they add different levels of value. [indiscernible] to your point, in the case of biopolymers, the green PE, we have a different pricing rationale, which is quite linked to ethanol prices, the commodity risks, the difference in pricing between polymer and ethanol is passed on to our clients. So the final price is pegged to the cost of ethanol, which generates a more stable margin for the company at the end of the day.

Hello. My name is [ Manuela ] from Itaú BBA. And my question is about biopolymers. When you diversify within biopolymers, in addition to ethanol, are you considering other alternatives? And where would Brazil stand in terms of competition and providing those alternatives, and as [ Jorge ] mentioned, when you talk about the demand being high because of international commitments and so on, how do you see the acceleration of expansions in Brazil and in Thailand.

I'll tackle the first one and then Walmir and Pedro can tackle the second question. As for biomass for chemicals, biomass, broadly speaking, ethanol from sugarcane and also ethanol coming from corn or from wheat, it will depend on the region. Here in Brazil, sugarcane, of course, in the U.S., much more from corn, and in Europe from beets or from wheat. Those are biomasses that can generate chemical products Today, we're in a phase in which ethanol seems to be a great choice as we electrify vehicles, the ethanol added to fuel will also be available at a relevant level when compared to the chemical, which is to the tune of a few percentage points only to generate chemical products. So all that platform around biomass for chemicals is part of the research and development program within Braskem. We are initially exploring new products from ethanol, but also from sugars, different types of sugar before it becomes ethanol. As an example, the monoethylene glycol, which we work with a Danish partner, produced from sugar directly to monoethylene glycol, which is a raw material for PET models. That's also been part of our R&D. We have a well advanced works in a demo plant in Denmark. Walmir, would you like to talk about the Thailand project or should I do that?

I was just going to add a point. When we have alternatives for [ same ] stuff, ethanol will not be the only alternative. It won't be the silver bullet one, the #1 renewable source to be used in the world. But ethanol is one of the most mature alternatives. The type of production we have based on ethanol production is a mature technology. So that's probably -- that's a technology which already has the scale to reach larger portions of the market, which are closer to dematerialize now. There are several alternatives to [indiscernible] they will expand, they will gain relevance in the future. But I'd say that in the short run, ethanol is a very -- or the most interesting alternative. As for Thailand, Pedro, I think you have the floor to do that.

Well, the Thailand project goes on. We are now in a phase of detailing the engineering design. We have not made a final decision in terms of investments because as we move the engineering front forward, we'll see -- identify the necessary components that need to be installed. So we already have energy or do we need to buy a plant. In this case, we have. Just as an example, we check all the existing systems and then try to describe by design and then quote the size of the investments that will be needed. And because of that, we have not reached a final number for the CapEx, which will be needed. And nor do we have a final decision in terms of investments from the formal partnership, Braskem, SCG. It's been advancing in September; we defined the reference terms of the partnership. In other words, the association terms of the JV has not been signed, but the main provisions have been agreed upon. It's more a bit of bureaucracy going forward now to transform all of that into a contract, into an agreement. We also need a few approvals in terms of competition law, which are also being explored now, have requested those approvals, and we do not foresee any issue on that front. So the main landmark now will be this -- moving forward in the engineering design and we expect to have a final approval of the investment by the first of the first half -- the end of the first half of next year. And part of your question, [ Manuela, ] was also about the size of the plant. It is a similar plant to the one we have in Triunfo, 200,000 tons give or take, but we are designing the project with that size in mind.

Pedro if I may. Sure. Go ahead. Just to be sure, maybe not everyone here is aware of that, the Thailand project as with most projects that we have with Green PE. The new site is basically the ethene site, a green ethene. We are going to be using existing PE plant which is the case in Thailand. It will be the conceptual, if you will, basis for upcoming projects so that we are all on the same page in regard to that.

Thank you, Roberto. That, of course, leads us to another point in terms of sustainability that PE plant will no longer produce fossil PE and will start producing green PE. The carbon benefit comes when you remove 2 tons of emissions from conventional PE to a capture of 3x. So we're talking about a 5x benefit at the end of the day for each ton of PE produced.

Good morning. [ Marcelo ] from Credit Suisse. A question about the Green PE. Is there a willingness on the part of the client to pay a premium for that given that chemically, they did the same thing, but the carbon footprint is much smaller. So if you could tell us more about premium vis-a-vis pricing for those 2 products. And it also links to another product. Where is demand growth coming from looking forward? Those clients, which are willing to reduce footprint, are they the ones we're talking about? Or do you expect to have clients coming because of regulation enforcement. Well, from Europe, when they have new consumption regulation laws.

Walmir?

