SAO PAULO, May 12 (Reuters) - Brazilian petrochemical giant Braskem SA (BRKM5.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) won a 555.6 billion-real ($268 million) loan commitment from the Brazilian government as part of a plan to produce polyethylene through the use of ethanol.

Brazil's state development bank, known as BNDES, approved on Tuesday the funding for the project, the first of its kind in Brazil. Sao Paulo-based Braskem (BAK.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Latin America's largest petrochemical company, will spend 800 million reais on the 204,000 tonnes-a-year project.

The project will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create about 1,500 jobs during construction. The plant, to be located in the southern city of Triunfo, will start operations in the second half of 2010.

BNDES, based in Rio de Janeiro, has deployed more than $30 billion in emergency credit lines for companies hammered by the global financial crisis. For the 12 months ended in March, the bank approved 119 billion reais in new loans, with disbursements reaching a record 94.4 billion reais in the same period.

BNDES loan disbursements have jumped 35 percent from the previous year.

($1=2.06 reais)

(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Tais Fuoco, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)