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AMUR GCC Project showing the 9 Linde Pyrolysis Furnaces and the Quench Tower | AGCC website

Amur Gas Chemical Complex: Navigating Technology Licensing Challenges

The Amur Gas Chemical Complex (Amur GCC) exemplifies the intricate balance between technological ambition and geopolitical realities. Originally designed to become the world’s largest polymer production site, the project has faced significant delays due to shifts in technology licensing dynamics, even as its core infrastructure advances.

The Amur GCC Project

Amur GCC stands as one of the most ambitious petrochemical undertakings in Russia’s recent history and a flagship of Russian-Chinese industrial cooperation. Located near Svobodny in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East, the project is a joint venture between SIBUR, Russia’s largest petrochemical company, holding a 60% stake, and China’s Sinopec, which owns the remaining 40%. When completed, Amur GCC will be among the world’s largest producers of base polymers, with a design capacity of 2.7 million tonnes per year—2.3 million tonnes of polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polypropylene.

The complex is integrated with the broader Amur gas processing and gas chemical cluster, ensuring direct feedstock supply via pipelines. Gazprom’s Amur Gas Processing Plant (Amur GPP), which processes natural gas from East Siberian fields, will supply the primary feedstock to Amur GCC: ethane (up to 2 million t/y), and LPG (propane/butane, ~1.1 million t/y).

Steam Cracker and Downstream Progress

At the heart of the complex lies its 2.3 million t/y ethylene plant, supplied and partially engineered by Linde before the German firm’s confirmed withdrawal in 2022. Linde’s contributions included delivering critical components like the 1,500-ton quench tower, transported from South Korea to the remote Amur site—a logistical triumph showcased in earlier project updates.



Quench tower delivery to AMUR GCC, Nov 2021 | Credit: Linde Engineering 

By January 2024, SIBUR released a progress video on AGCC status update as of December 2023, confirming that polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) production units were being deployed as originally planned. The footage shows equipment installation for these downstream facilities, suggesting that proprietary technologies from Western licensors—Univation (Unipol PE gas-phase plants), ChevronPhillips Chemical (PE slurry process, undefined if MarTECH Single Loop or Advanced Dual Loop), and LyondellBasell (Spheripol PP Technology)—remain integral to the project. This indicates that either licensing agreements persisted post-2022 or SIBUR/Sinopec retained rights to use the technologies despite licensors’ reduced involvement.



Amur GCC Progress Video, Jan 2024. Reactor in this screenshot is a Slurry Loop Reactor | Credit: Sibur

Licensing Uncertainties and Delays

While Linde publicly exited the project by July 2022, when part of the equipment, including the pyrolysis unit, had already been built, SIBUR and Sinopec decided to reconsider the strategy for implementing the project, redesigned it and replaced contractors and license holders for the polyethylene and polypropylene lines. To this date, the status of other Western partners remains ambiguous as public disclosures from SIBUR and Sinopec have not clarified whether CPChem, Univation, or LyondellBasell continue to provide technical support or if their pre-sanction contracts are being honored. The lack of explicit withdrawal announcements contrasts with the project’s two-year delay.



Amur GCC Progress Video, Jan 2024. Reactor in this screenshot is likely a Gas Phase Unipol PE reactor | Credit: Sibur

It is a matter of speculation if SIBUR and Sinopec may be relying on existing licenses, in-house expertise, or third-party intermediaries to proceed with the original technologies. The January 2024 video underscores that downstream unit construction aligns with initial designs, implying that the licensors’ intellectual property is still being utilized, albeit without confirmed active collaboration.

Construction began in August 2020 and mechanical completion has been delayed to 2026 (originally 2024–25). Despite licensing headwinds, the Amur GCC achieved 76% mechanical completion by mid-May 2025 with commercial polyethylene production to start by Q3 2026, polypropylene production and full operations expected to follow in 2027 (source: interfax.com).

Strategic Implications

The Amur GCC’s trajectory highlights the resilience of large-scale petrochemical projects in the face of geopolitical disruptions. While Linde’s exit created logistical and technical gaps, the continued use of Western-designed downstream technologies—whether through preserved licenses or workarounds—demonstrates SIBUR and Sinopec’s commitment to delivering a world-class facility. The complex’s success will hinge on operationalizing these units without direct licensor support, a challenge that could redefine global norms for technology transfer in sanctioned environments. For now, the Amur GCC stands as a testament to both international collaboration’s potential and its fragility in an era of shifting alliances.

