Polystyrene is the weak link in China's rapidly expanding petrochemical industry.
China increased PS productive capacity to 250,000 metric tons/year in 1992, but the increase came too late to accommodate demand. The resulting output of 120,000 tons met less than one third of the country's demand for PS that year (Table 1).
That domestic shortfall is even more marked for expandable polystyrene (EPS). China's current EPS productive capacity is about 60,000 tons/year. In 1987, China produced a mere 14,000 tons of EPS while its imports of EPS totaled 68,000 tons. EPS output rose to 25,000 tons in 1989, but imports shot up to 76,000 tons.
The shortfall has persisted into the 1990s, with EPS imports skyrocketing to 183,900 tons in 1992.
PRODUCTION PROBLEMS
China's production of EPS is plagued by small economies of scale.
High production costs coupled with low profits have caused some plants to shut down production units.
Meantime substandard quality characterized by problems with underexpansion and irregular particles caused a price drop for domestically produced EPS. It currently sells at 8,100 yuan ($1,300)/ton, down 400 yuan ($70)/ton from 1989 price levels.
According to the China National Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), China's PS demand is projected to jump by 430,000 tons in 2000.
To ease the domestic supply shortfall and upgrade overall product quality China has undertaken a major PS expansion program. It plans to add 341,000 tons/year of productive capacity by 1997, to increase total productive capacity to about 600,000 tons/year (Tables 2, 3).
China uses PS to produce high impact and foam plastics, which account for PS use of 62.5% and 37.5%, respectively.
BACKGROUND
China began producing PS in 1960 with technology introduced from the former U.S.S.R. in a pilot project at Shanghai's Gaoqiao Petrochemical Corp.
Former Soviet and several domestic engineered suspension methods are still in use in China PS plants.
Lanzhou Chemical Corp. was the first to import bulk polymerization technology from the former U.S.S.R. in 1961. In the late 1970s and 1980s, China began to expand PS production by importing a broader variety of production equipment and technology. They included PS units from U.S. firms Dow Chemical Co. and Cosden Oil & Chemical Co., Japan's TECMTC, and Roval Dutch/Shell Group.
Copyright 1994 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
