Qingdao Soda Industry’s soda ash products were withdrawn from the market last month; construction of the Pingdu-Huangdao industrial park is underway

Thread Content

At the end of last month, the production system at Qingdao Soda Ash’s 57-year-old old plant was officially shut down completely, marking the formal withdrawal from the market of the soda ash products that the company has been producing for 57 years. Currently, Qingdao Soda Industry is constructing a modern agricultural supplies and chemical industry park as well as a new materials industry base in the Xinhe Industrial Park in Pingdu and the Dongjiakou Port Area in Huangdao, respectively. Meanwhile, the old factory area is planned to be developed into commercial and residential buildings. 　　At 10:18 on December 31, Sun Xinde, General Manager of Qingdao Soda Ash Industry, announced that the production system at the company’s old plant would be completely shut down as of December 31, 2015. There was a hint of reluctance in his words. After graduating from university in 1988, Sun Xinde joined Qingdao Soda Ash Industry. Starting as a technician, he gradually advanced to positions within the field. He said that Qingdao Soda Industry began construction at the foot of Loushan Mountain in 1958. In 1965, the soda ash production project was completed, and it was successfully commissioned on its first attempt. This filled a gap in Shandong Province’s soda ash industry, making it one of the three largest soda ash plants in China at the time. The maximum annual output of soda ash reached 800,000 tons. 　　Sun Xinde said that in China, the soda ash industry suffers from overcapacity. As of 2015, the national production capacity for soda ash had reached over 33 million tons, while the actual demand was 22 million tons. Affected by downward economic pressures both domestically and internationally, the overall operating rate of domestic soda ash producers this year has remained at around 70%. Most enterprises are operating at a loss; eight soda ash producers have even ceased production. However, Qingdao Soda Industry managed to thrive against the odds. From January to October 2015, Qingdao Soda Ash achieved operating revenue of 1.451 billion yuan, with a total profit of 84.72 million yuan. 　　In response to Qingdao’s policy of **accelerating the environmentally friendly relocation of enterprises from the old urban area**, the old production site of Qingdao Soda Ash has officially ceased operations. Meanwhile, construction is underway on new production sites in Xinhe, Pingdu, and Dongjiakou, Huangdao. Thus, Qingdao Soda Ash has established a new development pattern with facilities located in both the northern and southern regions. 　　Sun Xinde said that the No. 2 sodium bicarbonate production line at Qingdao Soda Industry, currently the most advanced sodium bicarbonate production facility in China, will be completely relocated from the old plant site to the Xinhe plant site in Pingdu, thereby forming a circular economic industrial chain together with potassium sulfate and calcium chloride. Qingdao Soda Industry plans to develop here an environmentally friendly inorganic chemical and agricultural materials industry that has strong compatibility with regional industries, high added value. It aims to combine relocation and transformation with the optimization and upgrading of its industrial structure within three years, thereby creating the Xinhe Modern Agricultural Materials and Chemical Industry Park for Qingdao Soda Industry. It is reported that the total investment in this project is approximately 400 million yuan. The project covers an area of about 217 mu. Once operational, it will produce 80,000 tons of potassium sulfate, 100,000 tons of calcium chloride, and 80,000 tons of baking soda annually. After its launch, the average annual sales revenue is expected to reach 470 million yuan. 　　In the Dongjiakou Port Area, Qingdao Soda Ash Industry makes full use of its advantages as a port-adjacent area and a liquid chemical terminal to focus on developing new chemical materials products, thereby creating a high-end new materials industrial base. Currently, 1.4 billion yuan is being invested in the construction of a 500,000-ton/year styrene project. The project covers an area of 372 mu. Upon its completion and commissioning in January 2017, it is expected to generate annual sales revenue exceeding 5 billion yuan, with an annual profit of 290 million yuan. As a key environmental protection relocation project in Qingdao, it utilizes the world’s most advanced production processes and patented technologies for producing styrene, a new material with strong market competitiveness. Moreover, the project boasts exceptional environmental benefits: not only are all exhaust emissions effectively managed, but wastewater and solid waste discharges are also virtually non-existent, thereby achieving true zero emissions.