SIBUR starts shipping liquefied petroleum gas to China

Sibur announced today that earlier this month it signed a long-term contract with an undisclosed Chinese customer for regular supplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to the Chinese market. The product will be shipped by rail from the Nyagan gas processing plant owned by a subsidiary of Sibur. Initial volumes will be about 20,000 m.t./year, which are expected to increase in the future.

Sibur will be the first Russian company to supply LPG to China. When planning the transportation route, Sibur had to take into account the fact that there are no LPG transshipment facilities on the Russian-Chinese border. It therefore decided to supply the product in tank containers and further transport them through China by low loaders. A test shipment of LPG to China was made in July, which confirmed the efficiency of this approach.

Consumption of LPG in China is growing rapidly. It rose 9% in 2013 to reach 27.6 million m.t., according to IHS. Imports of LPG currently reach about 3 million m.t./year.