Russia's Sibur Finalizes $25 Million Investment Plans for Adoption of New Rubber Production Technology

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Sibur Group (Moscow, Russia), a leading petrochemicals firm, has finalized plans to invest more than $25 million to transfer a part of its production capacity for synthetic cis-polybutadiene rubber to employ the divinyl neodymium catalysts system technology (SKD-ND), and to commence production of soluble butadiene-styrene rubber (DSSK) at its operating unit Voronezhsintezkauchuk JSC (Voronezh, Russia). This move is being initiated in order to supply rubber of higher quality to the domestic market, as leading tire manufacturers are establishing production sites in Russia.

The Voronezhsintezkauchuk plant currently produces 160,000 tons per year of polybutadiene rubber, of which 70,000 tons per year would be produced using the new technology. Sibur intends to transit its entire production capacity to the new SKD-ND technology in the future, subject to favorable market conditions in terms of demand for the product. Polybutadiene rubber currently accounts for 40% of the total output of Voronezhsintezkauchuk JSC, which also produces butadiene acrylonitrile rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber.

Compared to the titanium-catalysts system, the SKD-ND technology is capable of producing higher quality rubber in terms of wear resistance, durability and environmental impact. Rubber produced using this technology would be used to manufacture tires in the mid- to high-price range.

The new product, soluble butadiene-styrene rubber (DSSK), also facilitates production of tires with improved grip capacity as compared to rubber produced using emulsion polymerization. The product is a copolymer of styrene and butadiene, and is produced in a solution polymerization process. This grade of rubber has high performance characteristics such as low hysteresis loss, low heat build-up, low rolling resistance, and high wet grip resistance. The product is available in two variants--DSSK-2545 and DSSK-2545-27M. It is a part of the "Green Tire" program currently being implemented by Sibur to produce reliable and more environmentally friendly tires.

Most of the modified technology solutions were implemented at the firm's research and development centers, resulting in economic benefits as energy costs were curtailed 5-7%. Presently, potential customers are examining test samples. Based on the test results, the manufacture of the new products would be undertaken at full production capacity.

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