White Martins Signs New Contract with Braskem

Oxygen and nitrogen supply will meet increased customer production White Martins, the Brazil-based subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. PX, has signed a 15-year agreement to supply nitrogen and oxygen to Braskem, the largest petrochemical company in the Americas by capacity and the world's largest producer of biopolymers. White Martins will build and operate a new cryogenic on-site air separation plant with a capacity of 200 tons per day. The plant will supply Braskem's expanded polyvinyl chloride (PVC) unit in the state of Alagoas, in Brazil's northeast region. Braskem has invested an estimated R$1 billion (US$635 million) in the new industrial unit -- the highest ever made by Braskem in a single project in Brazil -- which is scheduled to start operations in the first half of 2012.