Q2 2026 Braskem SA Earnings Call
Speaker #1: District Planning and Global Market Intelligence Director. Mrs. Avolio, you may begin your presentation.
Speaker #2: Bom dia, senhoras.
Speaker #1: mercado internacional. Principal The company's main seed matéria-prima utilizada pela stock. companhia. Nesse Given the above context, cenário. De produção do produtor marginal na production costs among marginal producers Ásia foi maior, in Asia were higher, which impactando positivamente os preços causes an impact to the prices of de resinas e químicos no resins and chemicals on mercado internacional, que foram the international market.
Speaker #1: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for participating in the Braskem Earnings Release conference call for the second quarter of 2026. Today, we will present the main operational and financial highlights for the period, discuss the market environment that affected our business, detail the performance of each segment, and share our market outlook for the coming quarters.
Speaker #1: As well as the company's priorities for the second half of 2026. Following the agenda on slide number 3, we will begin by presenting the context observed in the second quarter of 2026, starting with slide number 4.
Speaker #1: polipropileno, que foram Which were significantly higher than materialmente superiores frente à média the average from de 2016 a 2016 to 2025. No 2025. In the polietileno EUA, por exemplo, US, PE market, for o spread foi superior em quase example, the spread was almost 40% 40%, impulsionado higher, driven mainly by the principalmente pela ampliação temporary widening of temporária da arbitragem entre arbitrage between the US and os EUA e a Asia.
Speaker #1: In the second quarter of 2026, the global macroeconomic environment remained volatile due to the conflict in the Middle East and the supply of raw materials.
Speaker #1: The full supply of feed globalmente? Principalmente para a stock, particularly to Ásia, e elevou os preços de Asia, and raised international market petróleo e de nafta no prices of oil and metals.
Speaker #1: In relation to sales, the volume of resins in the Brazilian market was 2% lower compared to the previous quarter. This result is mainly attributable to a 6% decrease in polyethylene sales volume and a 1% decrease in PVC sales volume, due to higher volumes of imported products during the period.
Speaker #1: O increases given that the price of ethane preço do etano em mercado in the US market did internacional não acompanhou o not follow the price aumento do preço de outras increases of other petrochemical feed matérias-primas petroquímicas.
Speaker #1: Prices maiores quando comparados com o primeiro trimestre de 2026. Were higher when compared to the first quarter of 2026. Como podem observar, esse movimento fica evidente nos principais spreads de polietileno e polipropileno. As you can see, the strength is evident in the main polyethylene and polypropylene spreads.
Speaker #1: This effect was partially offset by the 3% increase in polypropylene sales, in line with the growth in demand in the Brazilian market. Sales volume of chemicals, however, was down 4%, mainly due to the lower availability of gasoline and benzene for sale.
Speaker #1: And lower demand for ethylene and cumene in the Brazilian market. Regarding the quarter's results, the segment recurring EBITDA was $869 million, an increase of 261% compared to the previous quarter.
Speaker #1: This Ásia. Esse movimento abriu uma janela de move opened up an export exportação para o polietileno opportunity for the US PE market, americano, com net backs mais with more attractive atrativos e margem tech and higher superiores, comportamento margins.
Speaker #1: Major similar to that semelhante ao observado no polietileno EUA etano, que observed in the US PE things markets, which também registrou altas also saw significant expressivas considerando.
Speaker #1: This result was mainly driven by the segment's higher contribution margin, due to approximately a 50% increase in the spreads for resins and major chemicals in the international market—50%, as mentioned previously.
Speaker #1: stocks. This was Vale destacar que essa melhora noted that this improvement in nos spreads internacionais decorre international spreads resulted mainly principalmente de choque de oferta from a grown-up supply pontual, e não de uma mudança shock.
Speaker #1: In addition to the positive impact of $115 million from PIS/COFINS credits on the purchase of feedstocks under the Hake Insumos program, the recovery of nearly $27 million in credits related to vessel demurrage and reversal of accounting provisions also had a positive impact on the segment's results.
Speaker #1: And note the structural dynamics from growth in the dynamics of the global petrochemical cycle. Moving on to the next slide.
Speaker #1: And not estrutural na dinâmica do from growth in the dynamics ciclo petroquímico global. of the global petrochemical cycle. Moving on to the next slide. Passando para o próximo slide.
