Sibur Holding PJSC (Moscow), Russia’s biggest producer of petrochemicals, has announced plans to transform the business management model of its plastics and synthetic rubber activities to focus on the Russian market, starting in April. Since the war in Ukraine began in 2022, Russian exporters have faced international sanctions that have limited their ability to ship products to many countries, said the company.
Sibur said in a statement March 22 that it would transition from a structure focused on product divisions to an industry-based model.
The company currently has three plastics and rubber divisions: basic polymers, plastics and organic synthesis, and synthetic rubbers. Sibur plans to replace these by creating 11 industry-based divisions. The new divisions are agribusiness, recycling, flexible packaging, rigid packaging, engineering and transport infrastructure, healthcare, oil and gas processing and production, consumer goods, construction, transport and e-commerce and partnerships.
Sibur said that the primary goal of the reorganization is to satisfy demand from Russian customers that are meeting the needs of “socially important industries.”
Sibur noted that it has more than doubled output of the company’s core products since 2014 and brought new products to market every year to replace items that are “less eco-friendly and less energy-efficient,” as well as substitute imports and expand niches for well-established products. In 2023, the company said it launched 27 new grades of petrochemical product with potential sales of 111,000 metric tons per year. In the past 10 years, consumption of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene in Russia has increased by 35%, but the country’s overall imports of polymers have decreased by more than 30%, Sibur said.
The gradual ramp-up to design capacity at Sibur’s previously announced Amur gas chemical complex in Russia’s Far East and the company’s new PP production facility at Tobolsk, Western Siberia, which is expected to begin operating in the next few years, will help further increase polymer consumption in Russia and facilitate the development of import-substitution programs for finished products, it said.
“Sibur’s vision is to support the comprehensive development of every petrochemical-consuming industry, to meet growing demand and to promote the use of high-tech materials,” the company said.
Russia has strong growth potential for polymers, according to Sibur. Polymers are used in 37% of packaging in Russia, well below an average of 50% in other countries, it said. Russian consumption of polymer solutions in the housing and utilities sector is about 40%, less than half the figure of 85% in Europe, the company said. Per capita consumption of polymers in “developed countries” is ahead of demand in Russia, it said. Sibur cited the example of Turkey, which consumes 52 kg of polymers per capita, compared with 30 kg in Russia.
The transition to an industry-based model will expand opportunities for Russian manufacturers to sell their products by encouraging the use of domestic solutions and finding new niches for their use, the company said. “Sibur’s new model will enable its customers to work alongside the company to test ideas and hypotheses for the development of product lines and applications,” it said.
We remind, SIBUR, Russia's largest producer of polymers and rubbers, summarised the company's key operational results for 2023 at the Ruplastica international trade fair, which was held in Moscow on 23–26 January 2024, said the company. In 2023, SIBUR ramped up the sales of its key products, with the share of supplies to the Russian market rising to 75%.
mrchub.com