27.8 billion! Sinopec’s million-ton ethylene project industrial base kicks off construction!

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On May 27, the Sinopec Luoyang million-ton ethylene project and the advanced green petrochemical materials industrial base were officially launched. Lou Yangsheng, Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, and Ma Yongsheng, Chairman and Party Secretary of Sinopec Group, jointly launched the project. Governor Wang Kai delivered a speech. It is understood that the total investment in this project is 27.8 billion yuan, and once it is put into operation, it is expected to sell around 3 million tons of chemical products per year. Driven by this, the development of high-end petrochemical products such as downstream metallocene polyethylene and high-pressure polyethylene will be promoted. The project is expected to be completed in December 2025. Sinopec stated that it aims to establish one or two world-class refining centers by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Regarding the overview of Luoyang Petrochemical’s million-ton ethylene project, it is reported that this project, carried out by the Luoyang branch of Sinopec Corporation, is located in the Advanced Manufacturing Development Zone of Mengjin District, with a total investment of 27.8 billion yuan. The ethylene project is based on raw materials supplied by the Luoyang Petrochemical Refinery. It involves the construction of 13 petrochemical production units, including a 1-million-ton/year ethylene plant as the core unit, along with a 150,000-ton/year butadiene extraction unit, a 600,000-ton/year cracked gasoline hydrogenation unit, a 400,000-ton/year aromatic extraction unit, a 30,000-ton/year styrene extraction unit, a 300,000-ton/year m-LLDPE plant, a 350,000-ton/year HDPE plant, a 250,000-ton/year LDPE/EVA plant, a 100,000-ton/year EVA plant, a 200,000-ton/year ethylene oxide plant, a 400,000-ton/year Type 3 polypropylene plant, a 200,000-ton/year Type 4 polypropylene plant, and a 50,000-ton/year SEBS plant. Other ethylene projects of Sinopec: On May 12, the Ningbo Development and Reform Commission issued a approval notice agreeing to the expansion of Sinopec Ningbo Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co., Ltd.’s ethylene production capacity by 1.5 million tons per year, as well as the development of related high-end new material industries. Project owner: Sinopec Ningbo Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co., Ltd.
Location: The reclamation area of Niluoshan in the Ningbo Petrochemical Economic and Technological Development Zone.
Scale of construction: The total investment in this project is approximately 38.08 billion yuan, with a total land area of around 215 hectares; an additional 202 hectares of land (at sea) will be used for the project.
Main construction contents: This project involves expanding the existing production capacity at Zhenhai Refining & Chemical by adding facilities for producing 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and related new materials. The main raw materials to be used are ethylene-rich gas, ethane-rich gas, saturated liquefied gas, hydrogenated C5, as well as straight-run light/heavy naphtha, all of which are available from Zhenhai Refining & Chemical’s production base. The process facilities mainly include 18 units, such as a 1.5 million tons/year steam cracking unit, an 800,000 tons/year pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation unit, a 500,000 tons/year aromatic extraction unit, a 200,000 tons/year butadiene extraction unit, an 180,000/60,000 tons/year methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)/butene-1 unit, a 400,000 tons/year fully dense polyethylene (FDPE) unit, two 200,000 tons/year each polyolefin elastomer (POE/α-olefins) production units, a 400,000 tons/year low density polyethylene (LDPE)/ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) (vinyl acetate (VA)) unit, a 300,000 tons/year polypropylene (PP) unit, a 300,000 tons/year butyl octanol unit, a 240,000 tons/year ethylene-vinyl acetate emulsion (VAE) unit, a 200,000/50,000 tons/year methyl methacrylate (MMA)/propionic acid unit, a 200,000 tons/year acrylonitrile unit, a 200,000 tons/year adiponitrile unit, a 100,000 tons/year epichlorohydrin/hydrogen peroxide unit, a 50,000 tons/year polybutene-1 unit, and a 100,000 tons/year 2-propylheptanol unit. Upon completion, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical will have an annual oil refining capacity of 38 million tons and an ethylene production capacity of 2.2 million tons, making it one of the top five oil refining and chemical manufacturing bases in the world. The 1.5 million tons per year ethylene production project at Gulei Refining & Chemicals is part of the integrated project in Gulei, Fujian Province. It is located in the Gulei Petrochemical Complex in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, and involves the construction of a refinery with a capacity of 16 million tons per year as well as an ethylene production facility with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year. This project is the flagship project of the Gulei Petrochemical Base, one of the seven major petrochemical industry bases in the country. The first phase of the project mainly includes 9 chemical processing units with an actual processing capacity of 1 million tons per year for ethylene cracking, along with supporting utility systems, docks, and