Sumitomo Chemical has concluded an agreement with Kazan Organichesky Sintez (KOS), in the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation, to license out its high-pressure production process for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) to boost KOS’s polyethylene production.

KOS started manufacturing polyethylene in 1965. Among the leading Russian petrochemical companies, it is now one of the largest domestic producers of polyethylene.

With the goal of increasing production capacity and further diversifying the product mix at its manufacturing site in Kazan, KOS is removing part of its existing manufacturing facilities and installing a state-of-the-art facility. For this facility, KOS has adopted Sumitomo Chemical’s high-pressure production process. The new facility will have an annual production capacity of 100KTA.

Sumitomo Chemical’s high pressure polyethylene technology is a proprietary autoclaving polyethylene production process, which is switchable between LDPE and EVA in one manufacturing facility. For EVA, a wide range of product grades can be accommodated by adjusting the spike level of vinyl acetate. The technology is also energy efficient because of its high monomer reaction efficiency, and offers excellent operational stability. These points were highly regarded and led to the conclusion of this license agreement.

Sumitomo Chemical continues to improve the business portfolio of its petrochemicals & plastics sector through the global expansion of its technology licensing activities and address issues faced by the petrochemical industry.