LatAmOil: Braskem Idesa JV reports US ethane imports up in September

Braskem Idesa (BI), the Brazilian-Mexican joint venture that owns the Nanchital petrochemical complex in Veracruz State, saw ethane import volumes climb to an all-time high in September of this year.

According to an interim report from Braskem, the Brazilian partner in the joint venture, BI imported 22,400 barrels per day (bpd) of ethane from the US in the month of September. Delivery volumes have climbed as a result of the expansion of the Fast Track project, which is designed to make more imported ethane available to BI’s polyethylene plant in Coatazacoalcos. The expansion brought the terminal’s capacity up to 25,000 bpd, it added.

The joint venture widened the scope of the Fast Track project in light of a decline in the volume of ethane delivered by Mexico’s national oil company (NOC) Pemex, Braskem stated. This move appears to have borne fruit, as BI is now on track to see the volume of ethane imported from the US average 18,600 bpd in the third quarter of 2021, up by about 113% on the second-quarter figure of 8,800 bpd.