Braskem

Well, with Trump, he'll help him get it.

They'll probably bail out Braskem, which is the petrochemical plant down there in Brazil that needs a bail out.

You know, I own stock in it 'cause it's so ridiculously cheap, and I'm expecting them to bail it out because Lula needs something to feed to the public to try to entice them to vote for him.

So I'm expecting that.

It's been a difficult period for Brazilian companies in particular.

There's been a couple of cases of some very large Brazilian companies, such as Braskem, such as Raízen, which have come into problems when it comes to debt and, and there's been large rises in their bond yields, and that didn't start in 2026.

That started in late 2025, and it's still rumbling on now.

So foreign investors have lost money when it-- with Brazilian corporates in the last year and a, year, year and a half.

You know, ethylene is kind of such a simple molecule, but it's so important, right? Same ammonia and others.

So 25 years ago, started working for a big major and then moved to the U.S., worked for ExxonMobil and later Braskem.

And when I look back, it's about $20 billion of investment advisory in the Americas and Asia.

So quite exciting.

Um, and you know, I also think it's, it's interesting that some, some firms have state backing.

I mean, you mentioned, um, Adnock, you mentioned, uh, But there are also some firms that have sort of minority stakes, significant minority stakes, you know, 30, 40 percent or so from state entities, for example, Yara or Braskem.

Their main shareholder is Petrobras.

Petrobras' main shareholder is the Brazilian government.

2010.

The global conversation about, you know, plastic waste is really just starting to heat up in a totally mainstream way, and right in the middle of this, a massive materials company called Braskem announces something that, uh, well, on the surface it sounds like absolute science fiction.

Or at least, like, a total victory for the natural world, right?

Exactly.

And honestly, it's the thing that absolutely cracks this whole topic wide open for us today.

Okay, I'm ready.

Braskem's massive selling point to the major brands, the product makers they were pitching to, it wasn't that this new sugarcane plastic was gonna melt away in a compost heap.

It wasn't.