Chinese agency okays petrochemical project

April 3, 2007
China's NDRC has granted permission to Sinopec for the construction of an 800,000-tpy ethylene plant and downstream petrochemical facilities in Wuhan, Hebei Province (OGJ, July 10, 2006, Newsletter).

Eric Watkins
Senior Corrspondent

LOS ANGELES, Apr. 3 -- China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has granted permission to China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) for the construction of an 800,000-tonne/year (tpy) ethylene plant and downstream petrochemical facilities in Wuhan, Hebei Province (OGJ, July 10, 2006, Newsletter).

The NDRC, which regulates China's industries and approves projects, said capacities of the downstream plants will include 300,000 tpy of linear low-density polyethylene, 300,000 tpy of high-density polyethylene, and 400,000 tpy of polypropylene.

In 2005, China produced 7.55 million tonnes of ethylene. By 2010 the government plans to raise the country's ethylene capacity by 4.38 million tpy through expansion and upgrading of existing plants and by a further 6.2 million tpy through the construction of new facilities.

A Sinopec spokesman said Wuhan's new petrochemical project will be integrated with a 3 million-tpy refinery being expanded to 8 million tpy.

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].