Speaker #1: O desempenho de cada segmento. Production levels in response to the high volatility of feedstock prices in international markets, resulting from the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaker #1: These effects were partially offset by the 4% appreciation of the average Brazilian real against the average dollar for the period and by the lower sales volume of resin and major.
Speaker #1: Chemicals in the Brazilian market. Next slide, please. In the second quarter of 2026, the green ethylene utilization rate was higher by 2 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2026, mainly due to the adjustment of production levels in response to higher demand.
Speaker #1: During the period, sales of green polyethylene increased by 49%, mainly due to greater commercial opportunities in Europe and the normalization of demand following the seasonal effect of the Chinese New Year in the previous quarter.
Speaker #1: Highlights for the quarter include the renewal of our commercial partnership with New Balance to use Amgreen bio-based EVA in the soles of running shoes, strengthening our existing commercial partnerships.
Speaker #1: Next slide. The United States and Europe segment registered a utilization rate of 76% in the quarter. The reduction of 3 percentage points in relation to the previous quarter is explained by the scheduled maintenance shutdowns in plants in the U.S.
Speaker #1: and in Germany, lasting 35 and 30 days, respectively. It's worth noting that the higher sales volumes in the United States were offset by the lower sales volume in Europe, due to inventory management and the processing chain in the region, which meant that the sales volume in the quarter was in line when compared to the first quarter of 2026.
Speaker #1: In the quarter, the recurring EBITDA of the United States and Europe segment was $147 million. The increase in relation to the previous quarter is mainly explained by the positive impact of higher polypropylene spreads in the international market, arising from the conflict in the Middle East. Moving on to the next slide.
Speaker #1: In Mexico, the capacity utilization rate for polyethylene plants was 43%, down 12 percentage points from the previous quarter. This was mainly due to the liquidity preservation measures adopted by Braskem Idesa. During the quarter, average ethane imports through the terminal amounted to 14.7 thousand barrels per day, a decrease of approximately 3,000 barrels per day compared to the first quarter of 2026.
Speaker #1: Additionally, the supply of ethane by Pemex in the second quarter was 11.8 thousand barrels per day, a reduction of about 3,000 barrels per day compared with the first quarter of 2026.
Speaker #1: Polyethylene sales were lower by 11%, impacted by the lower availability of product for sale due to the lower utilization rate. In this context, the recurring EBITDA of the Mexico segment was $57 million in the second quarter of 2026.
Speaker #1: The improvement in relation to the previous quarter is mainly explained by the increase in the polyethylene spread in the United States, by 73%, impacted by the uncertainties related to the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaker #1: Next slide, please. In this next chapter, I will present the company's consolidated financial results. Consolidated recurring EBITDA in the second quarter of 2026 was $1.043 billion, with an EBITDA margin of 24%, representing an increase compared to the previous quarter.
Speaker #1: This increase compared to the previous quarter is mainly due to the increase of 82% and 98% in the average international spreads of resins and main chemicals in the Brazil and South America segment.
Speaker #1: A 28% increase in the average polypropylene spread in the United States and Europe market segments, and a 73% increase in the international polyethylene spread in the Mexico market segment.
Speaker #1: Additionally, results were positively impacted by $115 million, or 578 million reais, a result of PIS/COFINS credits for the purchase of feedstocks under the Hake inputs program in Brazil. Such effects were partially offset by the average appreciation of the Brazilian real against the dollar of 4% during the period.
Speaker #1: Also, sales of resins and main chemicals decreased in the Brazilian market by 2% and 4%, respectively. Additionally, there was an 11% decrease in PE sales in Mexico.
Speaker #1: Next slide, please. The company presented an operating cash generation of $385 million, which mainly reflected an increase in chemical and petrochemical spreads in the international market, driven by the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaker #1: Negative variation in working capital was mainly due to the high volatility of feedstock prices in international markets, and an increase in inventory volumes due to prioritization of sales with higher added value.
Speaker #1: Recurring cash generation totaled approximately $210 million. Finally, when disbursements for Alagoas and payments related to lease purchase agreements are considered, the company presented a cash consumption of approximately $15 million in the period.
Speaker #1: Next slide, please. As of the end of June 2026, work fronts in Maceió continued to move forward as planned. The relocation and compensation work front ended the quarter with a 99.9% completion rate through the residents' relocation program.
Speaker #1: The same percentage of proposals were submitted under the financial compensation and relocation support program, and approximately 99.7% of the proposals were accepted and also paid out.
