Amur GCC secures $9.1bn in loans
The Amur gas chemical complex (GCC), co-owned by Russia's Sibur and China's Sinopec, has secured $9.1bn in loans due in 2035, Sibur announced on December 8.
The GCC near Russia's border with China is expected to produce 2.3mn metric tons/year of polyethylene and 400,000 mt/yr of polypropylene, using ethane and LPG from Gazprom's nearby Amur gas processing plant (GPP) as its feedstock. The facility is expected to be up and running by 2024.
Sibur closed a deal with Sinopec to form a joint venture to develop and operate the Amur GCC in December last year, with the Russian company retaining 40% while transferring 60% to its Chinese partner, which is also set to take petrochemicals supplies from the facility.
International banks are set to contribute $2.6bn in loans to the Amur GCC, with coverage provided by export credit agencies SACE of Italy and Euler Hermes of Germany, Sibur said. Chinese and Russian banks are supplying a further $6.5bn.
Russia's largest state bank Sberbank confirmed in a separate statement that it would provide a $700mn loan, while another government-owned financier Gazprombank said it would issue $750mn.
Gazprom launched the first train of the Amur GPP in June, and the facility's capacity is due to ramp up to 42bn m3/year by 2025. It will handle east Siberian gas on route to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline.