Russian chemical production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian ethylene production amounted to 3.030 million tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 3.086 million tons in January to August 2024, whilst propylene production dropped from 1.723 million tons to 1.688 million tons.  Benzene production fell from 912,108 tons to 870,770 tons.  In other area of aromatic production toluene dropped from 264,426 tons to 215,822 tons, whilst orthoxylene rose from 84,817 tons to 115,675 tons and paraxylene rose from 131,408 tons to 158,996 tons.

Ethylene glycol production dropped from 317,118 tons to 229,843 tons, mainly due to the reduction of ethylene deliveries from Kstovo to Dzerzhinsk in early 2025 due to drone damage.  Other products affected by drones include acetic acid where volumes dropped from 151,925 tons in the period January to August 2024 to 124,322 tons this year.  Production at the Nevinnomyssk plant was affected partially in July and August after Ukrainian drones struck the Azot on two occasions.   Methanol production at Nevinnomyssk was also affected in August after it was attacked in late July.  Overall, though total methanol production in Russia increased from 2.483 million tons in the first eight months in 2024 to 2.626 million tons in 2025.

Russian polymer production Jan-Aug 2025

Ethylene polymer production increased to 2.515 million tons in the first eight months against 2.404 million tons in the same period in 2024, whilst the production oof propylene polymers increased from 1.394 million tons to 1.433 million tons.   Processing of polymer pipes fell by 10.7% in the first eight months of 2025 to 670,778 tons, with other falls noted in other areas of plastics. 

Production of synthetic rubbers in the first eight months of 2025 amounted to 956,850 tons, against 934,655 tons than in the same period last year. The largest share of the increase was recorded in the first quarter.  Overall, this year the production of synthetic rubber increased predominantly on the basis of increased exports to China, helping to offset the decline in rubber consumption by the tyre industry. 

Attacks on Russian industrial assets

Drone attacks on chemical plants in the past month have included fertiliser plants in the Krasnodar and Perm regions, and an explosive plant in the Nizhniy Novgorod region.   The Sverdlov Plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region was hit by drones on 6 October.  The plant one of the largest manufacturers of explosives in Russia, and also manufactures aerial bombs, warheads for anti-tank cumulative guided missiles, and warheads for anti-aircraft missile systems.  The fertiliser plants include Evrokhim-Belorechensk and Azot at Berezniki.   

The Russian fuel crisis is starting to intensify as refineries try to repair the damage caused by Ukrainian drone attacks, and gasoline supply sees increasing restrictions.  Seventeen of the thirty-eight Russian refineries were hit by drones from the start of August to the 3 October, some on several occasions all of which is causing mayhem in some region for the sales of gasoline.  Attacks on refineries started intermittently in early 2024 but this year has seen a concentrated rise, particularly from August onwards.  All of these attacks are designed to bring Russia to a sensible negotiating table.

Russian ethylene production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian ethylene production totalled 3.030 million tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 3.086 million tons in January to August 2024.  ZapSibNeftekhim at Tobolsk produced 1.004 million tons in January to August 2025, down from 1.039 million tons from January to August 2024.  Stavrolen at Budyennovsk reduced production from 224,211 tons to 164,724 tons in 2025.  Production in the Volga region increased from 1.503 million tons in the first eight months last year to 1.508 million tons in the same period this year. 

Russian propylene production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian propylene production totalled 1.689 million tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 1.723 million tons in the same period in 2024.  ZapSibNeftekhim at Tobolsk reduced production from 665.231 tons in January to August 2024 to 626,633 tons this year, whilst the plants in the Volga region increased production from 633,824 tons to 650,124 tons.  Production at the Budyennovsk plant in the North Caucasus rose from 92,317 tons to 94,691 tons whilst in Siberia the combined production of the Tomsk and Angarsk plant resulted in 317,500 tons versus 331,150 tons last year.

