The merger of Russian petrochemical firms Sibur and Taif has resulted in a multiple growth in the plastics, elastomers and organic synthesis business, both in absolute production volumes and in the range of products and their scope, it adds. The company sees in this “a great potential” for further development, and has decided to split the Plastics, Elastomers and Organic Synthesis into two separate business units, under the general supervision of a member of the Management Board – Executive Director Sergey Komyshan. The Plastics and Organic Synthesis Directorate will be headed by a member of the Board – Managing Director Alexander Petrov. Directorate of synthetic rubbers – Member of the Board – Managing Director Timur Shigabutdinov.
The Plastics and Organic Synthesis Directorate will unite production facilities with a total capacity of about 3 million tonnes/year and will further expand through projects for the development of medium-sized petrochemicals in demand on the Russian market. Their implementation will make it possible to replace the import of such products as MAN and DOTP and make a significant contribution to the growth of non-resource exports of Russia, it adds. Also, within the framework of this business line, the company plans to develop a raw material base for the production of high-premium products in the specialty chemistry segment, which is currently slightly represented on the domestic market.
Meanwhile, Sibur has established a standalone synthetic rubber division in response to a ‘more than three-fold growth. It will allow it to focus on increasing the operational efficiency of rubber production, the total capacity of which is currently about 1.2 million tonnes/year. The tasks will include the development of new brands with unique consumer properties, the development of customer services and the offer of complex solutions to customers, as well as the expansion of presence in various segments and geographies.
“The unique integrated business model of the combined company makes it possible to increase the efficiency of the rubber business due to the availability of raw materials, first of all, butadiene, and further develop the direction of production of widely demanded butadiene-containing rubbers,” says the firm in a statement.
Alexander Petrov, Member of the Board – Managing Director of Sibur, said, “Our goal is to significantly increase the scale of our business through the implementation of medium-scale chemical projects with a focus on import substitution. At the same time, it is important to find the right set of projects that will use the monomers of the new pyrolysis in Nizhnekamsk and will become possible due to the mutual integration of technological chains of the historical and new perimeter of Sibur. Another task is to increase the volume of our products in the construction industry, on the one hand, by expanding the brand assortment, on the other, by offering customers new solutions and replacing traditional materials for the construction industry with polymer materials. “