Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Russian petrochemical giant Sibur signed an MoU to set up South Asia’s first butyl rubber halogenation unit at RIL’s integrated petrochemical site in Jamnagar, Gujarat, under Reliance Sibur Elastomers Private Limited (RSEPL) – a joint venture (jv) of which RIL owns 74.9%, and Sibur 25.1% and that was set up in 2012. Currently, the design phase is underway.
Apart from the planned halogenation unit, the jv owns a 120,000-tonne/year butyl rubber plant, currently under construction at the same venue, which will provide the necessary butyl rubber feed to the halogenation unit. Depending on market environment and customer demand, 60,000 tonnes/year of butyl rubber will be used as feedstock to produce halogenated butyl rubber at the new facility.
Construction of the butyl rubber plant is in full swing at Jamnagar, its commissioning targeted for 2018.
Commenting on the halogenated butyl rubber unit, Nikhil Meswani, Executive Director, RIL, said, “RSEPL’s halogenated butyl rubber plant will be well-poised to capitalise on the significant surge in regional demand in tyre and pharmaceutical industries. India is expected to see a quantum jump in tyre production, with Indian and International tyre majors gearing up to make capital investments of Rs. 15,000 crore. The halogenated butyl rubber demand is expected to grow at a rapid pace of 8-10% CAGR over the next few years, driven by increasing customer preference for tubeless tyres in India and neighbouring countries, and significant investments in the manufacture of pharmaceutical closures and tank inner liners.”
“India offers attractive investment opportunities given the growing local demand for synthetic rubbers and Gujarat’s favourable investment environment coupled with the well-developed infrastructure and raw material availability at a world-class Industrial site owned by RIL. SIBUR has a long track record of successful cooperation with RIL and Gujarat’s government, which has provided us with a solid basis for expanding our footprint in India,” said Dmitry Konov, Chairman of Sibur’s Management Board.
Halogenated butyl rubber is a key ingredient for manufacturing inner liner of tubeless tyre. With the Indian automobile trend aligning with global trends, penetration of tubeless tyres is expected to accelerate in the Indian market, resulting in an increased demand of halogenated butyl rubber. The ingredient is also used in the manufacture of pharma stoppers, inner liner of storage tanks, etc.
Production from RSEPL will substitute imports and reduce outflow of valuable foreign exchange from India, providing impetus to the government’s Make in India initiative.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is India’s largest private sector company, with a consolidated turnover of US$44.7 billion, and net profit of US$4.2 billion for the year ended March 31, 2016.
Sibur is a uniquely positioned vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. It owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes, and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. It operates 26 production sites located all over Russia, serving over 1,400 large customers engaged in the energy, chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction and other industries in approximately 75 countries worldwide, and employs over 27,000 personnel.