Russian propylene domestic sales Jan-Aug 2025

Russian sales of propylene on the domestic merchant market amounted to 205,188 tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 284,980 tons in January to August 2024. 

Lukoil-NNOS increased propylene sales from 141,776 tons in the first eight months from 113,751 tons in the same period in 2024.  SIBUR-Kstovo reduced sales from 130,445 tons in the first eight months in 2024 to 45,336 tons in the same period this year. 

ZapSibNeftekhim reduced purchases of propylene in the first eight months to 12,393 tons against 55,438 tons in the same period in 2024.  Most consumers reduced merchant market purchases this year although the largest consumer Saratovorgsintez bought 116,987 tons against 113,489 tons. 

Russian butadiene production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian butadiene production increased in the first eight months of 2025 to 423,043 tons versus 463,635 tons in the same period last year.  Production at the three sites in the Volga region dropped from 178,346 tons to 161,451 tons.

Russian plastics production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian bulk plastics production amounted to 7.204 million tons in January to August 2025 against 7.283 million tons in the same period in 2024.  Production of total bulk plastics had achieved record levels in July bolstered by increases in polyolefin production at Kazanorgsintez and Nizhnekamskneftekhim, but volumes were lower in August with both PVC and styrene polymers witnessing falls.  Regarding applications, pipe production from polymers declined from 778,214 tons in the first eight months in 2024 to 670,778 tons in the same period in 2025.

Production of ethylene polymers in Russia amounted to 2.515 million tons in January to August 2025, up from 2.405 million tons in the same period in 2024. 

Regional production of ethylene polymers Jan-Aug 2025

The largest plant for the production of ethylene polymers is ZapSibNeftekhim at Tobolsk, located in the Ural Federal District.  ZapSibNeftekhim produced 1.024 million tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 1.060 million tons in January to August 2024, nearly all of which comprised main polyethylene grades HDPE and LLDPE.

The second largest region in Russia is the Volga Federal District where production increased from 766,935 tons in January to August 2024 to 899,377 tons in January to August 2025.  The Volga district includes producers from Bashkortostan including Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and Ufaorgsintez, and from Tatarstan Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez.   

Russian polyethylene trade Jan-Aug 2025

Russian polyethylene exports to China increased from 224,196 tons in January to August 2024 to 329,897 tons in the same period in 2025, with both HDPE and LDPE showing rises.   Average prices for Russian polyethylene exports to China dropped from $884.8 per ton to $839.3 per ton in the first six months in 2025. 

Inward shipments of polyethylene from China into Russia dropped in the eight months to 55,480 tons against 75,751 tons in January to August 2024.  Average prices increased from $1434.8 per ton to $1534.7 per ton this year.  The largest volume of imports consisted of ethylene-hexene copolymers where shipments into Russia amounted to 16,302 tons against 18,078 tons in the same period in 2024.  The production of ethylene-hexene polymers in Russia will soon be available in large volumes from the new hexene plant at Nizhnekamsk.  For other product areas, Chinese shipments of HDPE to the Russian market dropped from 9,086 tons in the eight months in 2024 to 3,883 tons in the same period this year whilst LLDPE volumes dropped from 20,589 tons to 14,396 tons. 

Imports of polyethylene shipments into Russia from South Korea dropped in the eight months to 42,479 tons from 83,959 tons in the same period last year.  Average prices dropped from $1342.1 per ton to $1238.0 per ton.

Russian polypropylene production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian production of propylene polymers totalled 1.434 million tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 1.428 million tons in the same period in 2024.  ZapSibNeftekhim reduced production from 708,029 tons to 699,926 tons in January to August 2025, whilst Stavrolen at Budyennovsk reduced production slightly from 91,157 to 95,756 tons.   The Siberian Federal District includes polypropylene plants at Omsk and Tomsk, where production fell from 228,559 tons to 224,638 tons.

