Sibur, Solvin commission plant to produce PVC, caustic soda
KSTOVO. Sept 19 (Interfax) - Russian petrochemicals company Sibur and Solvin, a Solvay-BASF JV, have commissioned RusVinil, a plant with capacity to produce 330,000 tonnes of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and 225,000 tonnes of caustic soda, an Interfax correspondent reported from the launch ceremony.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also attended the ceremony.
"I genuinely congratulate you on this wonderful event. To many, the production of PVC may not seem like much to say, but if one mentions that this product is used in an entire array of industries - from the construction [industry] to automotive production - it becomes clear how important this is for the Russian economy," Putin said.
He added that the new enterprise was one of the largest companies in Europe. "This is another step towards developing petrochemicals in our country, another investments made in real production."
RusVinil is a 50/50 joint venture between Sibur and Solvin Holding Nederland B.V., 79% of which belongs to SolVin, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) owns 21%.
Investments in the project were over 60 billion rubles, or 1.4 billion euro. The project was financed using the funds of JV participants and borrowed funds of 750 million euro from a consortium of banks, including Sberbank , the EBRD, HSBS, BNP Paribas and ING, guaranteed by export credit agencies. Construction began in 2010.
PVC is used to produce plastic cards, toys, linoleum, window profiles, footwear, sports equipment, furniture, and in the construction and automotive industries. World PVC consumption totals 38.5 million tonnes, while consumption in Russia is 1.1 million tonnes. A total of 600,000 tonnes of PVC was created in Russia in 2013, and imports totaled 500,000 tonnes.