Speaker #1: In parallel, we continue to move forward with the closing and monitoring of South Cavities. Every effort has been made along this work front to ensure, if necessary, that these 35 cavities require zero maintenance over the long term.
Speaker #1: Six cavities were filled naturally during the second quarter of 2026. A further eight cavities were completed, and the technical fill limit was reached in six cavities. Finally, three cavities are in the filling process, and one cavity is in the planning phase.
Speaker #1: As a result, the total financial provision implemented for the event in Alagoas as of the end of June 2026 was approximately R$18.2 billion, of which approximately R$14.6 billion was previously disbursed, and nearly R$1.2 billion was reclassified under other payables.
Speaker #1: As a result, the total provision balance as of the end of the second quarter of 2026 was R$3.2 billion. Next slide, please.
Speaker #1: The next few slides will present the chemical and petrochemical scenario perspectives. Slide 15 presents the expected scenario for the second half of 2026 and 2027.
Speaker #1: The base scenarios prepared by consulting firms for these periods point to moderate spreads and potential occasional upsides. The gradual normalization of trade flows will tend to reduce the premium observed in the second quarter of 2026.
Speaker #1: However, geopolitical, logistical, and operational risks may continue to sustain volatility and value capture opportunities. This trend can be observed in the main spreads. With regards to Brazilian TNAFTA, external consulting firms expect a 59% decrease between the second and third quarters of 2026.
Speaker #1: Given that a reduction in arbitrage between the United States and Asia is expected starting in the third quarter, similar results are expected for Brazilian PTA and NAFTA in Mexican PE ethane, which also saw a decrease.
Speaker #1: Consultants are predicting a base scenario marked by the normalization of spreads, driven by the redirection of flows, moderate demand, and excess global supply. However, potential upsides remain possible if disruptions persist or intensify.
Speaker #1: I would therefore like to reiterate that we remain attentive to these potential trajectories, and we are ready to capture opportunities whenever the environment allows.
Speaker #1: Slide 16 presents an outlook for the global petrochemical industry from specialized external consultants. Despite improvements observed during the second quarter of 2026, the petrochemical cycle is expected to remain structurally challenging over the coming periods.
Speaker #1: The increase in spreads in the second quarter of 2026 resulted from a supply shock. Medium-term fundamentals, meanwhile, remain under pressure due to overcapacity and moderate demand.
Speaker #1: Global operating rates remain under pressure in both the PE and PP sectors, reflecting global overcapacity, particularly in Asia, and continued moderate demand.
Speaker #1: Structural challenges—such as excess supply, the need for rationalization of capacity, and greater operational discipline—existed before the conflict and will tend to persist even after trade flows are normalized.
Speaker #1: It is therefore important to emphasize that the scenario for the second quarter of 2026 should be interpreted as a tactical capture of value, and not as a structural change in the cycle.
Speaker #1: Let's move on to the next slide. I will end off by commending the company's priorities for the second half of 2026. BRASKEM reviewed its targets and priorities for the second half of 2026.
Speaker #1: In response to recent changes in the company's environment and business activities, these changes are due to external and internal factors within the global scenario in the petrochemical industry and Braskem's new shareholding structure.
Speaker #1: I would like to highlight our new priorities for the second half of the year, given the above context in relation to our pillars of action.
Speaker #1: We will move forward along two complementary work fronts under the restructuring pillars. These actors will focus on optimizing Braskem capture structures, including Braskem Edesa, guaranteeing business continuity and activities.
Speaker #1: Additionally, given the ongoing challenges faced in global industry, the company remains committed to disciplined capital allocation, focused on preserving and optimizing financial liquidity. We are expanding our ambition to strengthen our business structure competitiveness under our operational and commercial pillars, through the implementation of an operational excellence program, synergies, and the strengthening of commercial value capture levers.
Speaker #1: Furthermore, we remain committed to reinforcing our institutional performance and promoting a more competitive business environment for the Brazilian chemical and petrochemical industries. Additionally, we will remain focused on completing the mapping of further value creation opportunities and beginning to capture these benefits through the transformation plan.
Speaker #1: Finally, we are moving forward with our commitment to fulfilling agreements related to the geological event in Alagoas, and with regards to safety, which remains a non-negotiable value at the company.
Speaker #1: We remain dedicated to guaranteeing reliable and safe operations, protecting people, and safeguarding the integrity of our processes across all regions where we operate. We've reached the end of our presentation of Braskem results for the second quarter of 2026.
