OREANDA-NEWS. September 01, 2014. In late August, SIBUR signed a long-term contract with a Chinese customer for regular liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplies to the growing Chinese market.

The product will be shipped by rail from Nyagan GPP (gas processing plant), a subsidiary of SIBUR. Initial supply volumes will total around 20 ktpa with further increase outlook.

SIBUR will be the first Russian company to supply LPG to China. When planning the transportation route, it was important to take into account that there are no LPG transshipment facilities on the Russian–Chinese border. It was therefore decided to supply the product in tank containers and further transport them through China by low loaders. A test shipment of LPG to China was made in July, and this proved the efficiency of this approach.

LPG consumption in China is growing rapidly. According to IHS, it amounted to 27.6 mt in 2013, up 9% y-o-y, with 3 mt imported annually.