【2025 Industry Trends】The three leading companies (Satellite Chemical, Kaixin Energy, Baofeng Energy) are increasing their investment in high-end polyolefins production
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Recently, the POE (polyolefin elastomer) sector has seen another surge in popularity, with three major companies announcing significant investment plans one after another. 1. Satellite Chemical: On May 23, the industrial test facility project for Satellite Chemical’s polyethylene elastomers was approved. The project plans to build 3 sets of polyolefin elastomer (POE) plants with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons in Phase 2. Project Name: Lianyungang Petrochemical Co., Ltd. Polyethylene Elastomer Industrial Test Facility ProjectTotal Project Investment: 140.42 million yuan
Construction Location: Xuwei New Area, the East-West-South Cooperation Demonstration Zone in Lianyungang City
The project will be constructed in two phases:
Phase 1: With an investment of 12.15 billion yuan, this phase will involve the construction of 2 units capable of producing 100,000 tons per year of α-olefins (LAO), 1 unit capable of producing 900,000 tons per year of polyethylene (45×2) #3, 1 unit capable of producing 450,000 tons per year of polyethylene #5, 1 unit for butadiene extraction with a capacity of 120,000 tons per year #2, 1 unit for aromatic hydrocarbon processing with a capacity of 260,000 tons per year, as well as a 2 million tons per year raw material processing unit #3 (including associated WAO facilities). Additionally, storage facilities, LNG tanks, auxiliary facilities, and off-site pipelines will also be built during this phase. Phase 2: This phase involves the construction of 3 units capable of producing 100,000 tons per year of alpha-olefins (LAO), 3 units with a production capacity of 200,000 tons per year of polyolefin elastomers (POE), 1 unit capable of producing 30,000 tons per year of polyalpha-olefins (PAO), and 1 unit with a production capacity of 350,000 tons per year of poly**. It also includes a 2 million tons per year raw material processing unit #4, as well as storage facilities, auxiliary systems, and off-site pipelines. 2. Kaixin Energy: Ningxia Kaixin Energy has made public the environmental impact assessment report for its high-end coal-based chemicals project. Under this project, facilities will be built in the New Materials Park of the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base to produce products such as 400,000 tons per year of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, 300,000 tons per year of POE, and 232,900 tons per year of n-butanol. Project Name: High-End Coal-Based Chemicals Demonstration Project by Ningxia Kaixin Energy Technology Co., Ltd. Total Investment: 1,188 million yuan. Nature of Construction: New construction. Constructor: Ningxia Kaixin Energy Technology Co., Ltd. Location of Construction: New Materials Park, Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, Yinchuan, Ningxia. Scale and Scope of Construction: Annual production of 400,000 tons of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, 300,000 tons of POE, 232,900 tons of n-butanol, and other products ； The main facilities to be constructed include air separation, gasification, shift reaction, low-temperature methanol washing, sulfur recovery, methanol synthesis, MTO, olefin separation, alpha-olefins, POE, butyl octyl alcohol, etc.; accompanying utilities and auxiliary facilities such as water supply and drainage systems, tank farms, loading and unloading platforms, as well as safety, environmental protection, and fire protection systems will also be built. 3. Baofeng Energy: Ningxia Baofeng recently released the environmental impact assessment details for its project located in the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, which is capable of producing 200,000 tons per year of polyvinyl alcohol, 200,000 tons of POE, 200,000 tons of MMA, 260,000 tons of PC, as well as 800,000 tons of acrylic acid and its esters. Project Name: High-End Coal-Based Chemicals Demonstration Project
Total Investment: 2,980,000 million yuan
Nature of Construction: New construction
Constructor: Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co., Ltd.
Location of Construction: Area A of Linhe Comprehensive Industrial Park, Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, Ningxia
Production Scale: Annual production of 200,000 tons of polyvinyl alcohol, 200,000 tons of POE, 200,000 tons of MMA, 260,000 tons of PC, 800,000 tons of acrylic acid and its esters, among other products
Construction Content: The project involves the construction of production facilities for air separation, gasification, purification, methanol synthesis, sulfur recovery, methanol-to-olefins conversion, α-olefins, POE, vinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, MMA, acrylic acid and its esters, phenol, bisphenol A, polycarbonate, etc., along with supporting utility and auxiliary production facilities.
As of May 2025, the planned production capacity for POE in China has exceeded 4.5 million tons per year, with numerous companies investing heavily in this sector in 2024.
Since 2024, in addition to the commissioning of Wanhua Chemical’s 200,000-ton/year POE plant, several other projects have been approved for initiation, undergone environmental impact assessments and energy assessments, or have started operations:
In December 2024, the process technology for Rongsheng New Materials (Zhoushan) Co., Ltd.’s 200,000 tons per year POE production project at Jintang New Materials successfully passed the \"First Domestic Process Safety and Reliability Assessment Meeting\" organized by the Zhejiang Chemicals Safety Association.
In September 2024, the official website of Shenghong Petrochemical issued a announcement announcing the second public disclosure regarding the environmental impact assessment for Jiangsu Hongjing New Materials Co., Ltd.’s 100,000-ton/year POE production project.
In September 2024, the 100,000-ton-per-year POE production project of Lianhong Huisheng (Jiangsu) New Materials Co., Ltd. commenced construction, with completion and operation scheduled by the end of 2025.
In September 2024, the pilot-scale production facility for polyolefin elastomers (POE) with a capacity of 1,000 tons, operated by Zhejiang Zhiying New Materials Co., Ltd. under Zhejiang Ruizhi Holding Group, completed all operational processes successfully. For the first time, the reaction system, the static devolatilization system, and the pelletizing system were operated together successfully, and qualified POE products were produced on that same day.
In September 2024, the kick-off meeting for the process package and basic engineering design of the EPDM unit in the epoxy resin integration (Phase I) project of Shaanxi Yueneng New Materials Co., Ltd. was successfully held at Beijing Petrochemical Engineering Co., Ltd. The total investment for this project is 13.2 billion yuan, including a polyolefin elastomer (POE) plant with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons.
In August 2024, the Tongzhou Bay Development Zone issued a notice announcing the full text of the environmental impact assessment for the high-end polyolefin new materials project carried out by Blue Ocean New Materials (Tongzhou Bay) Co., Ltd., inviting suggestions and opinions from all sectors of society regarding the construction of this project. The total investment for this project is 11.6 billion yuan, including a POE plant with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons.
In June 2024, the first phase of Wanhua Chemical’s new materials division’s 200,000 tons per year POE production facility achieved full operational capacity, with qualified products being produced on that same day; this marked the successful, high-quality commissioning of China’s first large-scale POE production plant developed through independent research and development.
In May 2024, Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd. held a meeting to review the projects related to the production of olefins, aromatics, and their further processing as part of the 15 million tons per year demonstration project for the clean and efficient conversion of coal at Shaanxi Coal Group Yulin Chemical Co., Ltd. The total investment for this project is 75.973 billion yuan, of which includes a 50,000-ton/year polyolefin elastomer (POE) production facility.