• China has built 18 PX projects, with total capacity more than 14Mt/a;
• It is predicted that, PX capacity in China will exceed 42Mt/a in 2021. China will finish PX import substitution in 2022, and change from an importer to a net exporter;
• The 3rd China Refining & Chemical Integration Conference will be held on Jun 27-28 in Dalian, and the impact of China’s PX projects construction on Asian market, will be one of the key topics of the conference.
ASIACHEM’s data shows that, as of May 2018, China has built 18 PX projects, with a total of 14.83 Mt/a PX capacity. Xianglu Dragon (Fuhaichuang) 1.6 Mt/a PX capacity has been cut off since 2015, Sinochem Hongrun Petrochemical 600 kt/a PX project built in 2017 has no plan to startup. Therefore, at present, the actual operation of China's PX production capacity is 12.63 Mt/a.
As the upstream raw material of PTA, PX is one of the few chemicals with insufficient capacity in China’s petrochemical industry. In 2017, the effective capacity of PTA in China was 46.55Mt/a, and with the resuming production of Xianglu Dragon, Yuandong Petrochemical, and so on, PTA production increased to 35Mt. Driven by the growth of PTA demand, PX production in China reached 9.8Mt, however, the supply-demand gap continued to grow, with import amount of 14.05Mt in 2017, external dependency of 59%, hitting a record high.
Based on the huge market and good profitability of PX, there has an upsurge of PX projects construction in China. After combing the owners strength, approval progress, construction status, downstream planning and resource support and other elements of each PX project under construction, developing or planning, ASIACHEM believes that more than 50% completion likelihood projects is 12, these projects and 18 completed projects will make PX capacity reach 42.43Mt/a in 2021. Especially, PX units in large scale refining & chemical integration (RCI) projects will lead the explosive growth of China’s PX capacity.
Located in Changxing Island Petrochemical Industrial Base in Dalian, Hengli 20Mt/a project of total investment of CNY 56.2bn, is designed with crude oil processing capacity of 20Mt/a and aromatic complex unit nominal scale of 4.5Mt/a (based on PX). The project is under construction now, and plans to finish installation in Jul 2018, and to be put into operation in Oct.
ZPC 40Mt/a RCI project is located in Zhoushan Green Petrochemical Base, with capital investment of CNY 173.08bn, to build total capacity of 40Mt/a oil refining, 8Mt/a PX, 2.8Mt/a ethylene in two phases.Phase I of the project, with investment of CNY 90.16bn, plans to build 20Mt/a oil refining + 5.2 Mt/a aromatics + 1.4Mt/a ethylene. Phase I of the project is under construction now, and plans to be put into operation by the end of 2018. Scheme of Phase II is to make maximum of production of ethylene and downstream products, which plans to build 20Mt/a oil refining + 5.2Mt/a aromatics + 1.4Mt/a ethylene, and to be put into operation in Q1 2021.
To be built in Quanhui Petrochemical Industrial Zone of Meizhou Bay Petrochemical Base in Quznhou City, Fujian Province, Sinochem Quanzhou RCI project (phase), with total investment of about CNY 32.5bn, plans to increase the oil refining capacity from 12Mt/a to 15Mt/a, as well as build 1Mt/a ethylene, 800kt/a PX and downstream chemical units. Currently, the project is under construction, plans to be completed and hand over in Jun 2020, and commissioned in Dec 2020.
Shenghong 16Mt/a RCI project is located in Lianyungang Petrochemical Industrial Base, with total investment of CNY 77.65bn, to build 16Mt/a oil refining, 2.8Mt/a PX, 1.1Mt/a ethylene. In Sep 2017, the project was approved by Jiangsu Provincial Development & Reform Commission.
Located in Caofeidian Petrochemical Industrial Base, Risun Petrochemical 15Mt/a RCI project of total investment of CNY 55.8bn, plans to build 15Mt/a oil refining, 2Mt/a PX, 1.2Mt/a ethylene and supporting facilities in three phases.
To be built in Gulei Petrochemical Industrial Bases, Jinjiang Petrochemical aromatics & olefins integration project, plans to invest about CNY 60bn, and use world-class 10Mt/a crude oil processing technology, with 2.6Mt/a PX and 1.5Mt/a ethylene, but without oil products such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene. In Dec 2016, contract signing of the project was undertaken; in Nov 2017, scheme demonstration meeting for the project was held.
Sino-Venezuela Guangdong Petrochemical 20Mt/a RCI project, to be built in Dananhai Petrochemical Industry Park in Jieyang, Guangdong, plans to use scheme of oil refining – aromatics – chemical integration, for construction of 20Mt/a oil refining + 2.6Mt/a aromatics + 1.2Mt/a ethylene. The project plans to start construction in 2018, and be commissioned in 2021.
Located in Liaodong Bay New District in Panjin, Liaoning, Norinco Group Fine Chemical & Raw Materials Project cooperated by China and Saudi Arabia, with total investment of CNY 69.5bn, plans to build 15Mt/a oil refining, 1Mt/a ethylene, 1.6Mt/a PX and downstream deep processing complex units. The project is now under actively advancing.
<China PX Industrial Chain Annual Report 2018> published by ASIACHEM shows that, China will add 8.5 Mt/a PX capacity because of the operation of ZPC Phase I and Hengli Petrochemical by the end of 2018, meaning a huge impact on the imported sources. By 2021, China's PX capacity will reach 42.43Mt/a. means China will likely transfer from PX importing countries to exporting countries. It is predicted that, China will finish PX import substitution in 2022, change from an importer to a net exporter, forming overflow & squeezing effect on neighboring countries.
The 3rd China Refining & Chemical Integration Conference 2018 organized by ASIACHEM will be held on Jun 27-28 in Dalian. Several large scale RCI projects owners such as Hengli, ZPC, as well as other experts will be present, and the impact of China’s PX projects construction on Asian market, will be one of the key topics of the conference. Besides, an industrial visiting to Dalian Changxing Island (Xizhong Island) Petrochemical Park, location of Hengli RCI project, will be arranged by conference.
