Sibur advances JV rubber projects in China, India

London – Russian petrochemical company Sibur and Sinopec are at the design stage of their joint venture acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) plant in Shanghai, China.

Speaking to ERJ, the head of Sibur synthetic rubber unit Mikhail Gordin said the intention was to build a new JV 50-kilotonnes-per-annum (ktpa) plant.

Sinopec will have 74.9-percent ownership in the JV with Sibur having the remaining 25.1-percent share

In 2013, Sibur and Sinopec set up a JV in Russia, Kransoyarsk Synthetic Rubber Plant, with a capacity to produce 42.5ktpa of nitrile rubber (pictured).

It is planned, that the new plant, like the Russian facility, will also feed growing demand for NBR in China and South East Asia, said Gordin.

On Sibur’s plans elsewhere, Gordin noted that the construction of a plant for Sibur's JV with Reliance Industries Ltd, Sibur Elastomers Private Ltd, is underway in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India.

Reliance Industries and Sibur signed the JV in February 2012 to produce 120 ktpa of butyl rubber. Reliance owns 74.9 percent of the JV while Sibur owns 25.1 percent. ?

“However, the start-up of this plant will be tightly linked to Reliance's J3 project,” said Gordin.

J3, part of Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat, envisages the setting up of a steam cracker unit to produce petrochemicals for various industrial applications.