Rubber for tyre and chewing gum: 15 years of production

It's been 15 years in March since the launch of halobutyl rubber production at Nizhnekamskneftekhim. The production began in 2004 in the butyl rubber factory. Then volumes totalled 30,000 tonnes a year, but capacities increased during 15 years and almost 150,000 tonnes of halobutyl rubber left the conveyor belt last year.

Today Nizhnekamskneftekhim is in the top 3 world halobutyl rubber producers. 96% of products are exported - Michelin, Pirelli, Goodyear, Continental, Bridgestone using the rubber to manufacture tyres are the clients.

Several years ago, Nizhnekamskneftekhim began to produce such a premium product as foodstuff rubber BR 1675P for a foreign company using it as a binding agent for chewing gum. To enter the foodstuff rubber market, the enterprise introduced a food safety management system with further FSSC 22000 certification scheme. For this purpose, the equipment had to be modernised, all production processes had to comply with food safety requirements. The preparation for the certification began in 2014. In 2014, the food safety management system was certified by ISO 22000, which is a component of the necessary certification scheme. In 2016, the system was certified by FSSC 22000, which includes two international standards and five additional requirements. It was the certificate that the client had required. A recertification audit took place in the BR factory from 25 to 27 March to confirm the compliance of the food safety management system of the given scheme. There was no non-compliance after the audit. The compliance was confirmed. Realnoe Vremya's photo correspondent was shown how rubber for chewing gum was made. The details are in the photo report.