With an investment of 400 billion yuan, China will add 13 million tons of olefins produced from coal/methanol over four years

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400 billion yuan invested: China to add 13 million tons of olefins produced from coal/methanol over 4 years. Author/Source: Date: 2017-11-20 Clicks: 10. From 2017 to 2021, China’s total investment in olefins production from coal (methanol) will be nearly 400 billion yuan. As of November 2017, China had 28 coal (methanol)-based olefin production units that were in operation or had completed trial runs, resulting in an overall olefin production capacity of 12.05 million tons per year (the capacity of MTP units that were not yet in operation was not included). An additional 2.62 million tons per year of olefin production capacity is expected to be added in 2017. Between 2017 and 2021, China is expected to add 13 million tons per year of CTO/MTO capacity, with a total investment of nearly 400 billion yuan. China’s total capacity for producing olefins from coal (methanol) in 2021 will reach 25 million tons per year. Among them, a total capacity of about 15 million tons per year for producing olefins from coal (methanol) is concentrated in the western region of China. The western region has caught the attention of international petrochemical giants, with coal-based olefins evolving toward higher-end and more intelligent applications. The cost advantages associated with coal in this region have always attracted the interest of international petrochemical companies. On the one hand, the newly added polyolefin production capacity will be gradually brought online, impacting the international polyolefin market in China and across Asia. On the other hand, participating in the development of the coal-to-olefins industry to achieve raw material diversification is also highly attractive. In 2014, the China Shenhua Dow Yulin Circular Economy Coal Comprehensive Utilization Project, which was then the world’s largest single coal chemical project, officially received approval from the **Ministry of Environmental Protection. The total investment in this project amounts to 125.856 billion yuan, with 39 different types of major chemical products being produced; it integrates the most advanced industrial technologies from both modern coal chemistry and petrochemical industries. The project began to be studied in 2005, and Shenhua and Dow signed a framework agreement in May 2007, announcing the initiation of feasibility studies. Later, due to changes in Dow’s global strategic focus, the project was implemented solely by Shenhua. In 2016, the Ministry of Environmental Protection approved the environmental impact assessment report for a joint venture between China Power Investment and Total to produce 800,000 tons per year of coal-based polyolefins. The project is located in the Dalu Industrial Park, Zhungeer Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and utilizes local coal resources to produce products such as 800,000 tons per year of polyethylene and polypropylene. In 2016, the environmental impact assessment for the 700,000 tons per year coal-to-olefins new material demonstration project, a joint venture between Shenhua Ningmei and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, was officially launched. The project is located in the coal chemical industry park of the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base in Ningxia, with an estimated total investment of 27 billion yuan. Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group Company, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China have reached a principled agreement on further advancing the establishment of a joint venture. The two parties establish a joint venture. According to statistics, there are nearly 30 coal (methanol)-based olefin production projects under construction or in the planning stage in China, of which 15 are located in the western region; most of these are integrated coal-to-olefins projects. The projects that have made the fastest progress in the preliminary stages include: Qinghai Mining, Shenhua Baotou Phase II, and Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemicals’ project in Guizhou. By the end of September 2017, China had built 21 coal (methanol)-based olefin production plants, with a total capacity of 12.09 million tons per year (the MTP plants that are not in operation in Shandong Province are not included). Among them, the 8.18 million tons per year of coal (methanol)-based olefin production capacity is concentrated in western China. The development of coal chemical industry in the western region is also moving from the extensive model traditionally associated with this industry to a stage of advanced and intelligent development. In 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology included China Coal Shaanxi Yulin Energy Chemical Company in the list of “Smart Manufacturing Pilot Projects,” making it the only company in China’s coal chemical industry to be selected for this program. On October 1, 2017, the second phase of Shenhua Ningmei Olefins began operating at full capacity. Construction of the project commenced in full in March 2015; it uses coal-to-oil and coal-to-olefins by-products such as naphtha and LPG as raw materials, and employs advanced steam cracking technology to produce ethylene, propylene, and other products. The project was fully completed in April 2017. The second-phase million-ton olefin project of Shenhua Ningmei Group is the first smart factory in China’s coal chemical industry, featuring advantages such as high efficiency, sustainability, and safety.