Brazil's publicly traded petrochemical company Braskem is a producer of thermoplastic resins, operating 29 industrial plants in Brazil and the United States and producing 15Mt/y of resins and other petrochemical products. Braskem is a fully integrated petrochemical company, handling all stages of polymer production. Its basic petrochemical units produce the raw materials -- such as ethane, propylene and chlorine -- used to manufacture thermoplastic resins. Such an integrated production chain ensures a competitive advantage through increased scale of production and operational efficiency.