#linde  #univation  #lyondellbasell  #chevronphillips  #cpchem  #sibur  #amurgcc  #sinopec 
#steamcracker  #ethyleneplant  #amur  #russia  #unipolpe  #martech  #slurryloop  #gasphasepe  #spheripol  #polyethylene  #polypropylene  #ethane  #lpg 

Several assets with their respective technology and production capacity have been added.

#chloralkali #univation  #unipol  #olefinsplant  #steamcracking  #linde  #pvc  #thyssenkrupp  ##uhde #nucera 

Nizhnekamskneftekhim manufacturing site has been created and its first and second ethylene plants have been added.

#linde #ethyleneplant  #steamcracker  #sibur  #nizhnekamskneftekhim 

Abu Dhabi, UAE | 28 April 2025 -- Borouge Plc has announced a series of strategic expansion projects that will increase its annual polyolefin production capacity to over 6.6 million tonnes by 2028. The company has awarded two major contracts to support this growth, with the initiatives expected to contribute between $165 million and $200 million to annual EBITDA

Linde Engineering has been selected to provide Front-End Engineering Design services for the upgrade of Borouge’s second ethane cracker (EU2), which will add 230,000 tonnes per year and boost the unit’s capacity by 15%. This expansion is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2028, with ethane feedstock supplied by ADNOC Gas and ADNOC Refining

In parallel, Target Engineering Construction Company has secured an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to expand Borouge’s fourth and fifth polyethylene units (PE4 and PE5). These upgrades will increase the nameplate capacity of each unit from 540,000 to 700,000 tonnes per year, utilizing advanced Borstar Polyethylene technology. The expanded units are expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2027

These developments follow Borouge’s track record of rapid growth since 2001, having increased its production capacity tenfold to reach 5 million tonnes per year. The new expansions, together with the Borouge 4 mega project and the proposed combination with Borealis and the acquisition of Nova Chemicals, position Borouge to become one of the world’s leading polyolefin producers, with a combined capacity of 13.6 million tonnes across 62 plants globally.

#borouge  #borealis  #ethyleneplant  #borstar  #linde  #capacityexpansion  #uae  #unitedarabemirates #polyethylene 

Dow Tarragona North has been created  and the cracker plant has been  added as well as ethylene and propylene production.


#dow  #spain  #iberica  #steamcracker  #linde  #ethylene  #propylene 

Shell Polymer Monace site has been modelled with its complete mass balance and identification of technologies employed with their production capacities. 


#unipolpe  #univation  #ineos  #slurryloop  #innovene  #linde  #steamcracker  #ecu  #ethane  #gascracker 

Many technologies have been identified and added:

🔹Axen's aromatic complex
🔹Sinopc's DCC and DCC-Plus
🔹Linde's steam cracking
🔹Lummus / UOP's EBOne Ethylbenzene (to be confirmed)
🔹Lummus / UOP's "Classic" Styrene Monomer
🔹 LyondellBasell's Hostalen HDPE
🔹 Lummus' Novolen PP
🔹Axens' Hyvahl
🔹KBR's ROSE (to be confirmed)

Some assumptions haven been made based on technologies reported in 2009. .

There is a lack of reported information details about what happens between the ADUs and the two FCC plants, the technologies employed in the Lube plant (which also has at least one VDU) and the fuel blending plant making 7 million tonnes of the total 10.5 million tonnes of crude oil processing capacity .

The mass balance is also not matching as far as feedstock going into the FCCs is concerned. In case of the aromatics plant, this is a suite of many technologies, with reforming, alkylation, separation, etc but no details are available excepted it is known to be from Axens (formerly HRI).

There is double counting of polypropylene capacity with PP fed into a PP compounding plant (JPP's technology).


#axens  #sinopec  #linde  #lummus  #uop  #lyondellbasell  #kbr  #jpp 

BASF Zhangiang Verbund Site Progress News

◾️ Zhanjiang, China | 6^th Sep 2022 | BASF inaugurates the first plant of its new Zhanjiang Verbund site

BASF is inaugurating  the first plant of its Zhanjiang Verbund site today. It will supply an additional capacity of 60,000 metric tons of engineering plastics compounds per year in China, bringing BASF’s total capacity of engineering plastics in Asia Pacific to 420,000 metric tons from 2023. The new plant will enable BASF to meet the growing demand of its customers, particularly in the automotive and electronics industries.

