In 2020, the growth rate of world ethylene capacity will slow down, and most of the new capacity will come from China. Affected by the new crown epidemic, the demand for ethylene will increase slightly. The operating rate of ethylene plants in the world will drop significantly. The price of ethylene in major markets will continue to fall. The cost of ethylene and naphtha-based ethylene has undergone great changes. North American ethane-to-ethylene construction projects have slowed down. Although the construction process of ethylene projects in countries along the “Belt and Road” has slowed down, they continue to advance. As of the end of 2020, the total domestic ethylene production capacity has reached about 35.7 million tons. In 2020, Hengli Petrochemical, Bora Petrochemical, Sinochem Quanzhou and other large ethylene projects have been put into production, with a total of more than 6 million tons of new capacity, an increase from 2019 21%.
In 2021, it is estimated that the world's ethylene production capacity will increase more than 2020, and the production capacity will exceed 200 million tons per year. The production capacity growth will mainly come from the United States and China. The supply will be more abundant and the demand for ethylene is expected to gradually recover.
Moreover, 2021 will be the year when China's ethylene industry has completed the most production capacity and put into operation. Oil-based ethylene and coal/methanol-based ethylene will go hand in hand. With the development of Sino-Saudi Tianjin Petrochemical, Sino-Korea Petrochemical, Changqing Ethane to Ethylene and Tarim Ethylene With the commissioning of a number of expansion and new projects such as ethylene to ethylene, the production capacity of ethylene will also usher in a relatively large increase.
According to rough estimates, a total of more than 7 million tons of ethylene production capacity is planned to be put into production by the end of the year. The total production capacity will exceed the 40 million tons mark. The output will increase significantly, the proportion of private enterprises will further expand, and the market competition will become more intense. China's ethylene will usher in the peak of production expansion. On the one hand, it will be the commissioning of multiple integrated refining and chemical plants, such as the second phase of Zhejiang Petrochemical, Shenghong Petrochemical, and Gulei Petrochemical, on the other hand, the expansion of existing equipment.
What progress has been made in China's ethylene project recently? Next, I will take you to understand.
Major progress has been made in the preliminary work of supporting works of Tianjin 1.2 million tons/year ethylene project
A few days ago, there was good news from TEDA Nangang Group that major progress has been made in the preliminary work of the Petrochemical Pipe Gallery Project in Nangang Industrial Park, involving the National and Municipal Ecological Red Lines of the "Demonstration Report on the Impact of the Ecological Environment in Permanently Protected Ecological Regions" and "Inevitable Ecological Protection The "Red Line Demonstration Report" was reviewed and approved by the Tianjin Municipal People's Government.
According to reports, in accordance with the national "Petrochemical Industry Planning and Layout Plan" and the requirements of the strategic adjustment of Tianjin's industrial layout, the Nangang 1.2 million tons/year ethylene project is a key investment attraction project in Tianjin and Nangang Industrial Zone, and the Petrochemical Pipe Gallery Project in Nangang Industrial Zone The supporting project of the 1.2 million tons/year ethylene project has attracted the attention of leaders at all levels, including the city and the new district, and has been included in the list of Tianjin's key reserve projects in 2020 by the Municipal Development and Reform Commission. With the strong support of the Municipal Planning and Resources Bureau, District Planning and Resources Bureau, Nangang Management Committee and other departments, in the first quarter of 2021, significant progress has been made in the preliminary work of the petrochemical pipeline gallery project. The “Impact Demonstration Report” and the “Inevitable Ecological Protection Red Line Demonstration Report” have been agreed by the municipal government.
The progress of the National Demonstration Project of PetroChina Ethane to Ethylene 97%
As of April 16, 2021, CNPC has two sets of ethane-to-ethylene national-level demonstration projects. The progress of the Changqing project's ethylene plant has reached 97%, and the Tarim ethylene plant has reached 95.9%.
CNPC Lanzhou Petrochemical Changqing Ethane to Ethylene Project with a total investment of 10.4 billion yuan, using CNPC’s own technology to build the country’s first 800,000 tons/year ethane to ethylene demonstration plant, with an annual output of 400,000 tons of high density and 400,000 tons. For full-density polyethylene products, the 1.05 million tons/year ethane raw material required comes from the Changqing Gas Field Ancient Natural Gas Processing Plant, located 17 kilometers away in Yuheng Industrial Zone. In 2019, the Changqing 800,000 tons/year ethane to ethylene project and the PetroChina Xinjiang Tarim 600,000 tons/year ethane to ethylene project were jointly included in the ethane cracking ethylene demonstration project by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Guangdong Province plans to produce 9 million tons of ethylene per year for Guangdong Petrochemical Corporation in 2025
On April 19, 2021, the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission announced the second announcement of the environmental impact assessment of the overall plan for the petrochemical industry in Guangdong Province (2021-2025) on the website. By 2025, a production capacity of 90 million tons/year of oil refining, 9 million tons/year of ethylene, and 5 million tons/year of aromatics will be formed, and a world-class green petrochemical industry cluster will be formed.
Zhejiang Petrochemical Phase II 2#1.4 million tons/year ethylene plant successfully started up at one time
On April 16, 2021, Zhejiang Petrochemical's second phase project 2# 1.4 million tons/year ethylene plant produced qualified ethylene products, the plant was running smoothly, and the project was successfully started in one run!
Zhejiang Petrochemical Phase II 2# 1.4 million tons of ethylene plant uses raw materials for ethane, propane, butane, light naphtha, aromatics raffinate, hydrotopping oil, diesel, hydrocracking tail oil, etc., using Technip's Pre-depropanization and pre-hydrogenation technology, the main products are polymer-grade ethylene and polymer-grade propylene; the main by-products are hydrogen, pyrolysis carbon four, crude pyrolysis gasoline, light/heavy fuel oil, etc.
It can be seen that my country's ethylene capacity growth trend is still strong, and the shortage of domestic ethylene supply will be greatly eased by then.
Source: Chemical Network