Yes. In terms of pricing, I would repeat what I said before. What we've been doing for some time now, even though those products are the same, chemically speaking, right. Conventional and green, those buying that product are trying to find an alternative in biopolymer. So when they try to find an alternative, they're looking at a PHA, PHB and other biopolymer. So that's my reference in terms of pricing. I compare Green PE with biopolymers, not with fossil polymers. So that's the main -- I would say the main driving factor behind our pricing structure. As for growth, I'd say, well, first of all, we have a global position when it comes to that product. Today, we sell over 80% of our demand to Asia and Europe. So a large number of clients, users and products [indiscernible] demand for a product from a renewable source. And either a client wants a renewable source or a client wants a product which has a lower or a smaller carbon footprint relative to the commitments they have taken on. And of course, as you mentioned also, regulations have increased around the world and parts of the world actually where a need has been identified to have different packaging with different carbon footprints. Also around recycling here in Europe, we are discussing the inclusion of recycled products as part of packaging materials. So the regulations are also a driver for pricing. But today, I would say that irrespective of regulations, we have been growing because we have more access globally, several different industries and segments where we have managed to place that product in a very interesting position and with good returns, of course, given our interest in eliminating the bottleneck of the plant and invest more. Without a doubt, this product has been showing a good level of attraction for investors. I'd like to go back to the regulation issue in some places such as Europe, it is already -- has already become a law, right? They will have to be net 0 by 2050. Some places, regulation is already being enforced and this, of course, will be increasingly more frequent because of the Paris accord, which will limit temperature growth by 2 degrees, reaching at most 1.5. So regulations will be, for sure, an important driver as we seek for other alternatives across any sector that is trying to reach net 0. And renewable polymers are a way to reach just that.

Good morning. [ Alex from Santander. ] You mentioned 3 sources of renewable inputs: biomass, mechanical recycled products and chemical recycled products. If we think about the journey until 2050, we're talking about a long-cycle industry, long investment cycles. What -- which would you say would be the winning solution out of those 3 in the long run? Or is there another alternative, which is now being designed outside of those 3 that could emerge, once again, thinking in the long run.

Those solutions, they are complementary. So today, if we look at the production of fossil products, the amount of raw material that you would need to transform that amount into renewable products, there is no available biomass in the world to do that. There is no single solution. And it's not possible either to recycle 100% of plastic waste mechanically and the chemical recycling yields are not 100% either. So there is no number one, in the case, all right. They complement each other, those alternatives. Part of the process will be recyclable, renewable. We will have fossil raw material, of course. At what level, I don't know, the breakdown now between fossil and renewable but gradually renewable will increase its share and both renewable plastics and fossil plastics will need to be recycled. Where we will strike a balance, I don't know, but it will be a combination of those 3 alternatives in my view.

If we have only renewables, you won't be addressing the circular quality of the process. One is focused on climate change. The other is focused on managing plastic residues. So they need by nature to complement each other.

And a third point to add, there are plastic uses where it is there for infrastructure, for example, when you see the construction of a road, you have [ electroducts pipelines, ] that plastic will be there for centuries, probably. So that plastic will not be recycled. But for a new road being built, it will need new products and then you will need to go for renewable solutions or others that may come up.

Well, I think our time is up. I think we're going to wrap up this Q&A session. I'd like to thank you all for being here and all of those who are remotely connected to our ESG Day. Braskem has been a relevant player in terms of addressing ESG topics. I'd like to turn the microphone over to Roberto for his final remarks as we wrap up the event.

Once again, I'd like to thank you all for being here. We at Braskem, we understand that those initiatives towards this new world, they are key fundamental. And in my opinion, the world petrochemical industry is going through a turning point. Never before in our history, the industry has been challenged to this level, to find other technological solutions to transform what it delivers to its clients, to society at large. And the petrochemical industry is also being settled with an additional responsibility, right, of not only looking at what is in its surroundings in the case of plastics, but going way beyond taking on the responsibility for correctly discarding those products. So you saw several initiatives, an overview of what we've been doing, an overview of our commitments for the next 10, 20, 30 years. So all of that spells radical change, not only in terms of priorities, technological development, but also in terms of investments. Of course, we need to preserve the company. Company needs to meet its short, long and midterm requirements and our current industrial facilities need to be increasingly more sustainable, more efficient and to emit less CO2. But at the same time, we need to explore this other development route after new products, so technology for us today and technological development, as Queiroz mentioned and so did Gustavo. We do not have all the answers. So we need to work together with academia, the competition, clients and start-up companies in special which is something we've been trying to do. This will be key so that this dream that we have of changing our portfolio, of changing the products we deliver to society that this dream actually materializes. And I do believe we are on the right track, and we are already starting to reap the benefits. But even more benefits will be accomplished in the future, and they will be quite significant for the company. Once again, thank you very much for those of who here in person or remotely, and we'll see you all soon as we announce our quarterly results. Have a nice day, everyone. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]