Polief upgrade boosts Sibur's PET capacity 30%, Bashkortostan's - 50%
BLAGOVEHCHENSK. April 16 (Interfax) - Polief has completed an upgrade that boosts PET production capacity to 210,000 tonnes a year from 140,000 tonnes previously, an Interfax correspondent reported from the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was attended by Bashkortostan President Rustem Khamitov and Dmitry Konov, the CEO of parent company Sibur.
Khamitov said plans were under discussion previously to create capacity to produce 600,000-800,000 tonnes of terephthalic acid (TPA) a year at Polief. However, there is not currently enough available feedstock - paraxylene - to do that, he said.
Konov said: "We are discussing the phased development of capacity at Polief. The next phase will be expansion of TPA capacity, which is a PET input." For now those plans hinge on the actions of a competitor, he said, "but we will be happy to implement them."
It was reported earlier that Bashneft , which supplies the paraxylene Polief uses to produce TPA, plans in future to supply paraxylene to a new TPA production facility belonging to a competitor, United Petrochemical Company (UPC).
According to Polief materials, 250,000 tonnes of TPA - made using 160,000 tonnes of paraxylene - are required to produce 210,000 tonnes of PET. The TPA produced by Polief - currently Russia's sole producer of the substance, is consumed at Polief and delivered to the Sibur-PET facility in Tver. A portion of TPA output is supplied to outside enterprises.
The other PET producers in Russia are Alko-Nafta with capacity to produce 220,000 tonnes a year and Solnechnogorsk Polymer plant (Senezh) - about 100,000 tonnes. Sibur-PET has capacity to produce 70,000 tonnes of PET a year.
The capacity upgrade at Polief included reconstruction of the current PET facility and construction of a new production line, Sibur said in a press release. The project aims to utilize Polief's TPA production and to replace imports on individual segments of the PET market in Russia. Investment in the project, which was included on the list of Bashkortostan's priority projects, totaled 1.9 billion rubles.
Polief approved expansion of PET production capacity in December 2010. Construction work began in December 2012 was completed in December 2013. Equipment for the modernization was supplied by manufacturers in 35 countries, and over 70 contracting enterprises took part, of which 70% from Bashkortostan and the rest from other Russian regions.
Representatives of technology licensers Italian Bio Chemtex and Belgian UOP were present for testing of the new capacity.
The upgrade boosts Sibur's overall PET capacity 30% to 285,000 tonnes a year. Russia produced 405,000 tonnes of PET in 2013 and consumed 580,000 tonnes. Imports last year totaled 188,000 tonnes.
This year, Sibur forecasts that Russia will produce 563,000 tonnes of PET and consume 597,000 tonnes, according to a company presentation. Imports will amount to 42,000 tonnes.
