Russian petrochemical and plastics giant Sibur has started building a maleic anhydride (MA) plant at Tobolsk. The 45,000 t/y facility is scheduled to start up in 2021.

Technology is being supplied by Italian engineering contractor Conser – Sibur agreed to take a license for the project back in October 2016.

Output from the plant, which will be Russia’s first to produce MA, will fully substitute the country’s imports of the intermediate, which is used as a feedstock for films, synthetic fibers, pharmaceuticals, detergents, fuel components and oils. Sibur will also be able to export MA volumes to markets in western and eastern Europe as well as Turkey.

Russia’s NIPIgaspererabotka is developing the project engineering. Sibur said it would select Russian contractors, including those based in the Tyumen region, for construction and installation.