Omsk plans back integration

Omskhimprom (Omsk), one of Russia's largest producers of polystyrene (PS), is back integrating to styrene and other petrochemicals. As the structure of the chemical industry in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) changes. Omskhimprom will no longer be able to rely on present raw material suppliers Shevchnko in Kazakhstan and Nizhnekamskneftekhim in Taterstan, which have their own development plans. Omskhimprom, recently transformed into a joint stock company and sold to its workers, hopes to complete the back integration in the next five years, says Valeria Voischeva, senior engineer. The company's plants have annual capacities for 100,000 m.t. of high-impact PS, 3,000 m.t. of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, 30,000 m.t. of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene 30,000 m.t. of 2-ethyl hexanol, and 24,000 m.t. of phthalic anhydride. In the second stage of the development plan, Omskhimprom is studying the feasibility of building a petrochemical complex that would include a 300,000-m.t./year ethylene plant. The company says that it has natural resources locally, and, because Omsknefteorgsintez, one of the world's largest refineries, is located nearby, it will have no problems in obtaining feedstocks