Sinopec, Sibur agree joint rubber venture

Sinopec Corp., China's top oil refiner, on Tuesday inked an agreement with Russia-based petrochemical firm Sibur to set up a synthetic rubber joint venture in Shanghai.

The two sides agreed to set up a factory to produce 50,000 tonnes of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) every year. Sinopec will hold 74.9 percent of the stake, while Sibur will take the remaining 25.1 percent.

The new company will be located at Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, about 50 kilometers south of urban Shanghai.

The deal covers a license to use Sibur's NBR production technology, while experts from Sibur will participate in the construction, production and commercial operations.

Sinopec and Sibur established an NBR joint venture in Russia's Krasnoyarsk in 2013. Sinopec holds 25 percent plus one shares in that joint venture, which targets the Chinese market as a major destination of its products, mostly via Sinopec or its partners' sales channels in China.

Sibur will enable the company "to develop a highly competitive production facility in China and expand Sibur's footprint in the Asia market."

Due to its high resistance to aggressive agents, NBR is widely used in producing oil-and-petrol resistant industrial rubber products. NBR is essential in the production of aircraft fuel tank seals, fuel hoses, bag fuel tanks and aircraft window seals.