Good afternoon and welcome to Unipar's Q3 2024 Results Conference Call. We have Rodrigo Cannaval, our CEO; Alexandre Jerussalmy, our CFO and Investor Relations Director; and the IR team. This event is being recorded, and all participants will only be listening to the conference call during the presentation, which can also be accessed via the MZiQ platform and the company's website, ri.unipar.com. The selection of slides will be controlled by you. The audio of this event will be available on the company's website after it has ended. After the presentation, we'll begin the Q&A session. Questions can already be registered via webcast and will be answered during the session or after the conference is over by the IR team.
Before proceeding, we would like to clarify that any statements that may be made during this conference call regarding Unipar's business prospects, prospections, operating, and financial targets constitute beliefs and assumptions of the company's management, as well as information currently available to Unipar. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and they involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, as they refer to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors and analysts should understand that general conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors and issues may affect Unipar's future results and may lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Now, I would like to hand the floor over to Mr. Alexandre Jerussalmy, who will begin the presentation. Jerussalmy, the floor is yours. Hello, everyone.
I'm glad to be here with you to once again discuss the quarter results of Unipar. Let me remind you that this presentation is already available on our IR website. Let's start with the global scenario in Brazil and Argentina. In the world, what we see is a redirection of trade flows in the face of geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East. We are still experiencing the effects of a very challenging global downturn, although we have the impression that the worst is over. We are seeing countries and regions implementing more and more protectionist policies, such as the US, Europe, and more recently, India. In Brazil, local demand has proved to be very resilient, especially for chlorinated products, reflecting the country's growing economic activity.
On the other hand, the volume of PVC imports has reached historically high levels, according to Abiquim, the Brazilian Chemical Industry Association, with imports coming mainly from the USA and Colombia. On September 19, 2024, the government approved a temporary change in the import tax rate for various chemical products, petrochemical products, too, including PVC suspension resin that Unipar produces. The rate went from 12.6%-20% on October 15, and the increase is effective for one year. Now, looking at Argentina, what we see is a continuous effort by the Milei government to control inflation and improve the country's fiscal equation. The reduction in import rates from 17.5%-7.5% since September is an example of this effort made by the government of Argentina. Local demand, on the other hand, is already showing a slow and gradual recovery, with a positive impact on our local sales volumes.
Here on the slide, you can see the international price evolution curve shown here on a 100 basis from January 2018 for both PVC and soda, indicating some degree of recovery in the Q3 of 2024 compared to previous quarters, but still reflects a challenging down cycle scenario. Now, moving on to our next slide, let's talk about Unipar's financial highlights for the Q3. We once again showed resilience in the face of the challenges of this cycle, and our EBITDA reached BRL 233 million, 60% higher than the previous quarter. We achieved a net profit of BRL 119 million and had an operating cash generation of BRL 294 million in the quarter, 87% higher than the previous quarter.
This result means a robust operational and sales performance, a competitive cost matrix with an increasing share of self-produced energy, and also the positive effect of the 6% currency devaluation in Brazil in this quarter. In terms of liquidity and debt management, the company remains focused on financial robustness, having closed the quarter with BRL 2.3 billion in cash, an average debt term of 4.4 years, and a leverage of 0.77-fold, which gives the company peace of mind to face the challenges of this cycle. Yesterday, the boards of directors had a meeting in which we approved a new dividend distribution of BRL 300 million, as well as the approval of a fifth share buyback program.
In terms of operational highlights, we had another quarter with a capacity utilization rate above the industry average, according to data from Abiquim, the Brazilian Chemical Industry Association, reaching 80% of utilization on average between Brazil and Argentina. The share of self-produced solar and wind energy has been increasing in relation to our total energy consumption in Brazil, reaching an all-time high of 65% in September versus 51% in June. And we had two very interesting highlights from an ESG point of view, the first being an upgrade from BB to BBB in our MSCI ESG rating, and the other is a recognition by Suzano as the best supplier in the ESG management category. So we remain here at Unipar steadfast in our corporate ESG agenda.
The next screen shows the evolution of our net revenue, which grew by 17% in the Q3 of 2024 compared to the Q2. This result reflects a 3% increase in sales volume, the positive effect of the currency devaluation in Brazil in the quarter, and also the strength of our sales profile distributed to more than 30 industries, several of which have significant expansion projects, such as the segments of sanitation and pulp and paper. From the point of view of cost of goods sold, we had an increase of 15% in the quarter, that is, less than the 17% increase in net revenue. This is despite the negative effects of the currency devaluation in Brazil and the negative impact on cost of goods sold, and also the inflation in dollars that still exists in Argentina.