Russian polypropylene trade Jan-Aug 2025

Revenues from Russian exports of polypropylene homo grade to China increased from $48.385 million in the first eight months last year to $84.044 million in the same period in 2025.  Russian polypropylene exports increased from 57,107 tons to 99,751 tons.  

Chinese exports of propylene polymers dropped to 20,037 tons in the first eight months against 24,732 tons in the same period last year.  Prices amounted to $2004.7 per ton in 2025, up from $1960.8 in 2024.  China largely exports higher value grades of propylene polymers to Russia. 

South Korean exports of propylene copolymers dropped in the first eight months to 16,488 tons against 28,770 tons in the same period in 2024.

Russian PVC market Jan-Aug 2025

PVC emulsion imports from China into Russia increased from 41,731 tons in the first eight months in 2024 to 55,611 tons in the same period in 2025.  Suspension grade imports increased from 42,161 tons to 66,618 tons.  Overall PVC shipments from China to Russia increased from 83,892 tons in the first eight months in 2024 to 122,229 tons in the same period this year. 

Overall, the production of PVC suspension grade in Russia amounted to 503,977 tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 580,228 in the same period in 2024.  Production of PVC suspension grade in Siberia decreased from 175,073 tons to 120,453 tons in the first eight months this year.  Emulsion grade PVC production increased from 14,291 tons in January to August 2024 to 16,503 tons in the same period in 2025.   Russian suspension grade PVC production in the Volga region was affected in August after the gas pipeline explosion at Sterlitamak on 9 August which affected the Kaustik plant. 

Russian PX-PTA-PET production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian paraxylene production amounted to 149,474 tons in the first eight months of 2025 against 166,168 tons in the same period in 2024.  Gazprom Neft at Omsk reduced production from 51,539 tons to 37,746 tons whilst Ufaneftekhim increased production from 79,869 tons to 82,454 tons.

PTA production at Polief amounted to 230,491 tons in the first eight months of 2025 against 243,393 tons in the same period last year. 

Russian PET production Jan-Aug 2025

Ekopet produced 169,681 tons of PET in the first eight months of 2025 against 146,311 tons in the same period in 2024, whilst the combined plants of Senezh and SIBUR-PETF produced 141,599 tons against 129,693 tons.  Polief reduced PET production in the first eight months in 2025 to 134,510 tons versus 147,016 tons last year.  PET production in Russia amounted to a total of 445,789 tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 423,020 tons in the same period in 2024. 

Russian PTA-MEG imports Jan-Aug 2025

Russian PTA imports from China amounted to 197,754 tons in the first eight months in 2025 versus 201,513 tons in the same period in 2024 and versus 169,680 tons in 2023.  The PTA imports from China are shipped to Ekopet at Kaliningrad by a combination of rail direct and by sea and rail. 

PTA import prices averaged $617.9 in the first eight months which was down from $761.7 in January to August 2024.  Values of PTA imports amounted to $122.188 million against $153.502 million in the first eight months in 2024.

Chinese shipments of PET to Russia amounted to 133,141 tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 134,453 tons in the same period in 2024.  Costs of Chinese PET import shipments into Russia dropped from $165.015 million to $143.097 million, which meant that average prices fell from $891.6 per ton to $790.0 per ton.  Besides some small volumes from Belarus, China is almost the only source of PET imports into Russia. 

Russia imported 38,780 tons of MEG from China in the first eight months against 46,698 tons in the same period in 2024.  Ethylene glycol production in Russia fell in the first eight months of 2025 to 229,843 tons against 317,118 tons in the same period in 2024.  Production is divided mainly between SIBUR-Neftekhim at Dzerzhinsk and Nizhnekamskneftekhim.  Polief buys MEG from both plants.

Russian synthetic rubber production Jan-Aug 2025

Synthetic rubber production in Russia amounted to 956,104 tons in January to August 2025 against 934,955 tons in the corresponding period in 2024.   Exports of synthetic rubber to China accounted for 51% of total production in January to August 2025 against 37% in 2024. 

