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PBAT production capacity soars to 8 million tons; BDO sees new opportunities for growth! Author/Source: Coal-based New Materials Date: 2021-05-07 Clicks: 8 There is a planned production capacity of nearly 8 million tons for PBAT projects; currently, there is a shortage in BDO supply. Since 2021, various companies have announced plans to build new BDO production facilities! The raw materials for PBAT include adipic acid, PTA, and BDO. Domestic companies already possess the technology for mass-producing PBAT and are expanding their production capacity on a large scale. According to statistics from Yaha Consulting, as of the end of April 2021, China had planned production capacities for PBAT projects amounting to nearly 8 million tons. During 2021–2022, it is expected that more than 700,000 tons of PBAT production capacity will come online from over a dozen projects, including those owned by Hubei Yihua, Hengli Yulin, Jinfafa Technology, Donghua Tianye, Jindan Technology, Yangmei Pingding, Zhejiang Changhong, Daon Shareholding, Shandong Ruifeng, Sanfangxiang, Tongde Chemical, and Inner Mongolia Huaheng. Producing one ton of PBAT requires approximately 0.43 tons of BDO. At present, BDO’s effective production capacity is around 2 million tons. With a planned production capacity of 8 million tons for the PBAT project, there is a shortfall of over 1 million tons for BDO! ——Yuxin Co., Ltd. to build a new 120,000-ton/year BDO production facility: On April 24, Hunan Yuxin New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. issued a announcement regarding its holding subsidiary’s plan to invest in the construction of a facility capable of producing 120,000 tons of 1,4-butanediol per year. Yuxin Co., Ltd. intends to invest in the construction of a project capable of producing 120,000 tons per year of 1,4-butanediol (BDO), through its holding subsidiary Huizhou Yuxin New Materials Co., Ltd. The project will be built within the Daya Bay Petrochemical Industrial Zone in Huizhou City. The total investment required is 574.71 million yuan, with a construction period of 24 months. Construction is scheduled to begin in September 2021, with completion and operation expected by August 2023. ——Hengli to build 1.8 million-ton BDO project in Yulin, Shaanxi At the beginning of April, information published on the Shaanxi Government Services website indicated that the approval process for Hengli Energy (Yulin) New Materials Co., Ltd.’s 1.8 million tons per year BDO project had been completed. Construction scale and contents: a facility for producing 4.25 million tons per year of formaldehyde (at 37.5% concentration), a facility for producing 1.8 million tons per year of 1,4-butanediol, a facility for producing 1 million tons per year of anhydrous ethanol, a facility for producing 180,000 tons per year of PTMEG, a facility for producing 180,000 tons per year of PBAT, a facility for producing 160,000 tons per year of polyoxymethylene, as well as facilities for producing spandex and other products. ——Inner Mongolia Huaheng Energy will build a project to produce 720,000 tons of BDO and 60,000 tons of PBAT. On April 7, the second public notice regarding the environmental impact assessment for Inner Mongolia Huaheng Energy Technology Co., Ltd.’s project to integrate the production of PTMEG and PBAT into a single industrial chain was released. Construction scale and scope: The main facilities to be built include an 800,000 tons/year acetylene feedstock plant, an acetylene plant with a capacity of 240,000 tons/year, a natural gas-to-hydrogen plant with a capacity of 69,000 standard cubic meters per hour, a formaldehyde plant with a capacity of 140,000 tons/year, a BDO plant with a capacity of 720,000 tons/year, a PTMEG plant with a capacity of 180,000 tons/year, a PBAT plant with a capacity of 60,000 tons/year, a power plant (comprising 4×320t/h coal-fired boilers, 2×30MW back-pressure steam turbine generators, 1×40MW back-pressure steam turbine generator, and 1×20MW air separation and air compressor turbines), as well as supporting auxiliary facilities and environmental protection systems. ——Shanxi Tongde to build 500,000 tons of BDO and 120,000 tons of PBAT. On April 7, the Economic and Technological Development Zone in Yuanping City, Xinzhou Province, Shanxi Province, entered into a cooperation agreement with Shanxi Tongde Chemical Co., Ltd. regarding a project for the production of fully biodegradable plastics. The total investment for this project is 3.6 billion yuan, and it will cover an area of 800 mu. On April 19, the ceremony marking the simultaneous commencement of projects in Yuanping City for 2021 was held on site at the Shanxi Tongde Science and Innovation Fully Biodegradable Plastic Production Project in the Yuanping Economic and Technological Development Zone. The total investment in this project is 3.6 billion yuan, and it covers an area of 800 mu. It will be constructed in two phases: the first phase will involve the production of 60,000 tons of biodegradable plastic PBAT as well as 240,000 tons of raw materials for such plastics, namely 1,4-butanediol. Completion of this phase is expected by December 2022. ——Xinjiang Guotai Xinhua’s 100,000-ton BDO project: At the beginning of April, the first public notice regarding the environmental impact assessment for the second phase of Xinjiang Guotai Xinhua’s coal-based fine chemicals and circular economy industrial park was released. This project produces acetylene and formaldehyde using dry acetylene units and formaldehyde units, generates hydrogen through methanol cracking, and further produces 1,4-butanediol (BDO) via the alkyne-aldehyde method. Upon