Russian petrochemicals giant Sibur and its Chinese counterpart China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.) are considering jointly manufacturing synthetic rubbers in Shanghai, China.
The groups, which recently launched a joint venture deal giving Sinopec and stake in Sibur’s Krasnoyarsk Synthetic Rubber Plant (KZSK) in Russia, want to establish isoprene rubber and nitrile butadiene rubber lines, each of 50,000 tpa capacity in Shanghai, subject to the outcome of a feasibility study.
This month (Aug), the corporations sealed the Russian joint enterprise agreement with Sinopec taking a stake of 25% plus one share in the KZSK site. The deal, recently approved by both Russian and Chinese regulators, gives Sinopec a director on the JV board.
“This joint venture is representative of SIBUR’s continuing relationship with Sinopec. China is a major consumer of KZSK-produced nitrile butadiene rubbers. With a strong partner like Sinopec on board, we can ramp up KZSK’s capacity and drive growth in synthetic rubber sales,” commented Sibur executive director Vladimir Razmunov.
The venture shareholders have already been considering expanding the jointly run Krasnoyarsk site capacity from 42,500 tpa to 56,000 tpa. Major consumers of synthetic rubbers produced by KZSK are manufacturers of rubber products for the mechanical engineering, automotive, aerospace and tractor industries.