On the evening of December 13, Wanhua Chemical issued a foreign investment announcement. The name of the investment target: Wanhua Chemical’s 1.2 million tons/year ethylene and downstream high-end polyolefin project, and the investment amount: a total investment of 17.6 billion yuan.
The downstream high-end products of my country’s ethylene industry rely heavily on imports. Polyethylene elastomers are an important part of new chemical materials. Among them, high-end polyolefin products such as polyolefin elastomers (POE) and differentiated special materials are 100% dependent on imports. After years of independent technology development, the company has fully mastered the relevant technologies.
The company plans to implement the second-phase project of ethylene in Yantai Industrial Park, build 1.2 million tons/year ethylene and downstream high-end polyolefin projects, and realize the industrialization of high-end polyolefin products such as self-developed POE and differentiated special materials. The second-phase project of ethylene will choose Ethane and naphtha are used as raw materials to form efficient synergy with the company’s existing PDH integration project and the first phase of ethylene project.
The planned project covers an area of about 1,215 mu, and mainly constructs 1.2 million tons/year ethylene cracking unit, 250,000 tons/year low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit, and 2×200,000 tons/year polyolefin elastomer (POE) unit , 200,000 tons/year butadiene unit, 550,000 tons/year pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation unit (including 30,000 tons/year styrene extraction), 400,000 tons/year aromatics extraction unit and supporting auxiliary projects and public facilities .
The project plans to invest 17.6 billion yuan, and the construction funds will be raised in the form of a combination of self-owned funds and bank loans.
The project has been approved by the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission and is expected to start production in October 2024.
In recent years, high value-added products in the domestic ethylene downstream industry chain still rely heavily on imports, especially high-end polyolefin products such as domestic polyolefin elastomers (POE) and extra-high voltage cable insulation materials (XLPE), which are basically monopolized by foreign countries. The construction will help Wanhua strengthen the polyolefin industry chain and fill the gap in domestic high-end polyolefin products.
The project uses ethane and naphtha as raw materials to form a synergy with the existing first-phase ethylene project that uses propane as raw materials. The diversification of raw materials further avoids the risk of market fluctuations, improves the cost competitiveness of chemicals in the park, and creates a world-class integrated comprehensive Chemical industry park: provide upstream raw materials for the existing polyurethane and fine chemicals sectors, extend the industrial chain, and enhance the market competitiveness of the company’s high-end fine chemicals.
The project will also use the most advanced energy optimization and integration in the device, waste heat recovery and comprehensive utilization, to improve economic benefits and achieve a significant reduction in carbon emissions. Realize Unicom through long-distance pipelines, give full play to the efficient coordination of the two parks in Yantai and Penglai, extend the development of product chains, and expand the production of high-end chemical products.
The completion and commissioning of this project will make Wanhua Yantai Industrial Park a comprehensive chemical park for fine chemicals and new chemical materials with extremely competitive advantages in the world.
Post time: Dec-16-2022