This result was possible due to our competitive cost matrix with, for example, the increasing level of self-produced clean energy. We also have the results of a series of corporate initiatives being rolled out here at Unipar in the sense of reducing overhead costs, such as some contract renegotiation by mutual agreement, some revisions of processes to make them simpler, and also automation initiatives that are ongoing here in the company. Here in the next slide, you can better understand where the 60% growth in EBITDA came from. We had a positive effect of 10 million BRL due to increased sales and a variation of 77 million BRL coming from the combination of the slight recovery in spreads, the currency devaluation of 6% in Brazil, and also greater competitiveness in our operating costs.
Our EBITDA margin ended the quarter at 17% higher than the margin in the Q2, which was 13%. Our net profit reached BRL 119 million in the quarter, which accounts for an increase of 34% over the previous quarter. And that's now 18 consecutive quarters of profit here at Unipar, which really shows the resilience of our business model. With this, the board felt confident enough to anticipate the distribution of dividends in the amount of BRL 300 million to our shareholders to be paid out as early as November 2024. From the point of view of net debt, our balance was lower in September compared to June, closing September at BRL 459 million, despite the significant level of CAPEX we had in the Q3.
This reduction in net debt was possible due to operational cash generation of BRL 294 million we had in the period. Regarding our debt profile, we have a cash position that can cover 54 months of repayments and amortization, and 55% of our debt only matures from 2029 onwards. So this debt profile improved after the debenture issue we made in September. So BRL 750 million divided into three series, the longest with a 10-year term, which was unparalleled for Unipar. The demand exceeded twofold the amount issued. We had a significant rate compression. With this issue, we already prepaid BRL 385 million in debt with a shorter term, and our liability management is ongoing, always trying to expand the average maturity date with an ever-competitive or more competitive cost of our debt. We end the quarter with an average maturity of 4.4 years and leverage of 0.77 times.
In terms of debt profile, almost 80% of our debt is raised on capital markets, leaving credit limits available with banks and allowing us to manage our debt smoothly. So our goal is to make Unipar's debt profile increasingly comfortable in order to support Unipar in its strategic moves and at the same time allow shareholders' return expectations to be met. Now, I hand over to Cannaval, who will talk about our strategic projects and priorities. Thank you all. Cannaval, it's up to you now. Good afternoon to all. Thank you, Jerussalmy, for detailing our results. To complement and complete our presentation, I would like to point out that even in this downturn in the chemical industry, we have maintained our vision and strategy of sustainable growth.
Times like these require resilience and efficiency, but above all, they require investment in structuring projects that pave the way into our future and long-term growth. I'd like to point out that we are carrying out our important growth and technological modernization projects with discipline and on schedule. Among the main projects is our new unit at the Camaçari Petrochemical Complex in the state of Bahia. We have already started commissioning the plant, and we will end this process this year with the startup completed. In the city of Cubatão, the technological modernization of the plant is also going according to plan. We will complete it in 2025. This project will bring significant gains in operational efficiency and reduced emissions, boosting our competitiveness and sustainability.
We also have a new expansion project in Cubatão at the PVC plant, where it is important to note that for this investment, we have been included in the REIQ, the special regime for the chemical industry. so this special tax system provides the exemption, the waiver of PIS/COFINS taxes on the purchase of the main products using the first and second-generation petrochemical industry. Concluding this presentation, I would like to emphasize that we remain firm and steadfast in our 2024 priorities. Among them, operational safety and efficiency is strengthening our competitiveness. Another important and top priority we are pursuing is financial health and liquidity management, guaranteeing the company's financial security and stability in any economic scenario. and finally, we continue to evaluate growth opportunities in a highly selective manner, always in line with our long-term strategy in trying to find balance.
In-house, we see continuous improvements by reviewing processes and cost structures, as well as adapting structures to be ready for sustainable growth. Now, I would like to hand over to Raquel, who will lead our Q&A session. Thank you, Cannaval. We will now begin the Q&A session. Questions will be answered as they are received. Please wait. We have three questions by Rodrigo Almeida from Santander. On projects of self-produced energy, you achieved 61% in September, but I'd like to understand how much of cost you captured of the total expected, and in this quarter, we can wait for the total result. Thank you, Rodrigo. Good afternoon. Rodrigo, regarding self-energy generation, we reached 61 in September, which is a pretty higher level than the level we had in June, and also higher than this rate we achieved last year.
