(Reuters) - LyondellBasell Industries NV (>> LyondellBasell Industries NV) has approached Brazil's Braskem SA (>> Braskem SA) for a potential takeover, valuing the petrochemicals company at more than $10 billion (7.57 billion pounds), the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The talks are at an early stage and there is no guarantee of a deal, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. http://on.wsj.com/2zRqhHj

A deal would help LyondellBasell expand in Latin America, where Braskem is the biggest petrochemicals company.

The news comes amid a wave of big mergers in the chemicals sector. Dow Chemical and DuPont completed their $130 billion merger last month to form DowDuPont (>> DowDuPont Inc), while ChemChina bought Swiss seeds group Syngenta (>> Syngenta) for $43 billion earlier this year.

LyondellBasell and Braskem did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

LyondellBasell's shares rose 6 percent to $105.03 while Braskem's U.S.-listed shares climbed 14 percent to $33.42 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)

Stocks treated in this article : Syngenta, Braskem SA, LyondellBasell Industries NV, DowDuPont Inc