The Siberian region increased production from 75,003 tons in January to August 2024 to 77,285 tons in the same period this year.     Voronezhsintezkaucuk is the main producer of synthetic rubber in the Central Federal District of Russia, where volumes decreased from 197,340 tons in the first eight months in 2024 to 149,887 tons this year.   Production was reduced at Voronezhsintezkaucuk in the early part this year due to the side-effects of drone attacks In late 2024.  

The Volga region accounted for 728,117 tons of Russian synthetic rubber production in the first eight months of 2025 against 661,407 tons in the same period in 2024.  This region provides the main basis for synthetic rubber production in Russia.

Although Russian synthetic rubber production increased in the first eight months this year, tyre producers reduced rubber consumption from roughly 248,200 tons in January to August 2024 to 220,100 tons in 2025. 

Synthetic rubber production by category Jan-Aug 2025

Isoprene rubber was the largest category of synthetic rubber production in Russia in the first eight months, amounting to 191,216 tons against 171,331 tons in the same period last year.  Isoprene rubber was followed by butadiene rubber where production amounted to 170,779 tons in the first eight months against 160,246 tons in January to August 2024.   The production of butadiene methylstyrene rubber rose fractionally in the first eight months last year from 144,998 tons to 155,829 tons whilst butyl rubber production increased from 77,812 tons to 92,754 tons.    The highest value rubber sold by Russia is halogenated butyl rubber where production dropped from 68.747 tons in the first eight months last year to 53,761 tons.

Russian Chinese rubber trade Jan-Aug 2025

Russian export revenues from synthetic rubber shipments to China totalled $746.644 million in January to August 2025 against $563.926 million in the same period in 2024. 

By volume Russian shipments of synthetic rubber to China amounted to 494,998 tons in the first eight months in 2025, which was up from 343,663 tons in the same period in 2024.  Butadiene rubber exports represented the largest category, rising from 79,378 tons in the first eight months in 2024 to 98,657 tons.  Exports of thermoplastic elastomers increased sharply from 43,700 tons to 88,817 tons.  Isoprene rubber exports rose from 43,700 tons to 97,351 tons.  

Russian methanol production Jan-Aug 2025

Russia produced 2.626 million tons of methanol in the first eight months in 2025 against 2.483 million tons in the same period in 2024.  Production amounted to 242,368 tons in August, which was the lowest monthly volume so far in 2025 and the lowest volume since July 2024.

The Volga region, including Metafrax Chemicals, Tomet and Ammoni, increased total production from 1.018 million tons to 1.147 million tons in the same period in 2025.  The Siberian Federal District (including Gazprom Methanol and Angarsk Petrochemical) increased production from 481,124 tons to 533,514 tons.   The Central region, which includes Shchekinoazot and Azot at Novomoskovsk, reduced production from 790,814 tons to 736,033 tons.  The Novomoskovsk plant has been idle since last year and according to reports has been mothballed.

Azot at Nevinnomyssk was attacked by drones on 14 June and 25 July 2025, and whilst these attacks have not stopped production August saw a drop to 4,998 tons against 9,248 tons in July.   Overall production of methanol at Nevinnomyssk dropped from 77,893 tons in the first eight months last year to 65,788 tons this year. 

Russian methanol exports Jan-Aug 2025

Russian methanol exports amounted to 1.031 million tons in January to August 2025 versus 821,213 tons in the same period in 2024.  Shchekinoazot increased exports from 327,819 tons to 371,971 tons, whilst Metafrax Chemicals increased shipments from 144,245 tons to 252,489 tons.   Tomet at Togliatti increased exports from 93,540 tons to 131,984 tons in January to August 2025.  Gazprom Methanol increased exports to 268,882 tons from 197,734 tons last year.   Azot at Novomoskovsk stopped exporting after August last year due to vulnerability of the Kavkaz port to drone attacks. 

