Rustam Minnikhanov takes part in putting new facilities into production of halobutyl rubber in Nizhnekamskneftekhim

On 18 December the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov took part in putting new facilities into production of halobutyl rubber at Nizhnekamskneftekhim Company which is a part of the SIBUR.

Being the only manufacturer of halobutyl rubber in Russia, the Nizhnekamskneftekhim Company completed modernization of production of this product, raising the capacity from 150 to 200 thousand tonnes a year. Today the SIBUR produces 25 per cent of butyl and halobutyl rubber in the world and the Nizhnekamskneftekhim is the largest halobutyl rubber producer in the world. Having launched new production capacities with 8bn rubles of investments, the SIBUR has strengthened the world leadership of Russia in rubber production for ecological tyres.

Speaking at the ceremony, Rustam Minnikhanov said: ”Today we are witnessing a milestone event. 50 years ago the plant manufactured the first butyl rubber with the planned capacity of 35 thousand tonnes a year. Today we are launching new capacities for production of galobutyl rubber. This is a deep modernization project with increased production capacities, introduction of new automation systems and following all modern ecological requirements. The total amount of investments is 8bn rubles and taking into account all difficulties caused by sanctions you managed to fulfill the task. The work has been done at the highest level. We watch the development of the petrochemical complex very attentively as it is the basis of our economy.”

The renewed production will cover 100 per cent of Russian market demand in domestic produced halobutyl rubber and increase amount of Russian non-raw materials export of marginal produce due to friendly countries markets such as China, Thailand, Vietnam and India.

In his turn the Chairman of the SIBUR Board and its Director General Mikhail Karisalov said:”  “This is really the most advanced production of rubber today. We started its modernization already in 2020 before SIBUR purchased assets in Tatarstan. It was smart and quality work but because of externa factors we had to change solutions drastically. At the same time we have managed to preserve competitiveness, production capacity and the ecological safety of the new facility with future proof for 15-20 years.”

After the launch of new capacities Rustam Minnikhanov visited construction sites of the SIBUR investments projects at the Nizhnekamskneftekhim and took part in a meeting discussing issues of further development of the enterprise, such as construction of the new ethylene complex EP-600 which will facilitate the development of polymer processing cluster in Tatarstan, implementation of new projects of ethylene monetization and construction of the hexene production installation.