completion, it will produce 100,000 tons of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) per year, along with 1,200 tons of butanol as a by-product. ——On the afternoon of March 22, Jiang Xinhai, the Party secretary and deputy commander of the Second Division in Tiemenguan City, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (hereinafter referred to as the “Second Division”), as well as the secretary and director of the Management Committee of Tiemenguan Economic and Technological Development Zone, led officials from Xinjiang Lvyuan State-owned Assets Operation Group Co., Ltd. and the Economic Development and Investment Promotion Bureau to visit Donghua Technology Engineering Co., Ltd. for an inspection. The two sides held in-depth discussions regarding the proposed chemical projects in the Tiemenguan Economic Development Zone in Xinjiang, which involve Anhui Shuguang Chemical Group collaborating with Xinjiang Lüyuan State-owned Assets Group and Donghua Technology. These projects include the construction of facilities capable of producing 300,000 tons per year of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from natural gas, as well as 300,000 tons of biodegradable materials (PBAT). They also discussed related infrastructure projects in the Tiemenguan Economic Development Zone. On March 31, Anhui Shuguang Chemical Group established a subsidiary, Xinjiang Shuguang Luhua Biotechnology Co., Ltd., with the intention of building new chemical production facilities capable of producing 300,000 tons per year of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from natural gas, as well as 300,000 tons per year of biodegradable materials (PBAT). The total investment in the project is approximately 10 billion yuan. The project will be constructed in phases; the first phase will involve building a BDO plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons and a PBAT plant with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons, with an estimated investment of 2.7 billion yuan. ——Donghua Tianye plans to produce 500,000 tons of PBAT per year, as well as a 300,000-ton BDO production facility. On March 18, Donghua Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. and Xinjiang Tianye Co., Ltd. signed a share capital contribution agreement in Shihezi, Xinjiang, and issued a announcement that same evening stating that they would jointly invest in the construction of a plant for producing the biodegradable material polybutylene terephthalate-hexadecanoate (PBAT). The overall planned capacity of the project is 500,000 tons per year of PBAT, with the capacity for the first phase being 100,000 tons per year. The second-phase plan calls for 400,000 tons of PBAT, along with a 300,000-ton BDO project. Under the agreement, the two parties will jointly establish a project company, Zhonghua Chemical Donghua Tianye New Materials Co., Ltd., to be responsible for the construction and operation of the project. The registered capital of the project company is 200 million yuan, of which Donghua Technology contributes 51% ； Xinjiang Tianye’s contribution accounts for 49%. On the morning of March 26, a grand groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site of the first phase of the project for the production of 500,000 tons of PBAT per year by Sinochem Donghua Tianye New Materials Co., Ltd., a company jointly invested in by Donghua Technology and Xinjiang Tianye Co., Ltd. ——Chongqing Hongqingda is constructing a new BDO project with a capacity of 200,000 tons per year. On March 18, Beijing Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Hongqingda Industrial Co., Ltd. successfully held a signing ceremony in Chongqing for the engineering design contract related to the integrated project involving 200,000 tons per year of BDO (1,4-butanediol) and 400,000 tons per year of acetic acid. This project was invested and constructed by Chongqing Hongqingda Industry Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Chongqing Xilu Qingfeng Metal Materials Co., Ltd. It represents a major initiative by Chongqing Hongqingda Industry Co., Ltd. to advance the adjustment of the industrial structure, promote the development of a circular economy, and drive comprehensive upgrading of the industry. Upon completion, the project will make significant contributions to the local economic and social development. It is understood that the project employs the **Cundaxialdehyde process**. ——Wanhua Sichuan invests in a 100,000-ton BDO project. On January 7, 2021, the People’s Government website of Meishan City, Sichuan Province, published a draft environmental impact assessment for Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) Co., Ltd.’s acetylene production facility based on natural gas, as well as related public and auxiliary infrastructure projects in the park. The project uses purchased natural gas and oxygen as raw materials, and employs advanced international and domestic technologies for the conversion of natural gas to acetylene, for the synthesis of methanol from acetylene exhaust gases, for the production of formaldehyde from methanol, and for the production of 1,4-butanediol. Taking advantage of the favorable conditions in the Meishan High-Tech Industrial Park in Sichuan Province, it aims to establish an industrial chain for the conversion of natural gas into acetylene. This project includes four production units along with the associated auxiliary facilities. The four production units are: the natural gas acetylene unit, with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons ； Methanol production plant using acetylene by-product syngas, 200,000 tons/year ； Formaldehyde plant, 240,000 tons/year ； BDO plant, 100,000 tons/year.