Speaker #1: I would like to thank you all for your attention. We will now begin our Q&A session. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the Q&A session.
Speaker #1: Sorry. Please be advised that questions must be sent through the Q&A button. Our first—so the company may proceed, please.
Speaker #2: Bom dia. Obrigado a todas e todos que estão aqui com a gente. Antes de começarmos, quero me apresentar brevemente. Esta é a minha primeira divulgação de resultados como CEO da Braskem.
Speaker #2: Sou Élcio. Tenho mais de 35 anos de trajetória profissional, trabalhando em posições de liderança, tanto no setor público quanto no setor privado. Tenho experiência em transformação organizacional, infraestrutura, energia e gestão de negócios complexos.
Speaker #2: Ao longo da minha carreira, sempre busquei combinar disciplina operacional, execução consistente e visão de longo prazo para gerar resultados sustentáveis. Estou assumindo essa posição com profundo respeito pela história da Braskem, pela sua relevância para a indústria petroquímica global e, principalmente, pelas pessoas que construíram essa companhia. Nos próximos anos, vamos enfrentar um cenário muito desafiador, com um alto nível de volatilidade.
Speaker #2: This is a very important time for the industry, but I also see this with a very positive view because we have a highly qualified team, a lot of institutional knowledge, and we're very serious about what we do.
Speaker #2: We are focused on building and strengthening relationships based on trust, and to that end, we will continue to share with you not just our results, but also our opinions about our outlook and Braskem's conditions.
Speaker #2: And so, I would like to provide some context about Braskem's current status and outlook. Q2 was positive in terms of operations. We had favorable results, given the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaker #2: And based on our team's agility, and thanks to our institutional knowledge, we were able to capture many different markets with a positive reflection on our results.
Speaker #2: And so we closed the quarter with essentially neutral financials. We were able to capture energy as well, although, due to the increase in feedstocks and lines of credit, things became a little bit more difficult.
Speaker #2: Now, over the past few weeks, we've seen numbers return to levels close to what they were at before the war, which brings us back to a scenario where we can act with discipline in an environment we are accustomed to doing business in.
Speaker #2: And so, in conclusion, we must consider the structurally adverse environment that the petrochemical industry is in, and also our need for financial restructuring. More than looking at just one quarter's performance, we now have an important moment where we can look at Braskem's future.
Speaker #2: This begins a new phase for the company. We are entering this new stage with a clear objective: to build a company that is stronger, more competitive, financially solid, and prepared to generate value consistently in the long term for our shareholders and other stakeholders.
Speaker #2: Our priority is to move forward in developing sustainable capital. We want to establish solid foundations that allow Braskem to generate value consistently in the long term.
Speaker #2: In parallel, we continue to move forward in our transformation project, which is focused on generating and capturing cash and EBITDA through operational excellence, cost discipline, and capturing synergies throughout our organization.
Speaker #2: These agendas do not move separately; they move hand in hand. For us, Braskem's future necessarily involves two complementary pillars: a sustainable capital structure and the constant strengthening of our competitiveness.
Speaker #2: Going back to what I mentioned at the beginning, we have operational excellence, the ability to innovate, a global presence, and most importantly, people with a huge ability to execute.
Speaker #2: Our work now is to transform these strengths into greater efficiency, greater cash generation, and sustainable value generation. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, and this will demand discipline, speed, and consistency.
Speaker #2: Yet we are clear about our priorities, and we will continue to implement them. Thank you all for joining us once again. We will now begin the question and answer session.
Speaker #2: Thank you.
Speaker #3: Hello. Thank you, Élcio. This is Rosana. Well, the dynamics will be similar to other calls, where we will welcome the questions. Some questions are similar, so we will answer your questions in blocks, okay?
Speaker #3: So let's check the questions by some of the market analysts regarding the restructured financial restructuring of the company. Basically, the main question has to do with the status of this process.
Speaker #3: So, Mr. Brandon, our CFO, will discuss the status of this restructuring process, focused on the company's capital structure.
Speaker #2: Just a moment, please. Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us this quarter for our earnings call, and thanks for your questions. As we've just mentioned, the restructuring efforts are one of the primary priorities for us in the short term.
Speaker #2: And we've been discussing this with some major groups of creditors. One is composed mainly of representatives from banks, and the others are bondholders who hold shares of the company.
