The 100,000-ton BDO project in Phase 4 of Zhongtai Meike has completed the entire production process!
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At 10 a.m. on April 6, as the concentration of formaldehyde solution in the BYD reactor dropped to the specified range, the BDO product reached premium quality, marking the completion of the entire production process for Sino-Thailand Meike’s 100,000-ton/year BDO project – with a successful trial run using raw materials in just one attempt! Construction of this project began on July 2, 2021; mechanical completion was achieved on June 30, 2022; successful handover took place on July 30, 2022; and qualified products were produced on April 6, 2023 – thus it was brought to life in just 20 months. “Material feeding and trial operation began on March 25, and qualified products were produced across the entire process by April 6 – a period of 12 days that set a new record in China for the shortest time required to achieve successful commissioning of a newly built BDO plant! ”Song Zhimin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Zhongtai Meike Chemical, explained. It is understood that once this project comes online, the BDO production capacity in the Meike Chemical Industrial Park will reach 400,000 tons per year. This project makes full use of Xinjiang’s resource endowments to transform them into industrial competitive advantages. The successful completion of the entire process further highlights ZTE Mek Chemical’s advantages in production technology and quality in the BDO sector. It is of great significance for ZTE Group to extend, supplement, and strengthen its industrial chain based on its existing capabilities, thereby building an integrated petrochemical, refining, and textile industry base. This demonstrates the determination and sense of responsibility characteristic of state-owned enterprises, and it represents ZTE Group’s contribution to the high-quality and sustainable development of Xinjiang’s chemical industry. All employees of Zhongtai Meike Chemical will take this as an opportunity to continue upholding the spirit and determination of \"devoting ourselves wholeheartedly to development, focusing solely on implementation, working hard in practice, and striving to be at the forefront.\" They will actively push forward with the construction of key projects such as the fifth phase involving 100,000 tons per year of BDO and 60,000 tons per year of PBAT. With great effort, they aim to become leaders in the Zhongtai Group’s operations, and will do their utmost to inject new momentum into the high-quality economic and social development of Xinjiang. Downstream products of BDO (1,4-butanediol) include PBS/PBAT/PBT, PTMEG, NMP, etc., which are widely used in areas such as biodegradable materials, spandex, polyurethanes, and lithium batteries. In recent years, driven by demand from downstream industries, BDO has become one of the most sought-after petrochemical products. In 2023, global BDO is expected to add approximately 1.5 million tons per year in production capacity, with the majority of this coming from China. By 2023, the total global production capacity of BDO will exceed 5.7 million tons per year, with production methods including the Reppe process, the butadiene/acetic acid process, the propylene oxide process, and the n-butane/cyclohexanone process. The major companies include Ashland, Taiwan’s Changchun Group, BASF, LyondellBasell, ISP Marl, South Asia Plastics, Mitsubishi Chemical, Saudi IDC, and South Korea’s PTG, as well as domestic key enterprises such as Xinjiang Meike, Ningxia Great Wall Energy Chemical, and Lanshan Tunhe. According to data from Yahuazheng Consulting, Ulaanbaatar in Inner Mongolia takes advantage of its local resources to have BDO plan a production capacity of nearly 3 million tons, while also focusing on the development of high-end downstream industrial chains, such as PBS-based biodegradable materials, PTMEG, PBT resins, and NMP electronic chemicals. By 2025, the production capacity of biodegradable materials in Wuhai City is expected to reach around 2.2 million tons, accounting for approximately 30% of the country’s total capacity; the entire industry chain could generate an output value of 90 billion yuan. The Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base is aiming to become China’s \"Spandex Valley\", with nearly 500,000 tons of PTMEG production capacity already in place or planned ； The Chongqing Changshou Economic and Technological Development Zone has seen the signing of projects such as Sinopec Chuanyi Chemical’s integrated facility with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons of BDO, worth 7.45 billion yuan, and Zhongrun Chemical’s integrated facility for producing NMP, worth 2.9 billion yuan. The total planned production capacity for BDO projects that have been announced in the country exceeds 25 million tons, of which some may be difficult to implement. It is expected that China’s BDO production capacity will exceed 6.5 million tons by 2025, and cost control of BDO as well as planning for the downstream industrial chain will become key factors in competition.
