The consolidation of Brazil's petrochemicals industry depends on the increased availability of feedstock, especially naphtha, according to Alédio Silva, commercial director for petrochemical and refining at engineering and consulting firm Technip Engenharia.
According to Silva, domestic demand for naphtha will increase by as much as 90% by 2010, from 10Mt/y last year of which 30% was imported, to between 16Mt/y and 19Mt/y.
"Brazilian oil is too heavy, so we can't produce naphtha in sufficient quantities and quality," the executive said. "Therefore we need to increase the refining and conversion capacity, but that creates additional costs and environmental impact, as this process generates more CO2."
Silva pointed out that conversion is the biggest technological challenge in Brazil, adding that the country is not a big producer of natural gas therefore it cannot rely on it for naphtha production.
According to Silva, the development of the petrochemicals industry also depends on the integration of the production phases. "The petrochemicals sector can benefit from refining expertise and technology." Integration allows for logistics optimization, production planning and added value.
"The future of the petrochemicals industry requires good access to competitive raw materials," Silva stressed, as the consolidation process results in world scale plants. "The solution is not cheap raw materials, but raw materials with higher energetic efficiency."
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