Construction begins on the Zhenhai Base project for the production of 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and the development of high-end new material industries based on it

Thread Content

On the morning of November 24, Zhejiang Province and Sinopec Corporation jointly held a groundbreaking ceremony in Ningbo for the 1.5 million tons per year ethylene production facility at Sinopec’s Zhenhai base, as well as related projects focused on the development of high-end new materials. Project Overview: Location of the project: The Niluoshan reclamation area in the Ningbo Petrochemical Economic and Technological Development Zone. Area covered by the project: Approximately 215 hectares, with an additional area of about 202 hectares obtained from marine areas. Project investment: Around 38.08 billion yuan. Construction scope: This project involves expanding the existing facilities at Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company by adding production capacity for 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene, as well as related new material processing units, environmental protection facilities, auxiliary infrastructure, and off-site projects. This project uses ethylene-rich gas, ethane-rich gas, saturated liquefied gas, hydrogenated C5, and straight-run light/heavy naphtha provided by the Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Production Base as its main raw materials. 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 full-density 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. Project development timeline: On May 12, the Ningbo Development and Reform Commission issued a approval stating consent for Sinopec Ningbo Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co., Ltd. to expand its production capacity for ethylene at a rate of 1.5 million tons per year, as well as to develop related high-end new material industries. The 1.5 million tons per year ethylene production project along with related high-end new material industries represents a key initiative for Sinopec Group aimed at extending, strengthening, and optimizing its industrial chains. It is also a key project under Zhejiang Province’s “Thousand Projects, Trillion Yuan” program. Once completed, it will give rise to multiple specialized industrial chains in the Yangtze River Delta region, particularly in the Hangzhou Bay area, focusing on new energy vehicles, high-end equipment, photovoltaic technology, and home appliances. In 2022, China’s ethylene production capacity was 46.75 million tons per year, and it is expected to exceed 70 million tons per year by 2025. On April 18, 2023, the EU approved carbon tariffs, with refining and bulk chemicals being included on the list. Against the backdrop of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, demand for photovoltaic materials such as POE and EVA is set to grow rapidly. In addition, China has a high dependence on imports of metallocene polyethylene (mPE); products such as EAA also attract significant market attention. The development of high-end ethylene polymers such as POE, EVA, EAA, and metallocene polyethylene has become a focus of attention in the domestic industry. Maoming Petrochemical, Wanhua, Weixing, Tianjin Petrochemical, Jingbo Petrochemical, etc. are either conducting or have completed POE pilot tests, gradually moving toward industrial production. As of December 2022, the planned POE production capacity in China reached 2.1 million tons. High-carbon α-olefins (1-hexene or 1-octene) and catalysts, such as POE and metallocene polyolefins, are key.