storage and transportation facilities. The total investment amounts to 27.8 billion yuan, enabling an annual production of 1 million tons of ethylene. The Tianjin Petrochemical Nangang 1.2 million tons per year ethylene project, as well as the associated cluster of high-end new material industries, is a major initiative aimed at advancing the strategy for coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It was officially launched in May 2021. The Nangang Ethylene Project is led by an ethylene plant with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons. Aiming to reach world-leading levels, fill gaps in China’s manufacturing sector, and replace imported products, the project involves the development of 12 advanced new material production facilities for ultra-high molecular weight materials, α-olefins, ALL-PE, ABS, POE, HDPE, and other products. It is understood that Nangang Ethylene is expected to be completed in 2023, and the entire project cluster is anticipated to be fully completed by 2025. Sinopec Tahe Refining & Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 1 million tons per year ethylene production project, part of the Shunbei crude oil steam cracking initiative for producing ethylene on a million-ton scale, has a total investment of 20 billion yuan. It is located in the Kuqa Economic and Technological Development Zone, Kuqa County, Aksu Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The project involves the construction of 10 chemical processing units, with the 1 million tons per year ethylene production unit being the key one; the other 9 units include a 450,000 tons per year HDPE plant, a 400,000 tons per year LLDPE plant, a 200,000 tons per year LDPE plant, a 200,000 tons per year 1#PP plant, a 300,000 tons per year 2#PP plant, a 140,000 tons per year butadiene extraction plant, a 100,000/40,000 tons per year MTBE/butene-1 plant, a 650,000 tons per year pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation plant, and a 350,000 tons per year aromatic extraction plant. The Sino-Kuwaiti joint venture Guangdong Refining and Chemical Integration Project, which is part of the second phase of Sinopec’s 1.2 million tons per year ethylene production facility, is located in the Donghai Island New Area of Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone in Guangdong Province. It was established as a joint venture between Sinopec Corporation and Kuwaiti **Oil Company, with each party holding a 50:50 shareholding ratio. The total land area covered by this project is approximately 12.26 square kilometers; it is planned to have an annual oil refining capacity of 15 million tons and an ethylene production capacity of 1 million tons. Additionally, a 300,000-ton capacity crude oil terminal will be built as part of this facility at the Donghai Island port area of Zhanjiang Port. Phase 1 of the project is designed with a refining capacity of 10 million tons per year, an ethylene production capacity of 800,000 tons per year, as well as utility systems and supporting facilities. The 1 million tons per year ethylene project at Nanjing Yangzi Petrochemical, as well as the light hydrocarbons comprehensive utilization and new material transformation project carried out by Nanjing Yangzi Petrochemical Co., Ltd., will involve the construction of a 1 million tons per year steam cracking unit for ethylene production, a 350,000 tons per year HDPE production unit, a 300,000 tons per year LLDPE production unit, and a 400,000 tons per year PP production unit. With a total investment of 44 billion yuan, the project is scheduled to start construction by March 30, 2022, with Phase 3 being fully completed and put into operation by December 2027. The Sinopec Yueyang 1.5 million tons per year ethylene project: The total investment in this integrated ethylene refining and processing facility in Yueyang is 4.047 billion yuan, with Sinopec Changling Refining and Chemicals Branch as the project owner. The site is located within the reserved area of the existing plant. The main construction activities include upgrading the existing vacuum distillation unit with a capacity of 8 million tons per year to 10 million tons per year, building a new hydrocracking unit with a capacity of 3 million tons per year, constructing a new solvent deasphalting unit with a capacity of 1 million tons per year, and building a new sulfur recovery complex with a capacity of 60,000 tons per year. In addition, storage and transportation facilities as well as utility systems will also be installed. The 1 million tons per year ethylene project in Hainan, as well as the expansion and renovation project for ethylene production and oil refining at Hainan Refining & Chemical Company, are among the key projects outlined in the petrochemical industry plan. They are also considered important projects by Hainan Province and Sinopec, with a total investment of over 28 billion yuan. Once completed and put into operation, the project is expected to directly boost downstream industries worth over 100 billion yuan, becoming a new engine for Hainan’s future development. The Hainan Refining and Chemicals project, which involves the production of 1 million tons of ethylene per year as well as upgrades to the refining facilities, features a total of 14 production units. There are 10 production units in the chemical processing area and 4 in the refining area. The ethylene plant and the refining plant are separated by approximately 10 kilometers.