Russian exports to China amounted to 563,913 tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 556,851 tons in the same period in 2024.  Export prices to China increased from $285.9 per ton for the first eight months last year to $283.9 this year.  Overall price fluctuations for shipments to China have been modest since the start of 2023, but the costs of logistics for Russian exporters have risen making margins for Chinese shipments tighter.  

Export volumes to Turkey increased from 129,945 tons in the first eight months last year to 190,553 tons this year and margins are higher for shipments to the Turkish market rather than for China.  A new destination in 2025 consisted of Brazil where shipments amounted to 152,427 tons in the first eight months.  Other markets included Kazakhstan where shipments fell from 39,681 tons in the first eight months in 2024 to 34,920 tons and Belarus where shipments fell from 81,774 tons to 55,775 tons.

Nakhodka Mineral Fertiliser Plant-marine terminal completed

The Nakhodka Mineral Fertiliser Plant has completed the concreting of the approach overpass and the technological platform of the marine terminal, which will allow the export of methanol.  The methanol plant under construction is the only remaining project from 2022 that is likely to see completion in the next two years.  The terminal is to allow the usage of ships up to 195 metres long and with a capacity of up to 53,000 tons, with a draft of up to 13 metres.  The planned cargo turnover is 1.8 million tpa of methanol, with the design capacity scheduled for commissioning in 2027. 

Russian methanol domestic sales, Jan-Aug 2025

Domestic merchant sales of methanol dropped in the first eight months in 2025 to 942,658 tons against 1.031 million tons in the same period in 2024.  Metafrax Chemicals reduced domestic merchant sales to 301,361 tons against 323,966 tons last year.  In the first eight months in 2025 Gazprom Methanol at Tomsk reduced domestic merchant sales to 196,994 tons measured against 221,736 tons in the first eight months last year. 

Restrictions on methanol sales and purchasing October 2025

Restrictions on methanol sales and purchases came into force on 1 September affecting the producers and consumers.  The entry into force of the law on state regulation of methanol may make it difficult to use alcohol in the production of auto chemicals.  Last year the share of uncertified methanol consumption (windshield washer fluids) was high, and these regulations are expected to restrict usage.   

A key measure of the new law includes the addition of bitrex which denatures methanol.   This is intended to prevent both intentional and accidental poisoning.  This measure faced resistance from methanol producers, who feared that the change in the composition of products would lead to the loss of foreign markets.

Despite the concerns of business, the norm on denaturation was included in the law and will become mandatory from 2027.   In addition, the law completely prohibits the retail sale of methanol, allowing its circulation only for registered and state-controlled entrepreneurs. The authorities expect that these measures will reduce the number of poisonings by tens and hundreds of times.

Methanol for gasoline production or is not feasible?

Against the backdrop of problems with the supply of gasoline to the domestic market due in part to drone attacks, consideration is being given to other production methods to AI-95 brand.  One of these ways is to add methanol to gasoline.  Whilst there is no direct ban on using methanol in gasoline in Russia, there is no permission either which means that no producer will use such a substance without a guarantee that it does not violate the law.  Despite the surplus in Russian methanol production the use of methanol in gasoline is fraught with problems.  One practicality is that there are a lot of old cars in Russia and using a strong solvent such as methanol could damage all sorts of rubber seals, plastic polymer components, hoses, gaskets, all components of the fuel system.  Another factor is costs involved for the re-equipment of refineries to work with methanol.  As a result, it seems not practical to consider methanol for gasoline production in the foreseeable future, although the debate continues.

Russian butanol production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian normal butanol production fell from 97,019 tons in January to August 2024 to 87,088 tons in the same period in 2025.  The Volga region, which includes SIBUR-Khimprom, increased production from 69,012 tons to 70,336 tons. 

Russian solvent production Jan-Aug 2025

Russian acetic acid production amounted to 124,411 tons in January to August 2025 against 151,925 tons in the same period in 2024.  The largest and most important producer in Russia, Azot at Nevinnomyssk, reduced production from 115,845 tons to 88,697 tons. The Azot complex was struck by drones firstly on 14 June and secondly on 25 July.  Production dropped in August to 4,030 tons, the lowest volume for several years. 

