Russian petrochemicals major Sibur plans to increase exports to India from Far East

New Delhi: Russian petrochemicals major Sibur, which has a significant presence in India, is planning to increase its exports to India from the Russian Far East, Sibur International CEO Andrey Frolov has told ET.

"Exporting polymers to India is currently challenging due to the long logistics route. Our existing plants are in the middle of Eurasia. However, when we launch the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (GCC) in the Russian Far East, we expect to significantly increase polymer exports to India," Frolov told ET in an exclusive interaction.

The Russian Far East is well connected with Indian Eastern and Southern coasts via the Eastern Maritime Corridor or the Vladivostok-Chennai shipping route.


The Amur GCC will become the world's largest polymer production facility aimed at supplying the Asian region. This is a large-scale project designed to produce 2.7 million tons of polymers (polyethylene and polypropylene) per year, Frolov said. Global polymer production is currently increasing, creating a surplus in the market. In such a situation, the most modern large-scale plants focused on environmentally friendly production, such as the Amur GCC, are in an advantageous position, he said.

“India could become one of the target markets for Sibur after the plant is operational. Currently, we are working on new logistics routes to India, taking advantage of the favourable geographic location of the Amur GCC in the east of the country.”

India is one of the most important markets for Sibur, and the company has had a presence there for over a decade. Sibur's strategic partner in India is Reliance Industries, and a joint venture to produce butyl rubber, launched in 2019, has been successful, Frolov pointed out.

“We have started supplying maleic anhydride (MAN) to India, which is a basic raw material for unsaturated polyester resins, copolymers with acrylic acid, epoxy resin hardeners, and additives for lubricating oils. MAN is used in construction, automotive manufacturing, and the production of paint and coating materials. The use of MAN allows achieving high product strength as well as resistance to moisture, sharp temperature fluctuations, and mechanical impacts. Currently, the volumes shipped to India are small, but we see significant potential for increasing deliveries,” he said.

Sibur owns a 25% stake in the joint venture Reliance Sibur Elastomers Private Ltd, with a total investment of around $600 million. “We are pleased with the progress of this project. In 2019, the joint venture began producing butyl rubber at Reliance's petrochemical complex in Jamnagar, and in 2021, it started producing halogenated butyl rubber.

These types of products are in demand in the tire and pharmaceutical industries,” according to Frolov.

Sibur is also currently in negotiations with Indian companies about selling its carbon credits, which will allow them to reduce their carbon footprint.