Speaker #2: As we always reiterate, our goal is a consensual restructuring, which involves moving forward with dialogue among all parties. I believe we are moving toward a development that will, once again, rebalance the company's capital structure in the long term.
Speaker #3: Thank you, Mr. Brandon. Now we have a question about CapEx in the first half of 2026. What's different from round eight to reach the guidance?
Speaker #3: Can we expect a full catch-up in the second half of the year? And could you detail what Capex is lagging, and what will be mainly allocated throughout the year?
Speaker #3: I will answer this, and then Brando can comment too. But historically, let me talk about the round rate. The company is around $500 million.
Speaker #3: There is an effort by the company to optimize, and this is an important effort given the dynamics of the petrochemical industry, which was broadly discussed during the presentation.
Speaker #3: And as far as 2026 goes, we have a global assets Capex, excepting Edesa, of $485 million, and up to this moment we have spent 35% of what we expect for the year.
Speaker #3: Regarding your question, Mr. Tasso, if we go back to the 2025 disbursement at the same moment, by the end of the first semester, it was equal to 35%.
Speaker #3: So, we are in line. When the company opens the year, we have a plan to follow the pre-approved plan in the budget, which is broadly discussed and presented to the Board. Naturally, there's a major disbursement during the second half of 2025, and we expect to reach what was shared as a Braskem investment expectation.
Speaker #3: And next question has to do with the regarding BRASKEM Edesa as we have discussed in the presentation, BRASKEM Edesa has reduced its operation to preserve liquidity.
Speaker #3: So the question has to do with that—whether the company expects, given the financials Brandon mentioned, if we expect to have the same initiative here in terms of utilization rate in Brazil.
Speaker #3: Brandon.
Speaker #2: Thank you, Rosana. And thanks for the question too. These things are all connected. Restructuring the capital structure and our operations—they're all connected. And so these measures protect the company, and they protect the capital structure too.
Speaker #2: And they allow the company to continue doing business, and so the company continues to seek opportunities as the market makes them available. There is no indication that there will be any change to demand for our products.
Speaker #2: And to that end, we don't foresee any change to our operation rates.
Speaker #3: Thank you very much. Moving on, let me take Safra's question. Good morning, Conrado. How have you seen the inventory levels across the supply chain evolving since the end of the quarter?
Speaker #3: Has there been any recovery in demand alongside the drawdown of inventory? Is there any movement towards restocking yet? I will start answering this question, and then you can complement it.
Speaker #3: Well, in this quarter, Conrado, we have seen growth in demand in the Brazilian market. And before talking about the Brazilian market, let me talk briefly about the global demand dynamics. We've had this conflict that started in February 28th.
Speaker #3: The initial expectation was that if there was a lack of products in the world, those producers who have access to feedstock inputs or dedicated feedstocks, like in the case of Braskem, we expected to be privileged.
Speaker #3: But what we saw is that, in spite of this supply shock that was very particular, there is a dependency on the Middle East and Asia for feedstocks, especially oil and natural gas.
Speaker #3: So we've realized that the world adjusted to the demand, so these spreads, too, they get to normality. We have to see that as we present it.
Speaker #3: And now, moving on to the dynamics in Brazil. As I mentioned, we saw demand growth in the quarter, also motivated by the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaker #3: We would imagine that we would lack product, but again, the world has adjusted. There is an expectation that this war will be ended; the company expects that, aligned with external consulting firms, by the way.
Speaker #3: And then we have seen, let me call it, a weakened demand in the world and also in Brazil. So we can compare this to demand expectations in Brazil.
Speaker #3: When we opened the year, by the beginning of the year and up until now in the Brazilian market, it's apart from PVC due to the sanitation law. But this is a particular thing.
Speaker #3: It's not a structural market change. We see that demand tends to be lower than what was initially expected. And as far as your question goes, we have seen a level of inventory that is balanced in the chain.
Speaker #3: And imports levels that are getting into the Brazilian market, especially in polyethylene, with a cost of production that is more competitive than the Brazilian cost.
Speaker #3: Ethylene, I mean, an ethane base competitive for ethylene and also the price of the molecule. So the company, in this sense, as we have reported, we've been trying to find a balance by looking for opportunities. Braskem can fully supply the Brazilian market.
Speaker #3: This is one of our top priorities when it comes to Brazilian production. We'll always try to meet the market and meet the demands of our Brazilian customers.