Aside using acetic acid for the production of butyl acetate and methyl acetate Azot supplies merchant acetic to the Russian domestic market.  The two largest customers include Polief which purchases acetic acid for PTA and Stavrolen which uses acetic acid in the production of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM). 

Isopropanol production in Russia amounted to 36,741 tons in January to August 2025 against 50,447 tons in the same period in 2024.  Omsk Kaucuk reduced production from 33,047 tons to 16,259 tons whilst the Plant at Synthetic Alcohol at Orsk increased production from 17,482 tons to 20,482 tons.   Omsk Kaucuk only started isopropanol production in 2020 and only achieved high utilisation rates in 2023. 

In other product areas, Russian polyacrylate production totalled 103,115 tons in the first eight months in 2025, up from 102,788 tons in the same period in 2024.  The largest region in Russia for the production of polyacrylates is the Central Federal District where SIBUR-Neftekhim produces at Dzerzhinsk.  Currently SIBUR is the only producer of these light esters in Russia, as well as the heavy ester of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate. 

Phthalic anhydride production in Russia totalled 63,910 tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 65,626 tons in the same period in 2024.  Kamteks-Khimprom at Perm is the largest producer followed by Gazprom neftekhim Salavat, and together these two plants produced 75,446 tons in 2024.  Kamteks-Khimprom produces phthalic anhydride and dioctyl phthalate, as well as fumaric and benzoic acids. 

Maleic anhydride production in Russia totalled 29,613 tons in the first eight months in 2025, against 28,504 tons in the same period last year.  Consumption of maleic anhydride in the Russian market in 2024 in amounted to 11,200 tons against 11,000 tons in the previous year.  The market has been helped by the start-up of the plant at Tobolsk in 2022, which was constructed using Italian technology.  The butane-based plant has a capacity of 45,000 tpa and has to a large extent replaced imports.  Maleic anhydride is used in a wide range of industries including unsaturated polyester resins, the paint and coatings sector, etc.  Historically maleic anhydride was produced in Russia using benzene at Novomoskovsk and Tambov but both plants were closed in the 1990s.   

TDI imports into Russia Jan-Aug 2025

TDI imports into Russia from South Korea amounted to 6,698 tons in the first eight months against 11,434 tons in the same period last year.  Prices dropped from $1958.9 per ton in January to August 2024 to $1782.7 per ton in 2025. 

TDI imports from China into Russia dropped in the first eight months to 9,268 tons versus 16,819 tons in the same period in 2024, with average prices dropping to $2048.9 per ton from $1913.3 per ton.   

Polyol exports from China to Russia dropped in the first eight months last year from $105.361 million to $68.565 million.  By volume exports dropped from 74,733 tons to 52,235 tons.   Total consumption of polyols ranges from 210-220,000 tpa at present.

Nizhnekamsknefekhim-new polyol plant?

Nizhnekamskneftekhim is examining plans to build a polymer polyol production with a capacity of 20,000 tpa.  The company has ordered a budget assessment of the relevant project.   Polymer polyols serve as the main raw material for the production of flexible polyurethane foams (PU foam), which are in demand in various industries. The key areas of their application are furniture (upholstery), automotive and aviation industries, as well as the production of technical products. In addition, elastic polyurethane foam is used in the manufacture of mattresses, carpets, seals, air filters and soundproofing parts.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNK) owns Elastokam LLC located at Nizhnekamsk and is a manufacturer of polyurethanes.  Until 2022, Elastokam was a joint venture of NKNK and BASF.  After the departure of the European partner from the Russian market, Elastokam lost the supply of components.  Due to sanctions, the supply of many chemical components to Russia, including isocyanates, was prohibited from 2022.   The plant found new sources of raw materials and rebuilt logistics in two months. Nizhnekamskneftekhim has also since then developed its own polyurethane formulations and restarted production.