We are growing in self-energy production versus the energy consumed in Brazil. The idea is to reach 80% of all Brazil's consumption being in the form of self-generation. This rate of 80% is expected to be reached by the end of the Q3 next year, probably after the completion of the phase-out project we have in the city of Cubatão, where we have the reduction of energy consumption in our electrolysis process in Cubatão plant. In terms of capture, if you consider this number, this figure by the end of September, and let me remind you that this is not the average quarter number. This is the number of the end of September.
But if you were to consider 61% vis-à-vis the 80% we expect to achieve in ramp-up initiatives for the total consumption in Brazil, we have something in the order of 75% achieved of this estimate in September. So we are super focused on this initiative to make full use of our assets in partnership with Auren now after the incorporation of AES and Engie in Minas Gerais, so we can capture the total benefits relating to this energy self-production we have in Brazil. Thank you, Jerussalmy. Now, let me complement the second question made by Rodrigo of Santander with Elena's question by XP. Both want to know about the business environment for PVC after the implementation of the import tax rate and how are prices for soda and what are the trends for the next few months. Alexandre. Well, Alexandre de Castro, thank you very much, you all.
We have always used for PVC international prices fixed in Brazil as a reference, as a benchmark. So recently, we have seen this change in import rates, but this is just one of the factors that compose the creation of our prices, such as the international price that makes up our pricing and commercial policy in the market. So this is so recent we cannot trace trends yet. In the case of soda, we have seen a valuation of international prices in the past few weeks, but in the case of soda, unlike PVC, this soda has pretty more volatile prices, this commodity. So every day, week by week, we check the international market moves, and we've been applying in the internal market what we see in our recurrent commercial policy. Thank you, Alexandre. Just a second as we check the other questions.
We have another question by Elena Campbell from XP. The in-service of Camaçari plant is near. It has something to add to contribute for the results of the Q4. Is that right? I would like to understand more about the ramp-up process of this unit in Camaçari. Thank you, Elena, for your question. Yes, the unit is within the flow chart in terms of startup, its own schedule. This is the first Unipar's greenfield plant, what we like to call it a mini plant under a new logic of business that Unipar has been rolling out successfully. We will probably have the startup by the end of this year, and then full capacity is to be reached in the Q1 of the next year. This is a small plant, 20 tons of chlorine, capacity 22 tons of soda in terms of capacity.
So this is a technology we already know t hyssenkrupp nucera electrolysis technology. The technology used is membrane, the same we use in Cubatão, in Santander. So we know the technology pretty well. Everything is done so the ramp-up is smooth and successful. A question by Edson Sato. Which will be the impact of the merging of ALSA and AES? Thank you for your question. Good afternoon. We had a very good, fruitful partnership with AES. Now, changing to Auren from the operational strategic standpoint, nothing changes, including in terms of positioning the assets. On the contrary, what we have here is the possibility of building a partnership just like we had with AES, now with Auren. And we have already started this partnership. We got closer to the teams. Transition has been very smooth, very structured. We have a question by Pedro Macedo from Itaú Asset.
Can we consider that by the end of the year, the company should meet its peaking leverage? And from the Q1 of 2025, it should walk back close to its net cash, also with the recovery, operational recovery of results in 2025? Thank you, Pedro, for your question. Well, Unipar doesn't provide any guidance regarding level of debt, cash position, and leverage. But your question is a good question because it allows me to talk about our policy in terms of liquidity management and the management of our debt profile. So as you could see from the second to the Q3s, we achieved an improvement in our debt profile. Our average maturity lived from 3.4 and went to 4.4. Now, we hope that we will keep on implementing and rolling out initiatives, allowing for this period to grow even more with competitive financing, credit lines.
With this, we feel at ease here at Unipar in terms of debt profile regarding the net cash flow. For those who follow Unipar, you know that we are pretty conservative in terms of our cash position. We try to have a comfortable liquidity profile and positioning because we know that our industry is a cyclical industry, and we cannot manage and dominate all the variables. On the contrary, the company must be ready to face the ups and downs of each cycle, of each period. This is why we maintain a liquidity structure that is relatively robust. Also, this is why we work hard to make our debt profile more and more competitive and comfortable as the time goes by. Thank you. Thank you. Just a moment while we check other questions. We have a question by Osvaldo Mateus. Good afternoon.
