Russia’s Sanors inks LOI to acquire process technology from Maxiglas Corp to produce polymethyl methacrylate

19-Nov-13

Russian petrochemicals group Sanors has signed a letter of intent to acquire process technology from Taiwanese engineering company Maxiglas Corporation to produce polymethyl methacrylate at Russia’s first modern PMMA plant, as per Europeanplasticsnews. The agreement followed licensing negotiations between the companies and a visit by a Sanors delegation to an operating PMMA plant in Shanghai, China. This is run by Shanghai JingQi Polymer Science, a Maxiglas joint venture with Chinese and US investors. Sanors plans to construct a two line 50,000 tpa PMMA unit to turn out a range of polymer and copolymer products at a larger petrochemicals complex in Russia’s Samara region. This facility, being located at Sanors’s site in Novokuybyshevsk, will also produce the PMMA intermediate methyl methacrylate (MMA). Sanors is reported to be investing almost €300 mln (£251 mln) in the joint project to construct the PMMA plant and a 70,000 tpa MMA unit at the complex which are due to be operating by 2018. Rosneft will hold majority stake in the venture of at least 50%, while Sanors will have a lesser share in the enterprise which is due to construct a new world class petrochemicals complex in Samara. This will produce a range of polymers and other chemicals aimed at meeting demand and substituting imports in Russia. The partners are due to confirm their outline agreement by signing a binding contract by the end of 2013 following detailed talks on the formation of the joint venture. Sanors Group was formed in April 2011 through the merger of three regional petrochemical companies: Novokuibyshevskaya Neftekhmicheskaya Kompaniya (NNK), SamaraOrgSintez and NefteKhimiya. The companies were formerly part of the group Kujbyshevskij.