First product during commissioning
Interfax reported on 26 August 2025 that SIBUR had received its first commercial hexene the preceding day during commissioning at Nizhnekamskneftekhim in Russia. The company’s chief executive said its proprietary technology was working. The facility’s planned capacity was 50,000 tonnes annually.
- The first product accompanied commissioning.
- Capacity was a project specification.
Earlier project milestones
The September 2022 technology announcement
In its 1 September 2022 announcement, SIBUR described a technology developed by its NIOST and Polylab research centres over several years. Laboratory piloting had succeeded, and the company planned to build the industrial facility at Nizhnekamskneftekhim. It then envisaged commissioning in the second half of 2024. The announcement linked the project to imports of hexene used in polymer production and to the needs of partners as well as SIBUR. Ethylene from the EP-600 complex was designated as feedstock. SIBUR said hexene would widen the properties available in special polyethylene grades.
Equipment installation reported in July 2023
The next equipment report, dated through a press-service republication on 11 July 2023, recorded 25 installed units. These included two 18.5-tonne storage tanks and a 54-tonne vessel manufactured in the Nizhny Novgorod region. SIBUR planned six further large deliveries, including river transport, and prepared routes for heavy cargo. It reported project progress of 31%, completed piling and foundations, and continuing steelwork and pipe assembly. The operating team was being formed with a planned 108 positions. Domestic equipment was intended to account for 90% of the project’s equipment.
Electrical commissioning in July 2024
On 4 July 2024, SIBUR reported commissioning work at the RP-50 substation, the project’s first-priority object. It expected energisation in August after the necessary regulatory approvals. An existing 110-kilovolt substation would supply the installation; a six-kilovolt switchgear unit and two of four transformer substations had already been built. The remaining two were scheduled for completion by year-end. Main process-equipment deliveries were complete and overall project progress was reported at 75%. At this stage the company scheduled the production installation’s launch for 2025, rather than the year stated in the original announcement.
The closed flare in January 2025
SIBUR’s 13 January 2025 flare announcement reported completed installation of a closed system comprising 96 automatic multi-jet burners. Utilities needed for ignition had reached mechanical readiness, while preparatory commissioning and leak tests continued. Ignition was planned for late January. The company described construction-and-installation progress of 79.9%, separately from overall project progress above 87%. It said the domestically designed system would improve operational safety and environmental performance. The release still placed the production launch in 2025.
Leave a comment