SIBUR and Sinopec sign framework cooperation agreement to produce SEBS

St Petersburg, 17 September 2019. During a working meeting between the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang, SIBUR Holding (SIBUR) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) signed a framework cooperation agreement to produce SEBS (styrene, ethylene and butylene-based block copolymers).

SEBS is a pelletised modifier for thermoplastics used to impart elasticity to plastic materials or as a primary polymer to produce elastic components. SEBS boasts excellent durability and is leveraged across a variety of industries such as plastics and bitumen modification, adhesives, modification compounds, and toys.

Under the agreement, SIBUR and Sinopec will establish a 50/50 joint venture (JV) in Russia to produce at least 20 ktpa of SEBS.

Pavel Lyakhovich, member of the Management Board, Managing Director at SIBUR, said:

“By various estimates, global consumption of SEBS ranges from 200 to 270 ktpa adding 5–7% each year. This product has a very strong potential thanks to its unique properties and increasingly diverse applications. Russia, however, has to import SEBS because of no local production. These factors, taken together, open up great prospects for the SIBUR-Sinopec project.”