Can you tell us which are the perspectives for the operation in Argentina? Thank you very much for your question, Osvaldo. Good afternoon. Argentina, as you all know, is going through a period of a lot of macroeconomic changes and many efforts by the government focused primarily on controlling inflation, holding inflation down, and the fiscal positioning of the country. In the first semester, the government implemented some dramatic changes, canceling projects and public initiatives and projects in the flow of operations in import and export, some measures and policies aiming at managing the official currency in the country. At Unipar, we pay attention to all of these movements and changes. The cancellation or pause in public job sites and public projects, and even recession and drop in the country's economic activity affects the market Unipar works with.
But on the other hand, Unipar has managed to deal well with the inventory to place our product in the market, both the national domestic markets and also in terms of imports. So considering the challenging period faced by Argentina in the macroeconomic scenario, considering all of this, we are confident that the country is changing for a better position. We have another question by Emerson Abraham. I would like to know a little bit more about long-term sustainable growth plan. Does Unipar intend to expand further in Brazil and abroad? Is there a possibility of going to countries outside Latin America? Thank you, Emerson, for your question. Well, let me tell you that publicly, Unipar has mentioned the intention of expanding operations, especially looking for international opportunities. What we have done since then is to work very selectively and work very carefully to check possibilities for expansion.
We have analyzed some opportunities. On the other hand, what we do want always is that this trajectory, this plan is done in the right moment in a safe manner, not to jeopardize our financial robustness, as kind of mentioned in the results presentation. As he said, this is one of our top priorities here at the company. So given all that, we do have checked some opportunities to grow, to expand, but for the moment, there's nothing in sight that should be shared. Thank you. We have another question by Eduardo Muniz from Santander. Which are the other initiatives that are ongoing or intended regarding liability management? Thank you, Eduardo, for your question. Good afternoon.
Well, we have an ongoing process to change the debt profile to replace one debt with a shorter maturity date, with a higher cost, with a debt with a longer maturity date, with more competitive features or characteristics. So considering that, even today, we released an announcement of redeeming two debentures which are still in the market with shorter installments than the installments that were originally issued because part of these debentures were already redeemed, UNIP 15 and UNIP 16. This is an example of liability management we intend to keep on doing. So replacing debts that mature in a shorter period and replacing them with financial structures which have a longer period to pay and competitive costs. Possibly in the next few months, we will have other initiatives of the same order to change our debt profile. Thank you.
This brings the Q&A session to a close. I would like to give the floor to Rodrigo and Jerussalmy for their final remarks. I would like to thank you all who participated in this conference call to announce the results for the Q3. As you could see, we improved our results comparing the results we achieved in the Q2. We also showed a high level of resilience at Unipar, considering the downturn cycle in the petrochemical industry that continues. Historic curves for the prices of soda and PVC, we still have prices in a compressed way as we analyze the history. This is a reflection of the down cycle period. We have taken this opportunity to get ready.
When the cycle comes to an end, when this down cycle comes to an end, rest assured that the company will be much more prepared and ready to take on the opportunities. One example is the increased level of operations, our self-made energy, self-produced energy, and also the plants in Camaçari. As I said before, Camaçari plant will be started up by the end of this year in the technological modernization in the plant in Cubatão, which is a very ambitious, large project that is in line with the schedule, is a current schedule with the modern technology in our Cubatão plant, important in electrolysis.
With this new technology, we consume less energy, less solid waste in the environment, less steam consumption, and less emissions of greenhouse gas into the environment that keep up or in line with our ESG company to become a much cleaner company, both in Brazil and Argentina. So the scenario is still challenging, but the company has still managed to realize its strategic CAPEX and also presented financial robustness. You could see our debt profile. You could see our position in terms of liquidity. And we move on. We'll move on in a steadfast manner to face all the challenges ahead in the next few months in which we still have the effects of this downturn cycle. In spite of apparently, as I said in the presentation, we hope that the worst is over because the Q3 was better than the Q2.
Once again, I would like to thank you all. Let me invite you all beforehand to our next meeting, our next conference call and results conference call, which is to be held on March based on the release for the Q4 and the year of 2024. I hope to see you all there next March. Thank you very much and enjoy your holiday tomorrow. Thank you.