Sibur to build ethylene pipeline from NKNKh to Kazanorgsintez to double capacity

Russian petchem firm Sibur says it is preparing to implement a project to reconstruct the pipeline that supplies ethylene from PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim to PJSC Kazanorgsintez.

Sibur says it intends to construct the new Nizhnekamsk-Kazan main ethylene pipeline with modern safety and oversight systems to replace the current ethylene pipeline built in 1976, with commissioning scheduled for 2026.

“Stable transportation of ethylene will be required from Nizhnekamskneftekhim to Kazanorgsintez following the launch of Sibur’s EP-600 flagship project. The new 254-km-long ethylene pipeline should increase the pumping of ethylene approximately 2.5-fold to 500,000 tonnes/year and ensure the loading of promising polyethylene production projects at Kazanorgsintez. The diameter of the ethylene pipeline will also increase in order to ensure reliable pumping of this volume,” Sibur said.

The ethylene pipeline will be laid along a new route, bypassing Kazan. Although the route will be more expensive for Sibur, it should ensure better operating safety of the pipeline, the company said. Moreover, the project will render it possible to do without establishing additional protective zones that would limit the development of Tatarstan’s capital city.

“The new ethylene pipeline should allow providing for Kazanorgsintez’s growing needs for ethylene for new production facilities, while also ensuring the reliable and stable operation of Nizhnekamskneftekhim’s new EP-600 production facility,” Igor Klimov, a member of Sibur’s management board and Nizhnekamskneftekhim’s chairman of the board of directors, said in the statement.

The company furthered that capacity will increase and demand for ethylene will rise following the launch of the second polymerisation line, reactor B, after modernisation at Kazanorgsintez. Moreover, the enterprise’s investment program envisages boosting productivity of polyethylene production.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim is one of the largest producers of synthetic rubber globally and plastics in Russia. Kazanorgsintez is one of the largest producers of polyethylene and the sole producer of polycarbonates in Russia. Both enterprises have been part of Sibur since October 2021.