ethylene glycol
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The operating rate of enterprises producing ethylene glycol from coal is 30%; falling oil prices have led to losses for these companies, putting their survival at risk. Meanwhile, large-scale construction projects with high production capacities are underway in places such as Yulin, which will pose a significant challenge to future ethylene glycol producers.
They are all using scale to reduce costs; therefore, those coal-based ethylene glycol plants with a production capacity of less than 200,000 tons per year need to consider expanding their capacity.
In the ethylene glycol market, falling crude oil prices have led to reduced production costs using the ethylene process； Secondly, some coal mines are small in scale and inherently face bottlenecks. It is estimated that things will improve in some time, as the agreement to reduce crude oil production has been reached and is being implemented; crude oil prices should rise back to $50 per barrel by July.
The comprehensive market data on China’s ethylene glycol capacity, production, imports, apparent consumption, and self-sufficiency rate from 2008 to 2018 are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Production, consumption, import, and export data for ethylene glycol in China
Year Capacity/10,000 t Production/10,000 t Imports/10,000 t Exports/10,000 t Apparent consumption/10,000 t Self-sufficiency rate/%
2008 228 195 521.6 2.94 713.66 27.3
2009 270 204 582.8 0.67 786.13 26.0
2010 355 267 664.4 0.50 930.9 28.7
2011 378 290 727.0 0.60 1016.4 28.5
2012 453 341 796.4 1.08 1136.32 30.0
2013 506 350 824.6 0.54 1174.06 29.8
2014 602 422 845.1 0.57 1266.53 33.3
2015 754 461 877.2 1.99 1336.21 34.5
2016 819 550 757.3 1.96 1305.34 42.1
2017 856 589 875.0 1.81 1462.19 40.3
2018 1068 718 980.0 — 1698.0 42.3
2.2.1 Production
Before 2010, all ethylene glycol production facilities in China used the petroleum-ethylene process. In March 2010, the first coal (syngas)-based ethylene glycol production plant came online, and since then, coal-based ethylene glycol production has seen rapid development in China. As can be seen from Table 1, China’s ethylene glycol production capacity increased from 2.29 million tons in 2008 to 10.68 million tons in 2018 ； Production increased from 1.95 million tons in 2008 to 7.18 million tons in 2018, demonstrating the rapid pace of growth. The latest data shows that in 2018, an additional 2.12 million tons of ethylene glycol production capacity was added, representing a 22% increase compared to the previous year ； Of the new production capacity, the capacity for coal-based ethylene glycol is 1.72 million tons per year, accounting for about 80% of the total new capacity added throughout the year. As the coal-based ethylene glycol plants put into operation in previous years gradually reached stable, efficient, and full-capacity operation, production increased rapidly in 2018, reaching 7.18 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 21.9%. Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Henan provinces are currently the three provinces in China with the largest ethylene glycol production capacity, at 1.43 million tons per year, 1.032 million tons per year, and 1.0 million tons per year respectively. With the commissioning of new production capacity for coal-based ethylene glycol, by 2021 it is highly likely that the top three provinces will be replaced by those located in coal-rich regions in the west. In 2013, China’s coal-based ethylene glycol production capacity was 1.35 million tons, accounting for 26.7% of the total production capacity ； In 2018, the production capacity of coal-based ethylene glycol reached 4.23 million tons, accounting for 39.6% of the total production capacity, and this proportion is set to increase further in the coming years. Over the next 3–5 years, the new capacity added or expanded for ethylene glycol production in China will consist of only a few facilities that use the naphtha-ethylene route, while the majority will still rely on the coal-based ethylene glycol production process. As a result, the share of coal-based ethylene glycol production is set to rise further, reaching over 50% in the coming years.
Year Capacity/10,000 t Production/10,000 t Imports/10,000 t Exports/10,000 t Apparent consumption/10,000 t Self-sufficiency rate/%
2008 228 195 521.6 2.94 713.66 27.3
2009 270 204 582.8 0.67 786.13 26.0
2010 355 267 664.4 0.50 930.9 28.7
2011 378 290 727.0 0.60 1016.4 28.5
2012 453 341 796.4 1.08 1136.32 30.0
2013 506 350 824.6 0.54 1174.06 29.8
2014 602 422 845.1 0.57 1266.53 33.3
2015 754 461 877.2 1.99 1336.21 34.5
2016 819 550 757.3 1.96 1305.34 42.1
2017 856 589 875.0 1.81 1462.19 40.3
2018 1068 718 980.0 — 1698.0 42.3
2.2.1 Production
Before 2010, all ethylene glycol production facilities in China used the petroleum-ethylene process. In March 2010, the first coal (syngas)-based ethylene glycol production plant came online, and since then, coal-based ethylene glycol production has seen rapid development in China. As can be seen from Table 1, China’s ethylene glycol production capacity increased from 2.29 million tons in 2008 to 10.68 million tons in 2018 ； Production increased from 1.95 million tons in 2008 to 7.18 million tons in 2018, demonstrating the rapid pace of growth. The latest data shows that in 2018, an additional 2.12 million tons of ethylene glycol production capacity was added, representing a 22% increase compared to the previous year ； Of the new production capacity, the capacity for coal-based ethylene glycol is 1.72 million tons per year, accounting for about 80% of the total new capacity added throughout the year. As the coal-based ethylene glycol plants put into operation in previous years gradually reached stable, efficient, and full-capacity operation, production increased rapidly in 2018, reaching 7.18 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 21.9%. Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Henan provinces are currently the three provinces in China with the largest ethylene glycol production capacity, at 1.43 million tons per year, 1.032 million tons per year, and 1.0 million tons per year respectively. With the commissioning of new production capacity for coal-based ethylene glycol, by 2021 it is highly likely that the top three provinces will be replaced by those located in coal-rich regions in the west. In 2013, China’s coal-based ethylene glycol production capacity was 1.35 million tons, accounting for 26.7% of the total production capacity ； In 2018, the production capacity of coal-based ethylene glycol reached 4.23 million tons, accounting for 39.6% of the total production capacity, and this proportion is set to increase further in the coming years. Over the next 3–5 years, the new capacity added or expanded for ethylene glycol production in China will consist of only a few facilities that use the naphtha-ethylene route, while the majority will still rely on the coal-based ethylene glycol production process. As a result, the share of coal-based ethylene glycol production is set to rise further, reaching over 50% in the coming years.
I really disapprove of content that’s copied from other places like this. I don’t know whether you can’t take screenshots or you just can’t edit the content yourself; in any case, you just paste it here as if it were trash. Are the forms in your family as terrible as those in your post?
Our factory is still under construction; we are still learning. . . I don’t know what the future holds; I focus on the present.
Regions in Xinjiang, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia that are close to the source of coal have certain cost advantages
We are in the East China region; we have no advantage in coal transportation, and we don’t rely on ports either – we use tank trucks to transport our products. At present, the development of ethylene glycol is similar to that of methanol; it has become a standard product in the coal-based chemical industry. There is a demand in the domestic market, so our factory still needs to produce this product as part of its expansion of its product range.