Seeing first-hand

SIBUR holds basic polymer processing conference in Nizhny Novgorod.

Representatives of more than thirty major Russian basic polymer processing companies attended SIBUR-Kstovo and RusVinyl (a joint venture between SIBUR and the Belgian SolVin) in December.

According to Head of Production at SIBUR-Kstovo Dmitry Sokolov, the Kstovo site draws customers attention as a starting point of the processing chain where ethylene, propylene and benzene are produced. “We demonstrated the stable performance of our equipment at high loads and shared our plans for capacity expansion and enhancement of production and industrial safety,” he said.

At RusVynil, customers learned more about the production and sales of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and were shown a logistic platform that enables the shipment of both packaged (in paper and big bags) and bulk products. RusVynil’s Executive Officer Nikolay Olenichenko said that the facility has a capacity of 300,000 tonnes of suspension PVC (used in window profiles, pipes, wall panels and doors) and 30,000 tonnes of emulsion PVC (floor coverings, film and vinyl wallpapers).

As part of the client event in Dzerzhinsk (Nizhny Novgorod Region), a round table with federal government agencies was held to discuss the future of the petrochemical and gas processing industries in Russia. The attendees were updated on the progress of SIBUR’s investment programme aimed at product mix expansion. Special attention was given to ZapSibNeftekhim, including the construction of a steam cracker with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa of ethylene, around 500 ktpa of propylene and 100 ktpa of butane-butylene fraction (BBF), and opening of the units to produce various grades of polyethylene and polypropylene with a total capacity of 2 mtpa, as part of the Tobolsk production site project. The project is designed for deep conversion of oil and gas extraction by-products in West Siberia, including associated gas, and import substitution for polymers that enjoy the greatest demand in the Russian market in an attempt to boost the national plastics processing industry. ZapSibNeftekhim will become the largest modern petrochemical facility in Russia.

“We are very pleased with the quality of the conference services. I cannot claim to be a technical expert in production processes at SIBUR's facilities, but I was genuinely impressed by the mere size of the production sites and the speed of implementation for large-scale projects. We are positive about SIBUR's plans to expand its product mix, as this will give us a new competitive edge in terms of product quality and thereby ensure excellent economic results,” said Viktor Kalashnikov, Deputy Head of Polymerdetal, who participated in the conference. He added that the industry needed such events badly as an opportunity not only to get updates, but also to make new contacts. “We hope that SIBUR will keep meeting its partners and discuss ongoing issues on a regular basis,” said Mr Kalashnikov.


Download PDF

Other publications