PlantsSSESSMENTS: China To See Four New Crackers Online Soon

China’s petrochemical industry is expected to see four new large crackers to come online in the next 3-6 months, market sources told SSESSMENTS.COM. These startups will mark a new phase of petrochemical expansions in China which will add the country’s cracking capacity by a significant margin.

The first cracker is owned by state-controlled Sinochem. The company commissioned the Quanzhou’s naphtha cracker, which can produce 1 million tons/year of ethylene and 500,000 tons/year of propylene, in December. The new cracker is part of an expansion project at Sinochem’s refinery which also includes derivative units to produce up to 100,000 tons/year of EVA, 400,000 tons/year of HDPE, 200,000 tons/year of PO, 450,000 tons/year of SM, 580,000 tons/year of PP, 120,000 tons/year of butadiene, 100,000 tons/year of MTBE, 350,000 tons/year of BTX, 800,000 tons/year of PX 200,000 tons/year of EO and 500,000 tons/year of EG.

The second cracker belongs to fellow state-controlled firm Sinopec. Market sources informed SSESSMENTS.COM that the company would start up a new cracker at its Zhanjiang complex in Guangdong province in July-August. The cracker can produce up to  800,000 tons/year of ethylene and 430,000 tons/year of propylene. It will provide feedstock for associated downstream plants, including a 250,000/400,000 tons/year EO/EG unit, a 350,000 tons/year HDPE unit, a 100,000 tons/year EVA plant, and a 550,000 tons/year PP plant.

The third cracker is owned by private-sector Bora Chemical. The company is preparing for the startup of its 1.1 million tons/year ethylene cracker at Panjin in northeast Liaoning province in August-September. Bora’s existing 140,000 b/d Panjin refinery will provide the new cracker with 1.65mn tons/year of naphtha and light products. The producer will also purchase 1.1mn tons/year of propane and butane as feedstocks. LyondellBasell owns a 50% stake in the project that also includes 450,000 tons/year LLDPE, 350,000 tons/year HDPE, 600,000 tons/year PP, and 350,000 tons/year SM capacity.

The fourth cracker is developed by fellow private-sector Wanhua Chemical. Market sources told SSESSMENTS.COM that the producer is preparing for the commissioning of its LPG-fed cracker at Yantai in Shandong province around September-October this year. The cracker can produce up to 1mn tons/year of ethylene and 500,000 tons/year of propylene. It will produce feedstocks for derivative plants, including a 350,000 tons/year HDPE plant, 450,000 tons/year LLDPE unit, 300,000/650,000 tons/year PO/SM plant, 150,000 tons/year EO plant, two 320,000 tons/year EDC units, 300,000 tons/year PP unit, and an 80,000 tons/year BD plant.

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