◾️ Linde Press Releases, 8^th Feb 2023, Linde Engineering Signed Agreement to Build a Synthesis Gas Plant for BASF in China

Linde Engineering will implement the newly awarded contract in a consortium together with its Chinese partner East China Engineering Science and Technology Co., Ltd (ECEC). The two companies have previously worked together in the design and construction of several Rectisol^® Acid Gas Removal units in China. For the new BASF project Linde will be acting as consortium leader, including the provision of basic engineering and key equipment. ECEC will be responsible for the detailed design and the construction.

◾️The Paper | 4^th Sep 2023 | BASF starts construction of syngas plant at its integrated Zhanjiang site, scheduled to start production in 2025

BASF China's official website reported on September 4 that the syngas unit at BASF's integrated base in Zhanjiang has broken ground. This world-class syngas unit will be fully integrated into the integrated base and is scheduled to be put into production in 2025.

◾️Global Times | Published: 19^th Jan 2024 |New BASF plant inaugurated in S.China, ready to supply global market

German multinational chemical company BASF on 18^th January celebrated the inauguration of its Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) plant at its Zhanjiang Verbund site in South China's Guangdong Province, marking a milestone in the site's initial construction phase, according to a statement sent to the Global Times from BASF on Thursday. The new plant is the largest single TPU production line for BASF globally. It will help to meet market demand in industrial, eMobility and new energy segments, the company said.

◾️China Chemical Market Insights | 24^th Jan 2024 |BASF's Zhanjiang Verbund Site: A Milestone in Asia-Pacific’s Chemical Industry

Progress in Construction and Technology:
▪️Construction of a polyethylene plant began on June 19, 2023, with a 500,000-ton annual capacity, set to start production in 2025.
▪️In early 2023, BASF initiated the construction of plants for NPG, citral, glacial acrylic acid (GAA), butyl acrylate (BA), and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA).
▪️Significant groundwork was laid for the EO/EG plant and other facilities in partnership with SINOCHEM in September 2022.

◾️BASF News Releases | 21^st Mar 2024 | BASF breaks ground on methyl glycols plant at Zhanjiang Verbund site in China

Hong Kong SAR, China – March 21, 2024 – BASF has broken ground on a methyl glycols (MG) plant at its Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. The new facility is designed with an annual capacity of 46,000 metric tons and aims to meet the rapidly growing demand for brake fluids in the region. The plant is scheduled to commence operations by the end of 2025.

Utilizing BASF's unique process technology, the new facility will be the only fully backward integrated methyl glycols plant into a steam cracker in China, serving the fast-growing brake fluids market.

◾️Zhanjiang Ecological Environment Bureau |19^th Apr 2024 | Environmental impact assessment document of the first phase of the engineering plastics product optimization project

The first phase of the BASF (Guangdong) integrated project engineering plastics product optimization project is located in the first phase of the BASF (Guangdong) integrated project in the Donghai Island Petrochemical Industrial Park in Zhanjiang City. It is a technical transformation project, mainly to adjust the production plan of production lines 1, 2, and 4 in the engineering plastics workshop, increase the production capacity of red phosphorus masterbatch flame retardant products by 11,000 tons/year (8,000 tons/year in the near future, and 3,000 tons/year in the long term), and reduce the production capacity of general PA/PBT/PBAT products by 11,000 tons/year, and the total production capacity of 160,000 tons/year remains unchanged. The technical transformation does not involve the TPU workshop of the first phase of the project, only the product plan of the engineering plastics workshop is adjusted, and its production process has not changed. The types and total usage of the main raw and auxiliary materials remain unchanged, and there are no new water, gas, and heat nodes and wastewater and waste gas nodes. No technical transformation will be carried out on the auxiliary and public works of the existing approved projects.

#engineeringplastics #syngas  #polyurethane  #tpu  #acrylates  #acrylicacid  #polyethylene  #eoeg  #ethyleneglycol #linde  #basf  #verbund  #zhanjiang  #guangdong #polyamide  #pbt  #pbat 

Steam cracker technology has been identified as supplied by Linde.


#ethyleneplant  #steamcracker  #linde  #dushanzi  #petrochina  #petrochemical