Speaker #3: Thank you. Now moving on, let me take a question regarding working capital. The question is: Given the commercial reduction of risk consumption by the companies, how can you manage working capital to deal with the decrease in utilization rates in petrochemical plants in Brazil and in Mexico?
Speaker #3: I will talk about Brazil. Specifically, in Brazil, utilization rate is already a function that captures the demand and also captures opportunities and even payment conditions.
Speaker #3: It has to do with industrial productive planning, which has an important input. This reduction you mentioned has been taking place for a year, a year and a half, due to the downgrade we had from credit rating agencies.
Speaker #3: But we've been managing this. From the operating standpoint, commercial standpoint, we visit clients, we see them, trying to activate our long-term relationships. You can see in our quarter information that there is an explanatory note mentioning a reduction in the average price of clients’ receivable.
Speaker #3: So that's how the company has managed the working capital here in Brazil. Just one thing I would like to add: regarding the volatility of the external scenario, it's not that the company could not have increased the operation—and we didn't.
Speaker #3: In fact, we have taken all the opportunities we could find, but we are pretty cautious because this volatile scenario requires us to be cautious, and we've been doing so.
Speaker #2: Rosana commentou sobre os efeitos das cartas de crédito no nosso capital de giro e no nosso caixa. Como ela falou, a gente, of course, Rosana has mentioned the effects on working capital and we've seen effects since September of last year.
Speaker #2: And we knew we were thinking of opening a capital restructuring plan, so we were particularly cautious about our results this quarter. The impacts were significantly better.
Speaker #2: And we expect that, moving forward, the impact will absolutely be neutral as we move forward with the precautionary measure. Thank you.
Speaker #3: Now, moving on, we have the consolidation of the new shared governance between IG4 and Petrobras under Elson Takeshi's leadership. The market wants to understand the long-term plan.
Speaker #3: So, it's meant Petrobras is a strategic partner. How can the Board balance the reduction in leverage with investments in operating synergies planned for the second half?
Speaker #3: Second quarter. Regarding the new controllers,
Speaker #2: It is very important for us to be very familiar with the nature of the industry where we do business. In this industry, many of our units have decades of history.
Speaker #2: Of course, they go through revamps and improvements, but these assets are extremely long-lived. This is an industry where it does not make any sense to think in the very short term.
Speaker #2: It just doesn't work that way. And the changes we've been seeing now are the results of that. For instance, China is now seeing the fruits of things that they started planning 35 years ago.
Speaker #2: In other words, from our perspective—from the perspective of a collegiate board—it doesn't make sense for us to have any other kind of viewpoint, other than a long-term one.
Speaker #2: Because this is the view that allows us to have solid, robust decisions. Of course, we do also think in the short term, but those are opening measures.
Speaker #2: There are two pillars. One is transformation, because this is not a transformation that will occur on a quarterly or yearly basis. Instead, this is a structural transformation that will allow us to have the efficiency, sustainability, and solid results that we need. This is the new reality where all of us will continue to live for a long time yet.
Speaker #2: So it makes no sense to have a short-term view. We always need to balance a short-term view with a long-term view. That is what is going to give us robust, sustainable, and competitive results for Braskem, so that we can continue to generate value for our stakeholders.
Speaker #2: And just to add to what he said, I think the complementary nature of the profiles of the new partners who are now part of the collegiate board is particularly valuable for value generation.
Speaker #2: IG4 is not focused on the short term. It's a manager focused on long-term value creation, which is built by implementing the right strategies, which in turn allow the company's strengths to be focused on.
Speaker #2: And we see this in the day-to-day as we do business with Petrobras, which has been particularly positive and high synergy in these two different abilities.
Speaker #3: Thank you. Now moving on, there is a question. I mean, there are some questions inside related to the returning to of the spreads to the normality in the sector in the segment.
Speaker #3: How do you see this returning to normal? And what I mean, in this context, is that there is another question regarding sales volumes for the next quarter.
Speaker #3: How is the entering of exports in Brazil—how has this been behaving? Yes, you're right, it's also part of the results presentation. I would divide all of this conflict dynamics into some parts, as I said before.
Speaker #3: First of all, when the conflict started, back then we had this expectation in the industry as a whole of lacking products. So, spreads reached a high cycle.
Speaker #3: There was a cycle uptrend. We didn't expect this, and other consulting firms didn't expect this either. But the world has adjusted to this reality—I mean, the global demand.