Project Progress and Overview: On March 22, 2021, the approval for the registration of Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd.’s fourth-phase 100,000-ton/year BDO production project was granted. On February 25, 2022, the Department of Ecology and Environment of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region issued a public notice regarding its intention to approve the environmental impact assessment documents for a four-phase BDO project with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons. On April 8, 2022, the approval was granted for Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 2×300,000 tons per year BDO production project, which involves an investment of 14.3 billion yuan; this project uses the acetylene-aldehyde process based on natural gas to produce BDO. On June 30, 2022, Zhongtai Meike Chemical held a ceremony to celebrate the 101st anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party and the mechanical completion of Phase 4 of the 100,000-ton/year BDO project. On July 30, 2022, the commissioning ceremony was held for Phase 4 of the project at Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd., which is part of Xinjiang Zhongtai (Group) Co., Ltd., and this phase has an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons of BDO (1,4-butanediol), marking the transition of this project to the production preparation stage. The fourth phase of Meike Chemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Zhongtai Group, involves a project to produce 100,000 tons of BDO per year; with a total investment of 1.853 billion yuan, construction began on June 16, 2021. After 14 months, the project was completed successfully, setting a record for the fastest construction time in the BDO industry. The project mainly involves the construction of a 100,000-ton/year BDO plant, along with supporting utility systems and auxiliary facilities. Once the project is put into operation, it is expected to generate annual revenue of 1.35 billion yuan and profits and taxes of 250 million yuan, while creating more than 170 job opportunities. Progress and Overview of the 60,000-ton PBAT Project Project Name: Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 60,000-ton/year PBAT Project ； Construction unit: Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd ； Construction nature: New construction ； Construction location: Meike Chemical Park, No. 1 Nanyuan Road, Korla Economic and Technological Development Zone. Industry category for construction projects (List for classified environmental assessment): 23. Manufacturing of chemical raw materials and chemical products 26-44. Manufacturing of synthetic materials 265 ； National economic industry category: Manufacturing of primary plastic and synthetic resin products 2651 ； Project investment: The total investment for this project is 590.1237 million yuan, all of which will be financed by the enterprise itself. On September 16, 2021, the first public information release was made regarding the environmental impact assessment for Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 60,000 tons per year PBAT production project. The construction site is located in the Korla Petroleum and Petrochemical Industrial Park in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. The total investment amount is 546.2109 million yuan. In August 2022, commissioned by Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd., Xinjiang Guangqingyuan Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. undertook the environmental impact assessment for Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 60,000 tons per year PBAT production project. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Measures for Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (Order No. 4 issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment), the project underwent its first online public disclosure on the National Platform for Environmental Information of Construction Projects from August 18, 2022, to September 1, 2022; it was then disclosed online for the second time on the website of Meike Chemicals from December 5, 2022, to December 23, 2022. On December 26, 2022, the environmental impact assessment documents for Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 60,000 tons per year PBAT production project were made public. The public display period was from December 26, 2022, to January 9, 2023 (10 working days). On the morning of March 17, 2022, at the Bortala Prefecture venue of the meeting on the resumption of work on major projects in the autonomous region for 2023 as well as the coordination meeting for such projects in the first quarter, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhongtai Meike Chemical”)’s 60,000-ton/year PBAT production project.
Mek Chemicals, Xinjiang Mek Chemicals Co., Ltd., is the largest BDO producer in China. Zhongtai Chemical holds 25% of the shares in Meike Chemical, while Zhongtai Chemical’s parent company, Xinjiang Zhongtai (Group) Co., Ltd., holds 53% of the shares in Meike Chemical. Since its establishment in 2004, Meike Chemical has built up a production capacity of 270,000 tons per year of BDO through the construction of phases I, II, and III. At the same time, the other new BDO projects of Zhongtai Group will also begin construction at appropriate times; by then, a production capacity of 1.7 million tons of BDO will be achieved, allowing the company to hold a dominant position in terms of scale within the industry. This will enable it to move on to gaining an advantage in terms of technology and efficiency as well, thereby fully tapping into Xinjiang’s energy and resource potential and transforming those resources into competitive advantages for the industry. Additionally, on September 16, 2021, the first public announcement regarding the environmental impact assessment for Xinjiang Meike Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 60,000 tons per year PBAT production project was made. The construction site is located in the Korla Petroleum and Petrochemical Industrial Park in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. The total investment amount is 546.2109 million yuan. “During the production process, BDO makes full use of local energy sources and resources in Xinjiang such as natural gas, coal, calcium carbide, and methanol. ”Cai Gongxian, the manager of the project department, said that the BDO product produced is mainly used in the manufacture of high-grade textile materials, engineering plastics, biodegradable plastics, and cathode materials for new energy batteries.
Projects such as Jianlong’s 100,000-ton coal gas-to-methanol plant and Huafeng’s 60,000-ton coal gas-to-methanol plant in Shuangyashan City have been completed and put into operation. Sanju Huanben’s 50,000-ton LNG plant is in trial production, while Longmei Tiantai’s 100,000-ton coal-to-aromatics plant has the capabilities to produce methanol; as a result, the city now has a coal chemical production capacity of 2.6 million tons. Conduct research on the key issues in the development of the coal chemical industry in Shuangyashan, to provide investors with feasible recommendations and support for establishing coal chemical projects in this city. To accommodate coal chemical projects such as coal-to-olefins, Shuangyashan City has relocated a new industrial park for coal chemicals. The plan for the modern coal chemical industry park has been prepared, and it has been approved following expert evaluation and discussions by the municipal authorities. Accelerate the approval process for planning environmental impact assessments to provide the necessary support for the implementation of the projects.