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Recently, exciting news came from Shouguang Union Petrochemical Co., Ltd.! The 100,000-ton/year BDO project, for which 650 million yuan was invested, saw the production of its first batch of products at 22:48 on March 20, 2025, after more than a year of round-the-clock efforts. This marked the official commissioning of the project, representing an important milestone in the transformation and development process of Shouguang Alliance Petrochemicals. This project utilizes cutting-edge industry technology – the maleic anhydride esterification and hydrogenation process developed by the British company Davy. Compared to traditional processes, it reduces carbon emissions per ton of product to 1/4 of the original level, while increasing the purity of BDO to 99.85%, which is far higher than the 99.5% standard of traditional processes. As a result, this product can be sold directly in the EU market and can effectively replace imported products. It is worth mentioning that the production model of this project is highly innovative; a single setup can simultaneously produce three products – BDO (1,4-butanediol), γ-butyrolactone, and furan – thereby enabling efficient use of resources. Furthermore, the company has outlined a plan for its next phase of development, aiming to introduce new DMS and PBS products to further expand its product portfolio and enable a single device to handle multiple tasks, thereby continuously enhancing the competitiveness of its products in the market. It is reported that, as a major project to be implemented in Shandong Province in 2024, this project has a total investment of 3.35 billion yuan and will be constructed in two phases. Phase 1 will involve the construction of a BDO production facility with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons; Phase 2 will see the establishment of a maleic anhydride production facility with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons, as well as a facility for producing PBAT/PBS biodegradable plastics with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons. Advanced maleic anhydride esterification and hydrogenation technologies will be adopted, resulting in reduced waste generation and lower energy consumption. Both the quality of the products and the level of automation in the facilities will reach international advanced standards. The successful commissioning of Shouguang Union Petrochemical Co., Ltd.’s 100,000 tons per year BDO production facility indicates that Union Petrochemical is making significant progress toward a green, high-end, and innovative direction.