UNIP5: quote, dividends and indicators for Unipar

Unipar Carbocloro S.A. is a Brazilian chemical company founded in 1969, originally under the name União Participações Industriais Ltda., with a longstanding role in the development of Brazil’s petrochemical sector. The company was a pioneer in the establishment of the São Paulo Petrochemical Complex, the first in Brazil, and became a publicly traded company in 1971, with its shares listed on B3 under the tickers UNIP3, UNIP5 and UNIP6. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, it took part in major consolidation and privatization moves in the sector, including the creation of Rio Polímeros and later Quattor Participações, which became the second-largest petrochemical company in South America, in partnership with Petrobras. In 2010, Unipar sold its stake in Quattor to Braskem and, from 2013 onwards, following the full acquisition of Carbocloro, began to focus its strategy on the chlorine, caustic soda and derivatives business, repositioning itself around the chlorine-caustic soda-PVC chain.

Unipar’s business model is structured into a single operating segment, involving the production and sale of caustic soda, chlorine, vinyls (PVC) and derivatives, in a highly integrated and power-intensive process. The company operates four main industrial plants: Cubatão (SP), Santo André (SP), Camaçari (BA) and Bahía Blanca (Argentina), with consolidated installed capacity of hundreds of thousands of tons per year of chlorine, caustic soda and PVC. The production of caustic soda and chlorine occurs via brine electrolysis, generating both products simultaneously in fixed proportions, as well as hydrogen as a co-product, which is used for steam generation, hydrochloric acid production and, to a lesser extent, for sale. PVC, in turn, is produced from chlorine manufactured in-house combined with ethylene purchased from third parties, which first forms VCM (vinyl chloride monomer) and subsequently powdered PVC polymer.

Unipar’s products have broad applications across various industrial and infrastructure sectors. Caustic soda is supplied in liquid form, flakes and pearls, serving mainly aluminum, pulp and paper, food, soaps and detergents industries, as well as the chemical and petrochemical segments. Chlorine is used both as an input in the PVC chain and in crop protection products, water treatment and disinfection, and hospital applications. The portfolio also includes hydrochloric acid and sodium hypochlorite, derivatives of the chlor-alkali process, which are widely used in sanitation, industrial cleaning, chemical processes and various other fields. The PVC produced in Santo André and Bahía Blanca is mostly demanded by the construction industry, in pipes, fittings, profiles, cable coatings, window frames and laminates, as well as applications in footwear, hoses, packaging, the automotive industry, toys and medical supplies, giving the customer base sectoral diversification.

Unipar’s geographic footprint combines strong exposure to the Brazilian market with a significant operation in Argentina and participation in exports to other South American and European countries. In 2025, most net revenue was generated in Brazil, while Argentina accounted for a significant share, with the remainder distributed among countries such as Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Belgium. The Brazilian plants are strategically located: Cubatão is close to the Port of Santos and the Anchieta-Imigrantes highway system, facilitating salt supply and product distribution; Santo André is located in the region with the highest PVC consumption in Mercosur and near the main petrochemical hub in the Southeast; Camaçari is part of Bahia’s petrochemical complex and was designed to tap into the expansion of the sanitation market in the Northeast, with operations started in December 2024. In Bahía Blanca, Argentina, the plant benefits from rail and road access to regional markets and a deep-water port facing the Atlantic, and is the only PVC producer in the country.

In the chlorine, caustic soda and PVC markets, Unipar holds a leading position in South America. International consulting firms identify the company as the largest producer of chlorine and caustic soda in the region and the second-largest in PVC in terms of annual installed capacity. In Brazil, Unipar is one of only two PVC producers, with a strong presence in the South and Southeast regions, while in the Argentine market it holds a monopoly position in PVC production. The customer base is diversified, with no material concentration in a single buyer, and covers sectors such as construction, pulp and paper, mining and steel, healthcare, food, sanitation and household utilities. Caustic soda and PVC prices are benchmarked to international references, placing the company in a globally competitive environment in which factors such as production scale, access to raw materials (salt, electricity and ethylene) and logistics location are critical. In the domestic market, Unipar competes with companies such as Braskem, Dow, Olin, Chemtrade, Katrium, Chlorum and CMPC, and also faces competition from importers and traders when arbitrage is favorable.

The company has also developed a partial vertical integration strategy in the electricity supply chain, a critical input for the electrolysis process. Unipar maintains long-term power supply contracts in the free market, combined with renewable self-generation projects. In Brazil, it participates in joint ventures and equity interests in the Tucano (Bahia) and Cajuína (Rio Grande do Norte) wind complexes, in partnership with Auren, and in the Lar do Sol I, II and III solar plants in Pirapora (Minas Gerais), in partnership with Engie. In Argentina, Solalban Energia generates electricity for the Bahía Blanca plant. These projects enabled a significant share of the Brazilian plants’ power consumption in 2025 to be supplied by self-generation from wind and solar sources. In 2026, Indupa Brasil signed a power purchase agreement with Ventos de São Norberto, linked to Casa dos Ventos, associated with the creation of a joint venture to develop two solar plants in Mato Grosso do Sul, reinforcing the strategy of decarbonization and energy cost predictability.

From a regulatory and environmental standpoint, Unipar operates its units under valid environmental licenses issued by state agencies in Brazil and by the environmental authority of the province of Buenos Aires in Argentina, in addition to active registrations with IBAMA and water resources agencies. The plants are certified under ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 standards and adhere to the Responsible Care program, a global initiative of the chemical industry focused on managing safety, health and the environment. The company has been promoting technological modernization of its processes, particularly the replacement of electrolysis technologies with membranes, which are more efficient and have a lower environmental impact, as in the Cubatão plant, whose project is financed by BNDES and an export credit agency. The Camaçari plant was designed using technology considered more eco-efficient and with 100% renewable energy consumption, aligning with the agenda to expand chlorine and caustic soda capacity in line with Brazil’s Sanitation Legal Framework.

Unipar’s sustainability and governance agenda has gained greater visibility following the regular publication of sustainability reports, with goals and commitments for periods such as 2025–2030 and long-term ambitions through 2050. The company publicly discloses its responses to the CDP, having been rated “B” for climate change and water resources in the questionnaire applied in 2025. The formalized corporate strategy is based on pillars of team and culture, operational excellence, competitiveness, sustainability and sustainable growth, reflected in initiatives related to energy transition, process safety, investments in industrial expansion and the structuring of long-term financing, such as debenture issues and credit lines from development banks. In the social field, the company maintains a social responsibility policy focused on sanitation and human development projects in education, culture, sports and socioenvironmental initiatives, supporting dozens of projects in Brazil and Argentina in recent years, and strengthens compliance, ethics and transparency practices, including through a code of conduct applicable to its employees and partners. In this context, the UNIP3, UNIP5 and UNIP6 shares on B3 represent an interest in a chemical group with capital-intensive industrial operations, a significant regional presence and a clear energy transition and environmental, social and governance agenda.