Speaker #3: Which led to the fact that from June on, with the announcements of a possible ceasefire, these demands would adjust even more, and the spread would get back to normal, let's say.
Speaker #3: So, nowadays, the expectation—and why we put it in our earnings presentation—is an average of specialized consulting firms. They expect that these spreads will return to levels that were close to pre-conflict levels, especially in the first quarter.
Speaker #3: And in some situations, spreads there will be even lower than that. I would like to bring forth not only the tactics, but also the fundamentals of it.
Speaker #3: We are in the middle of a war. We don't know if it's going to escalate or if it's going to end. There's a lot of volatility in oil.
Speaker #3: We are waiting for news to see how it unfolds. But the fundamentals of the industry are maintained at pre-conflict levels. These are fundamental pillars.
Speaker #3: By the end of 2025, we had already observed almost 20 million tons of oversupply in the world. And I'm talking about polyethylene. That's almost 15% of the industry's capacity today.
Speaker #3: This is the operation rate that is at the lowest level. This is the fundamental aspect of the industry, and you need to get ready for that, regardless of any optimism or waiting for a spread to change due to the conflict.
Speaker #3: And now what we expect for the third quarter usually third quarters and we always mention this they have a seasonality effect especially by the end of the this by the end of this third quarter because we expect preparations for end of the year parties but we are not seeing the seasonability.
Speaker #3: So, in fact, it's really hard to predict how we'll do that. But we will get ready to capture opportunities and meet the demands of the Brazilian markets.
Speaker #3: There's no doubt that the American, the US producers, due to this known lack of products in the world, keep on placing products at a lower price level, lower than the petrochemical industry in Brazil.
Speaker #3: We're trying to revert this, to change this as well as we can, by having good relationships with long-term clients, or maybe working with federal authorities and so on.
Speaker #3: In the context of the polyethylene anti-dumping initiative, we expect a recovery in sales over the next few months, possibly before a broader market recovery.
Speaker #3: We are working very hard to achieve that. But right now, it's hard to set an expectation on what's going to happen in the next few months.
Speaker #3: All right. Now, moving on. There is a question about anti-dumping, related to what I just said, about the anti-dumping measure currently applied to polyethylene from the US.
Speaker #3: Has BRASKEM been actively participating in this process with Brazilian authorities? And, in the company's view, what would be the main impacts on the domestic Brazilian market if the measure, or if the measures, were extended elsewhere, please?
Speaker #2: Anti-dumping is a process that is very well handled by the authorities and the different ministries, and JSAC, which is the ministry that handles that.
Speaker #2: They perform a meticulous technical study based on data from those companies, and when they detect that there has been dumping—which is what occurred—there is a causal relationship.
Speaker #2: The government understood that it did need to modulate things, and it has performed that. So today, we do have an anti-dumping measure in effect, effective today.
Speaker #2: We believe that these measures need to be reviewed and revised and we are in discussion with all ministries in GCX and we are clearly we understand that they clearly understand that the flows need to be balanced due to due to this imbalance that is occurring because of the dumping that's been performed.
Speaker #2: And we think that things could be improved. We've made a request to improve the degree of protection. This is currently under discussion, and we hope and expect the government to take responsible decisions—responsible measures—over the coming weeks, and we will wait and see.
Speaker #3: Encerramos, neste momento, a sessão de perguntas.
Speaker #4: Ladies and gentlemen, we now conclude the Q&A conference call for Braskem. Mr. Alcio, the floor is yours.
Speaker #2: Well, thanks again. I'm very, very grateful that you all took the time to take part in our earnings call. I'd like to conclude by really reinforcing the fact that we have two complementary pillars.
Speaker #2: One is to attain and secure a sustainable capital structure in a constructive manner by performing discussions with our creditors, and the second is to continuously strengthen our competitive nature.
Speaker #2: That is why we launched the transformation plan. That is why we do most of what we do. We have a phenomenal team with extremely high quality.
Speaker #2: We have a fantastic amount of quality people with us, and this makes us cautiously optimistic that we will be able to do good work in this direction.
Speaker #2: And over the coming months and years, we will all be able to have many more of these earnings calls and improve our relationship even further.
Speaker #2: This is strong work that the company has been engaging in with all of you for a long time now, and we believe that we will continue to improve things over time.
Speaker #2: Thank you.
Speaker #3: Conferência da BRASKEM está encerrada.
