Leading (petro-)chemical companies in Brazil 2020, by net revenue

In 2020, Braskem S.A was by far the leading company in the chemical and petrochemical sector in Brazil, based on net revenue. The company generated more than 58.5 billion Brazilian reals worth of revenue that year. Mosaic trailed in second, with some 18 billion reals.

The Brazilian chemical industry

Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, is also home to the most important chemical industry in the region. Moreover, the South American country ranked amongst the leading chemical markets worldwide, based on revenue. Nevertheless, this Brazilian sector has been struggling in recent years, following an economic crisis which hit the country in the second half of the decade. In 2020, the revenue of Brazil’s chemical industry was expected to reach 101.7 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of more than 30 percent in comparison to the average registered between 2011 and 2014.

A mix of domestic and foreign capital

Braskem, a firm headquartered in São Paulo, is the undisputed leader in the Brazilian chemical sector. In 2020, Braskem’s revenue added up to roughly the same amount generated by the remaining top five companies in the sector, combined. Despite the company’s dominance, some of the most valuable chemical companies worldwide have set up shop in the Portuguese-speaking country, including Germans BASF and Bayer. In fact, eight out of the ten leading chemical companies in Brazil that year were international companies, with Braskem and Fertipar as the only exceptions.