NIZHNEKAMSK, Tatarstan—Sibur Holding launched production at its newly upgraded halobutyl rubber (HBR) manufacturing facility at Nizhnekamsk.
The $89 million (RUB 8 billion) upgrade is designed to increase the sites HBR capacity by 50,000 metric tons per year to 200,000 tons. The project involved the installation of six new HBR production units and the revamp of 16 others, according to Sibur's Dec. 18 announcement.
The upgrade will meet domestic HBR demand and increase Russia's exports of high-margin materials to "friendly countries," such as China, Thailand, Vietnam and India.
The Russian unit is the world's largest HBR production site, the group said, which now claims to account for 25 percent of global butyl rubber and HBR output.
The plant licensor is Yarsintez Research Institute, and the general designer is Kazan National Research Technological University, a Sibur "anchor university."
"This rubber facility is indeed the most advanced of those that exist today. Its upgrade started back in 2020, before Sibur acquired assets in Tatarstan," said Mikhail Karisalov, chairman and CEO of Sibur.
The new production facilities are "up to the mark in terms of competitiveness, output, eco-friendliness and safety for the next 15–20 years," Karisalov added.
Despite the 30-percent increase in output, there will be no increase in the facility's environmental impact, according to Sibur.
The group also "made the project technologically independent by installing a modern automatic process control system made in Russia."