Sibur notes butadiene market recovery

Moscow – Sibur’s Elastomers business saw a recovery is butadiene prices recovered in the second half of 2020, the Russian petrochemicals group has reported.

The pick-up was linked to disruptions in natural rubber supplies in the third quarter and capacity shutdowns in Asia in the final three months, Sibur said in its 2020 financial results. 

The supply-side issues occurred amid higher demand from both automotive and hygiene/medical segments in China and other Asian markets, the group noted 11 Feb.

Global shutdowns by automotive manufacturers had sharply reduced demand for elastomers, especially for tires, in the second quarter of last year. 

As well as the fall-off in demand, Sibur’s elastomers volumes declined due to the sale of Togliatti-based facilities to Tatnef in fourth quarter of 2019.

At time-of-sale, the facility had capacity to produces 82 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of emulsion styrene butadiene (ESBR 60) and butyl rubber (IIR75).

Sibur's Elastomers business is positioned within a Plastics, Elastomers & Intermediates (PE&I) segment which reported a 16% year-on-year decline in revenues for 2020, to $253 million.

Elastomers represented 32% of PE&I segment revenues in 2020, down from 36% the previous year.