Chinese MDI shipments to Russia Jan-Aug 2025

Imports of MDI from China amounted to 42,599 tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 42,061 tons in the same period in 2024.  Costs of imports increased from $84.806 million to $85.996 million.  Average prices increased from $2016.2 per ton to $2018.7 per ton.  In addition to MDI imports into Russia from China, Russia imported 2,845 tons in the first eight months from South Korea. 

More than 65% of all polyurethanes in Russia are consumed by three industries: mechanical engineering (23%), furniture manufacturing (24%) and the construction industry (19%).   Russia consumes a lot of polyurethane foam, but the production of the raw material base is still a weak link.  

Consumption of isocyanates in Russia has been helped over the past few years by the growth in domestic production of construction foams by companies such as TechnoNikol and Elastoplast.  As a result, MDI imports have been rising for several years, amounting to over 200,000 tons in 2024.  In the past the Russian market has not been large enough to justify a world scale plant, but the size now seems to be large enough to cover most of the production from a reasonably sized plant.  The main isocyanate imported into Russia is MDI, which accounted for 80.6% of all imports in 2024.   

Kazakh polyolefin trade and polyethylene project

Polyethylene imports into Kazakhstan totalled 132,836 tons in the first eight months in 2025 for total costs of $147.587 million.  HDPE comprised the main share of polyethylene imports, amounting to 104,290 tons, followed by LDPE with 15,296 tons.

Exports of polypropylene for the first eight months totalled 173,614 tons for $147.890 million, nearly all shipments consisted of homo grade.  Exports of polypropylene to China from Kazakhstan amounted to 60,121 tons in the first eight months in 2025 against 64,127 tons in the same period in 2024.  Other destinations for Kazakh polypropylene focus largely on Russia and Turkey.  In the first eight months in 2025 exports to Russia totalled 54,319 tons for total values of $59.236 million whilst exports to Turkey amounted to 61,219 tons for $50.187 million. 

The PP plant at Atyrau, which cost $2.6 billion to build, was commissioned at the end of 2022 and has helped transform the dynamics of the domestic processing market.  The company plans this year to produce 487,500 tons of polypropylene, with around 20% being sold in the domestic market.

KazMunayGaz hopes that the construction of the polyethylene plant near Atyrau and subsequent availability through the Silleno jv will have the same effect on the domestic market as has been seen from locally produced polypropylene.  For the Silleno project, Kazakhstan has reached an agreement with the China Development Bank to finance the construction of main pipelines for the transportation of ethane and propane to the Atyrau region.  The Silleno polyethylene plant project is being built on the territory of the special economic zone "National Industrial Petrochemical Technopark" in the Atyrau region.  The planned annual capacity of the enterprise will be 1.25 million tpa, producing more than 20 grades of polyethylene for key industries using licensed technologies from Chevron Phillips and Univation.

Central Asian polymer imports from China Jan-Aug 2025

In the first eight months in 2025 China exported 191,016 tons of PVC to Central Asia, including 98,998 tons to Uzbekistan and 72,053 tons to Kazakhstan.  Currently the only PVC producer in Central Asia is Navoiazot in Uzbekistan. The production of suspension PVC with a capacity of 100,000 tpa was launched at the end of 2019 as part of the caustic soda and methanol production complex.

PET shipments from China to Kazakhstan increased from 47,366 tons in the first eight months of 2024 to 74,939 tons in the same period this year whilst shipments to Uzbekistan increased from 104,283 tons to 151,561 tons.

SOCAR methanol and ethylene Jan-Aug 2025

Azerbaijan produced 317,800 tons of methanol in January-August 2025, against 340,700 tons in the corresponding period in 2024.  Azerbaijan exported 292,310 tons of methanol in the first eight months which was down by 9.3% against the same period last year.   At the same time, the value of the volume of export products increased by 3.7%, amounting to $67.432 million.

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