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Sinopec to start huge ethylene project in Zhenhai

By Xiao Wan (China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-14 08:07

Sinopec plans to start a 1-million-ton-per-year ethylene complex in Zhejiang province by the end of the first quarter of 2010 at the earliest, industry sources said yesterday.

The project is located in Zhenhai in the city limits of Ningbo. It is linked with a refinery in Zhenhai, now the biggest one under Sinopec's ownership.

Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, aims to eventually double the capacity of Zhenhai ethylene complex to 2 million tons per year, making it one of the world's biggest, Reuters reported yesterday.

Construction of the project will be completed by the end of this year. It is scheduled to start operation at the end of the first quarter of 2010 or early in the second quarter, said the report, citing an unnamed person familiar with the project.

Construction of the project is in line with China's stimulus package for its petrochemical industry. Under the plan, China will build three or four oil refining bases in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Bohai Sea-rim economic zone. The oil refining bases will have a minimum refining capacity of 20 million tons each.

Together with the refining facilities, three or four ethylene projects with annual production capacities of 2 million tons each will also be built.

Related readings:  Sinopec completed ethylene project in Tianjin  Sinopec to build ethylene joint venture with SK Energy  Sinopec to build ethylene plant in southern China

Last month Sinopec and German chemical maker BASF announced they would jointly invest $1.4 billion to expand their joint venture in Nanjing in Jiangsu province. The project included expansion of an existing steam cracker, under which its capacity will be increased to 740,000 metric tons a year from 600,000 tons. A steam cracker is a facility to produce ethylene.

The expanded project will produce downstream specialty chemicals for the Chinese market, serving multiple industries such as construction, electronics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and chemical manufacturing, the two companies said in a joint statement.