The open joint stock company Polief is Russia’s only manufacturer of terephthalic acid and one of Russia’s three producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Its main shareholder is SIBUR, a vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemical company.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is an environmentally friendly synthetic linear thermoplastic polymer that is widely used for manufacturing packaging for carbonated water, baby food, medicines, and household chemicals. Terephthalic acid is the main source material for the production of PET.
The capacity of the polyester-making plant is 250,000 tonnes of terephthalic acid and 140,000 tonnes of PET per year.
The investment programme Expanding the Production of Polyethylene Terephthalate by Polief is designed to increase the production capacity of PET to 210,000 tonnes per year. The goal of the project is to use the terephthalic acid produced by the enterprise itself to make products with high added value and thus replace imports in some segments of the Russian market. The investment totals 1.9 billion roubles.
In conjunction with the Corporation for the Development of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Polief will form the foundation of the Khimterra industrial park. The priorities of its residents – small- and medium-sized businesses – will be low-tonnage chemistry and polymer processing. The volume of investment in the infrastructure of the industrial park is 195 million roubles.
Over 25 hectares of land owned by Polief will be used for building the industrial park. During the first phase, the residents will be located in the company’s repair shops and warehouses, with an area of 27,000 square metres. To ensure smooth and efficient operation, the enterprise will make all of its infrastructure available for the project.
The chemical industry accounts for about 1.5% of Russia’s GDP. The volume of shipped products is estimated at 2.5 trillion roubles, and investments in fixed assets amount to about 226 billion roubles.
Chemicals make up a big part of Russia’s foreign trade: up to one-third of the shipped chemicals aare exported, which generates about $25-$27 billion in revenue, or 5% of the entire foreign exchange earnings.
In 2008-2012, the chemical industry was on the rise (except during the economic crisis). At the end of the first five months of 2013, the industrial production indices for the chemical sector stood at 103.4%. Specifically, chemical production amounted to 101.9%, rubber and plastic products 108.3%, which is higher than the corresponding indices for manufacturing industries in general, which stood at 100.2%.
According to forecasts, industrial chemical production will keep increasing to 2015 and amount to 117.2% overall, including chemical production 117.5%, and rubber and plastic products production 116.7%, whereas the average industrial growth was 109.1%.
Production of chemical products is up as well. Production of plastic and synthetic resins, chemical fibers and threads, paints, synthetic rubbers and caustic soda increased in 2012 as compared to 2011, and is expected to increase from 2013 through 2015 as a result of several innovation-driven and investment projects. The highest growth rates are expected in the production of synthetic resins and plastics – by 60%, including polyethylene by 40%, polypropylene by 120% , polystyrene by 60%, polyvinyl chloride by 50%, and polyethylene terephthalate by 70%. Other chemical products’ output will grow by 20%-30%. Only the output of soda ash and fertilisers will rise by an average of 5%.
Consumption of chemical products increased across the board in 2012 as compared to 2011. In 2015, the domestic market is projected to grow even further: synthetic resins and plastics by an average of 40%, including polyethylene by 30%, polypropylene by 50%, polystyrene by 50%, polyvinyl chloride by 30%, polyethylene terephthalate by 40%, chemical fibers and yarns by 20%, paints and varnishes by 30%, and fertilizers by 0.4%.
Further growth of the domestic chemical market’s capacity can be achieved with higher demand from key industrial consumers of chemical products, such as machine engineering, light industry, construction industry, agriculture and others.
Low- and medium-conversion products account for 90% of the exports nomenclature. Fertilizers and synthetic rubbers stand separately in the chemical exports. These products have been mostly exported over the past 20 years, namely, 80% of fertilizers and over 50% of rubbers. The share of high-conversion products in the exports of chemical products is under 10%.
Imports, however, are outweighed by products of high- and medium-conversion (up to 80%), primarily, fine chemical products, such as plastics, paints, dyes, chemicals, additives, catalysts, and so on, that is, a wide range of products that are not manufactured in Russia or do not meet quality and assortment requirements.
Investment in fixed assets designed to promote the development of the chemical industry grew by 50% in 2012 compared to 2011, amounting to 225.6 billion roubles. Foreign investment increased by 20% and reached $6.1 billion.