News archive for April, 2012
Moscow, 28 April 2012: Dmitry Konov, CEO of Russian petrochemical holding company SIBUR, and Wang Tianpu, President of ChinaPetrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group), today signed a cooperation agreement during the Russian-Chinese Forum on commercial investment cooperation.
The signing of the agreement was witnessed by Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Li Keqiang, the VicePremier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.
The agreement forms the basis for the creation of a joint venture (JV) for the production of butadiene nitrile rubber in Krasnoyarsk (Russia). Sinopec plans to acquire 25% plus 1 share in the Krasnoyarsk rubber plant. The companies will consider expanding the plant’s current production capacity from 42,000 tonnes to 56,000 tonnes per year.
The cooperation agreement describes the mechanism for the financing of the JV, as well as arrangements relating to share capital, management, raw material supply and marketing.
A final decision on the establishment of the JV is expected by the end of 2012.
Background information:
Sinopec Corp. is a large scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its principal business includes: exploring, developing, producing and trading crude oil and natural gas; producing, storing, transporting and distributing and marketing petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products. Sinopec is China’s largest manufacturer and supplier of petroleum products and major petrochemical products. It is the second largest producer of crude oil in China. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally. The Company has 30,000 sales and distribution networks of oil products and chemical products, its service stations is now ranked third largest in the world. Sinopec Group, the parent company, is ranked the 5th in Fortune Global 500 in 2011. Sinopec listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai (CH：600028；HKEX：386；NYSE: SNP；LSE: SNP).
SIBUR is the largest petrochemical company in Russia and Eastern Europe, one of the fastest growing petrochemical companies in the world and in the top three by EBITDA margin in the petrochemical industry globally. The Company is one of the top two European synthetic rubbers producers.
SIBUR operates across the entire petrochemical process chain from gas processing, production of monomers, plastics and synthetic rubbers to the processing of plastics. SIBUR is a vertically integrated company with its gas processing facilities providing feedstock for its petrochemical production. SIBUR’s export sales are around 40-45%. The company has trade houses in Europe and China.
The government of Ukraine is considering amending current regulations to raise import duties on polymers and polymer products, says European Plastics News.
According to the draft law, duties on imports of ethylene copolymers, propylene, styrene and PET will be raised to 6.5%. from the current 1%. Duties on unmixed PVC and vinyl chloride copolymers will be increased to 5% from the current 0%. In addition, import duties on finished products made of polymers are expected to increase to 10% from 6.5%.
At present, Ukraine depends heavily on the imports of polymers and is a net importer of products such as copolymers of ethylene, propylene and styrene, vinyl chloride polymers and esters.
The amendments are expected to come into force from the 1 July 2012 and will add €40m to the Ukrainian budget.
According to Marketreport, an international analyst agency in the field of polymers, total volume of the Ukrainian market of large-capacity polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene, unmixed polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and styrene plastics) amounted to about 720.000 tonnes in 2011. The share of imports was more than 83%.
Ukraine has its own producers of these products, which are not able to cover all the needs of the market. In recent years, the biggest volume of imports has been observed in the case of polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride, which last year amounted to 92% and 81% of the market, respectively.
Eugene Gerden (European Plastics News)
NIZHNY TAGIL, Russia – April 2, 2012 – SI Group, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of chemical intermediates, and UCP Chemicals AG one of the leading Russian producers of synthetic resins and plastics announce that they have reached an agreement to form a joint venture to market products in the friction, abrasives and rubber resin market segments.
The joint venture, URALCHIMPLAST SI GROUP, will be based in Nizhny Tagil, Russia and will offer a full range of products to meet the growing market demand in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries of the former USSR. URALCHIMPLAST SI GROUP will provide the market with advanced solutions based on specific needs and production requirements of each customer. The company’s broad product portfolio will include resins for applications in rubber, abrasives, and friction. The new venture will begin operation on April 2, 2012 and will serve as the exclusive supplier of the previously mentioned products manufactured by SI Group and Uralchimplast in the countries of the former USSR, including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
”This new venture will allow us to provide our customers with even more effective solutions. By combining the capabilities of SI Group and UCP Chemicals AG, we will be able to offer local expertise and production combined with global product development and industry knowledge.” Stephen Haller, SI Group’s Vice President explained.
“For Uralchimplast this new joint venture marks another important step to provide our customers with world class products and service solutions in combination with our history of long lasting and mutually beneficial business relationships.” Norbert Wieser, CEO of UCP Chemicals AG pointed out.
About SI Group
SI Group is a family-owned company founded in 1906 and headquartered in Schenectady, New York. A leading global developer and manufacturer of phenolic resins, alkylphenolic resins, alkylated phenols and other chemical intermediates, SI Group operates 20 facilities in 10 countries around the world.
About UCP Chemicals AG
UCP Chemicals AG based in Vienna, Austria is a leading player in Russia’s chemical industry and benefits from significant competitive advantages offered by its production facilities in Nizhniy Tagil, Russia. UCP has concluded several long-term partnerships with international market leaders to develop the Russian and former USSR markets.
URALCHIMPLAST is an affiliate company of UCP Chemicals AG. It was founded in 1938 and is located in Nizhny Tagil, Russia. Uralchimplast produces industrial resins used in production of heat insulation, wood working, abrasives, refractory, friction materials, foundry, noise insulation, plastics, varnishes and other materials. Uralchimplast is producing in Nizhniy Tagil and has developed a net of warehouses in Moscow, Sankt-Petersburg, Togliatti, Novosibirsk and Rostov-on-Don.