Krasnoyarsk to add nitrile rubber crumbing unit

By Richard Higgs, Crain staff

Krasnoyarsk, Russia -- Krasnoyarsk Synthetic Rubbers Plant, has announced plans to launch a "synthetic rubber powder production plant" in April next year.

The company, part of Russian petrochemicals giant JSC Sibur Holding, is investing around €1.12m of its own funds in the expansion project. The scheme should help reduce the cost of producing a range of rubber goods.

The rubber manufacturer, based in Siberia's third biggest city Krasnoyarsk, exports 80% of its production to China with the balance being consumed in the Russian market. KSRP claims to hold a 6% share of the world rubber market. On its website, the company says that in 1988 it had three lines making NBR, with a total capacity of just over 100 kt/year. However, in 1994 two of these shut down, leaving it with nominal capacity of 34.3 kt/year. This capacity is full, said the company.

KSRP, which was founded in 1961 to produce emulsion butadiene acrylonitrile rubber, is expected to record an annual output during 2008 of around 37,000 tonnes of different rubber grades. These products include various grades of BNKS (NBR) PVC and SKN (NBR). The company also claims to offer a substitute of chloroprene rubber, called Dinelast.

Sibur's synthetic rubbers business comprises eight Russian enterprises and covers the entire chain of operations needed to produce this type of feedstock.

These enterprises include the separation of individual hydrocarbons, production of monomers and manufacture of polymer rubbers.

From PRW (A Crain publication)