The death toll from the August 25 fire at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex in Russia's Far East has risen to 15, while work continues in areas of the project that were not affected by the accident.
The complex, located near Svobodny in the Amur region, is one of the largest petrochemical projects being developed with Chinese participation in Russia. SIBUR is the majority shareholder, while Sinopec holds a significant stake in the project.
The operator said on August 27 that one of those killed was a Russian citizen and 14 were foreign nationals. Earlier updates had confirmed that six Chinese citizens were among the victims.
Dozens of injured workers remain under medical treatment, including several who have been transferred to Moscow.
The fire broke out in an auxiliary technological area of the complex while the project was still under construction and preparing for commissioning. The operator has said that the main production units were not damaged.
Russian authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, including whether industrial safety rules were violated.
The scale of the project means the incident is being watched well beyond Russia.
Amur is designed to produce 2.3 million tonnes per year of polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes per year of polypropylene, giving it total polyolefin capacity of 2.7 million tonnes per year.
It is expected to become one of Russia's largest polymer manufacturing sites once fully operational.
The project is integrated with the Amur gas-processing system, using ethane and other components separated from natural gas as feedstock for petrochemical production. The model allows Russia to convert more of its gas resources into higher-value chemical products rather than exporting them only as raw hydrocarbons.
Its location also matters.
The plant sits in Russia's Far East, close to China and other Northeast Asian markets. Once operating at full capacity, its polyethylene and polypropylene output could serve Russian customers as well as export markets in Asia.
That is why the fire has raised questions about the startup schedule.
At this stage, however, there is no confirmed evidence that the entire 2.7 million-tonne project will be delayed.
The operator has said construction and startup preparations are continuing in areas that were not affected by the fire. No revised mechanical-completion or commercial-startup schedule has been announced.
The main production equipment was reportedly spared, but the affected auxiliary area still needs to be investigated and assessed before normal work can resume there.
For a project of this size, auxiliary systems are important to the commissioning process. Even where crackers and polymerization units remain intact, utilities, supporting equipment and interconnected systems must all be cleared for safe operation before startup.
The accident therefore does not represent an immediate loss of polyethylene or polypropylene supply because Amur has not yet entered commercial production.
The issue for the market is timing rather than current availability.
If the damaged area can be repaired quickly and safety reviews are completed without major findings, the impact on the broader project schedule may be limited. A longer investigation or more extensive repairs could push back the arrival of new Russian polymer volumes into Northeast Asia.
For now, the operator continues to work toward bringing the unaffected parts of the project forward, while the investigation into one of the most serious industrial accidents at the site remains underway.
