Sibur says shifts to yuan in trade settlements with China in 2022

MOSCOW, May 31 (PRIME) -- Russia’s petrochemical giant Sibur completely shifted to the Chinese yuan in its trade settlements with China, as well as to the Vietnamese dong in the settlements with Vietnam, and to the Turkish lira in the settlements with Turkey in 2022, Director of the company’s basic polymers department Pavel Lyakhovich said in an interview with PRIME released on Wednesday.

“We have trading in dongs with Vietnam, and we have fully shifted to the yuan with China. We sell in liras to Turkey. But we will also get familiar with other exotic foreign currencies,” he said.

Lyakhovich said that Sibur has started selling polymers to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and Malaysia but there is still some uncertainty in logistic costs.

India may become one of Sibur’s target markets when the Amur gas chemical plant is launched, he also said.

“India is not a target market for our present facilities because they are located in the western part of Russia… But we watch the market closely and work on new routes to India… When the Amur gas chemical plant is launched, we will be able to reach India from the other side, from the east, and then it will become a target market for us,” he said.

Sibur’s share in China’s polymer imports can also rise from the current 2–3% after the facility in launched, he added.

The Amur gas chemical plant will have a capacity of 2.7 million tonnes of polymers annually, including 2.3 million tonnes of polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polypropylene. The facility is to be launched in 2024–2025.

Lyakhovich said that Sibur is interested in northern and partially western Africa in terms of logistics, but not Africa’s eastern part, and there is high competition from the UAE.

He also said that Russia’s share on the global polyethylene and polypropylene market can double to 5% from 2.4% until 2030.

(80.6872 rubles – U.S. $1)

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