Sibur advances ZapSib plant ramp-up in Russia

London — Russian petrochemicals producer Sibur hopes to achieve consistent production and expand the grade portfolio in the next stages of the start-up of its ZapSibNeftekhim (ZapSib) complex.

During a results presentation in London Thursday, Sibur executives also said around 326,000 mt of polyethylene and polypropylene -– produced by the plant since its start-up in the third quarter of 2019 -– had been sold.

The company declined to provide details on the current operating capacity of the facility or a date for when it will begin running at capacity.

The plant produced around 209,000 mt of polypropylene and around 117,000 mt polyethylene last year, said Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the company's management board.

The difference in volume was due to the PP unit starting production ahead of the PE unit, by sourcing propylene from the neighboring facility, leading to a nearly 2:1 production ratio.

"We have used propylene from SiburTobolsk PP production and imported PE powder. After we have launched the cracker we have started using ZapSib's own feedstock," a spokesperson said.

"[For the] first volumes, we have used propylene from SIBUR Tobolsk PP production and imported PE powder. After we launched the cracker, we started using ZapSib's own feedstock."

The next step was to achieve consistent production of both polyolefins, at close to 100% utilization, with company aiming to produce at 90% of the industry average in the next 6-12 months, he said.

According to Sergey Komyshan, executive director, later steps will include expanding the grade portfolio and production of high specification products that the market needs.