China is striving to become a major force in coal chemical industry

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China is striving to become a major force in the coal chemical industry. Chemical Online Weekly, published on January 25, 2007, at 15:25. The website of China’s National Development and Reform Commission recently reported that the consultation process regarding the \"Medium- and Long-Term Development Plan for the Coal Chemical Industry\" has been largely completed. The Plan is expected to be released within this year. Supporting the new coal chemical industry: A draft seeking opinions states that from 2006 to 2020, China invested over 1 trillion yuan in the coal chemical sector, of which 50% was spent on equipment and 10% on technology. The draft proposal indicates that coal-based methanol, dimethyl ether, coal olefins, and coal-to-oil technologies will see significant development over the next 15 years. In the traditional coal chemical industry, such as coke and fertilizers, there is little increase in production capacity, while calcium carbide production is facing a decline. The draft proposal for establishing seven major coal chemical industries also indicates that China plans to create seven such industrial zones across the country, located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, eastern Mongolia, eastern Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, the Central Plains region, Yunnan and Guizhou, as well as Xinjiang. As planned, large-scale production bases for methanol, dimethyl ether, and coal-to-oil products will be established in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, Xinjiang, and eastern Mongolia. By 2020, it will become the largest production base in China for alternative fossil fuels, with an annual output of 11 million tons of coal-to-oil and 7 million tons of dimethyl ether ； Xinjiang plans to produce 10 million tons of coal-to-oil and 5 million tons of methanol per year ； In eastern Mongolia, three methanol production bases are being established in Xilinhot, Huolinhe, and Hulunbuir, with an planned annual production capacity of 10 million tons; however, no downstream industries have been planned ； Zhongyuan and Yungui plan to produce 6 million tons each of coal-to-oil annually. In the new coal chemical industry, coal olefins and coal-to-oil products are mainly located in the aforementioned seven industrial zones, but nearly half of the dimethyl ether production capacity and almost 2/3 of the methanol production capacity are found outside these seven zones. A huge sum of money is being invested in constructing four pipelines. To transport methanol from eastern Inner Mongolia, a plan has been made to invest 5 billion yuan in building an 1,800-kilometer-long pipeline along the route “Hulunbuir–Holin Gol–Fuxin–Jinxi”. This pipeline will have an annual methanol transportation capacity of over 10 million tons. To transport fuel from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, a planned investment of 8 billion yuan will be made to construct a 2,000-kilometer-long pipeline along the “Ningdong-Yulin-Ordos-B Jingjin-Tangshan Port” route. Meanwhile, it is planned to invest 1.2 billion yuan to construct a 400-kilometer-long refined oil pipeline, the “Yining-Dushanzi” pipeline. This pipeline will be connected to the “Dushanzi-Lanzhou-Chengdu” refined oil pipeline that leads out of Xinjiang, with an annual oil transportation capacity of 10 million tons. The pipeline will transport coal-to-oil products to the southwestern region. Additionally, a natural gas pipeline approximately 200 kilometers long is to be built in the Dolon area of Inner Mongolia leading to Beijing. New coal chemical industry listed companies will benefit. In the future, more opportunities in the coal chemical sector will lie in new forms of coal chemistry, namely coal-to-methanol, coal-to-olefins, dimethyl ether, and coal-to-oil, with a focus on large-scale production. However, after reviewing the information on more than a dozen coal chemical companies listed in China, few of these companies meet both of these criteria. Additionally, listed companies in the related equipment manufacturing sector will have many opportunities. With the introduction of China’s industrial policies for the coal chemical industry, it is **possible that planned and ongoing projects will be reviewed and rectified in the future. This post was last edited by xxzheng on 2007-2-7 15:38.]