Sibur expands LDPE, PP capacities at Western Siberia plant

OOO Tomskneftekhim, a subsidiary of Russian conglomerate PJSC Sibur Holding, Moscow, has completed a project to expand capacity and upgrade the quality of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) production at its Tomsk manufacturing plant in the eastern part of Western Siberia.

Launched in October 2012 and fully commissioned on Sept. 15, the expansion and upgrading project at Tomsk required a total investment of more than 10 billion rubles net of VAT, Sibur said.

As a result of the capacity expansion, LDPE production has increased to 270,000 tonnes/year from 245,000 tpy, while PP production has risen to 140,000 tpy from its previous capacity of 130,000 tpy.

The major upgrade at Tomsk comes as part of Sibur’s program to improve the quality and quantity of polymers produced in Russia to help satisfy increased domestic demand and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign imports, said Sibur Chairman Dmitry Konov.

Commissioning of the expanded plant follows mechanical completion of reconstruction and modernization works on the LDPE unit, which occurred during Tomsk’s annual preventative-maintenance turnaround that ended in early August, Tomskneftekhim said.

The reconstructed LDPE-270 is equipped with proprietary process technology from Basell Polyolefine GMBH, a German subsidiary of LyondellBasell Industries NV, Tomskneftekhim said.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].