11 Jun 2015
Nizhnekamsk, Russia – Nizhnekamskneftekhim Group has recently started up new production units for halobutyl rubbers and for feedstock for isoprene rubber, according to the Russian company’s quarterly financial report on 9 June.
“In April 2015 the company successfully started up a fourth drying line with 40,000 tonnes [of] halobutyl rubber annual capacity,” said the report.
The company also opened a unit for decomposition of high-boiling by-products which will allow it to extract an additional 15 thousand tonnes of isoprene per annum, Nizhnekamskneftekhim added.
In May, under the programme of import substitution, the company began production of triisobutylaluminium at its’ oligomers plant, which it said is used as a co-catalyst in production of polyethylene and synthetic rubbers.
In the second half of 2015, Nizhnekamskneftekhim said it will continue work on a number of projects in the area of synthetic rubbers and raw materials, as well as on activities to increase the effectiveness of its production assets.
Nizhnekamskneftekhim posted a 12.6-percent growth in revenue in the first three months of 2015 with the figure rising to 38,172 million rubles (€620.5 million).
The group’s rubber segment revenue showed a 16.8-percent hike compared to the corresponding three months in 2014, rising from 13,375 million rubles to15,623 million rubles.
The price of natural rubber, said the company, remained approximately on the same level with insubstantial fluctuations and by the end of the period decreased by less than 1 percent compared to the beginning of 2015.
On the feedstock side, the company reported that “while the average price of butadiene decreased by 15 percent in Europe, Asian markets showed growth by 6 percent.”
The report went on to elaborate on the rubber market, stating that, by the beginning of June, natural rubber prices showed roughly a growth of 15 percent, while butadiene prices grew by around 19 percent in Europe and nearly 35 percent in Asia.
Nizhnekamskneftekhim added that revenue from its main product segments – rubbers and plastics – grew due to weakening Russian ruble.
According to the report, the geographical structure of sales has changed with the share of Europe dropping by around 12 percent while share of Asia grew by more 11 percent.
Russia remained the main target region for the company with over 47 percent of sales in the first nine months of 2014.
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