The new production capacity of domestic polyethylene projects exceeds 10 million yuan

The new production capacity of domestic polyethylene projects exceeds 10 million yuan

In 2021, 13 sets of polyethylene units were put into production in China, increasing the scale by 4.7 million tons per year. By the end of 2021, the domestic polyethylene production scale reached 27.73 million tons per year. 48 PE production enterprises in China have built and operated 111 sets of PE units, with the largest single set scale of 500,000 tons per year.

In 2022, the domestic plan is to increase 9 polyethylene units, increase the production capacity of 3.65 million tons, and add another 400,000 tons of EVA. Since 2022, a total of 32 units are under construction or have been put into production, and they can be put into production by 2025 at the latest, involving a capacity of more than 10 million.

Our country polyethylene main supply provinces and cities have Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Liaoning, Shandong and so on. The main suppliers are Dushanzi petrochemical, Lanzhou petrochemical, Zhejiang petrochemical, Cnooc Shell, Daqing petrochemical, Fushun petrochemical, Maoming petrochemical and so on.

CNPC Economics and Technology Research Institute released the latest edition of the annual Development Report on Oil and Gas Industry at Home and abroad. According to the report, China's refining capacity continued to grow rapidly, catching up with that of the US at 910 million tons per year by the end of 2021, and is expected to continue to grow rapidly in 2022.

In 2021, China's ethylene production capacity will increase by 8.5 million tons/year, and the ethylene equivalent self-sufficiency rate will increase to 66.2 percent. It is estimated that China will become the world's largest producer of oil refining and ethylene by 2022. However, China's large but not strong refining capacity and excess refining capacity will restrict the effective development of China's refining and chemical industry.

Global distribution of polyethylene capacity

In 2021, the world's PE production capacity will be 139.78 million tons/year, and the output will be 117.83 million tons, with an average operating rate of 84.3%. It is estimated that by the end of 2022, the global production capacity of polyethylene may reach about 148.07 million tons, with a year-on-year growth rate of 8.5%. The following will sort out the global distribution of polyethylene production capacity.

● By sector: concentrated in Northeast Asia, North America and the Middle East

The global supply of polyethylene is mainly concentrated in Northeast Asia, North America and the Middle East, of which northeast Asia's production capacity is about 41.19 million tons, accounting for 30% of the global production capacity. North America accounted for about 29.95 million tons, or 22 percent of global capacity, while the Middle East accounted for about 23.6 million tons, or 17 percent of global capacity. These three regions account for nearly 70% of the world's polyethylene production capacity and are the major global supply regions for polyethylene.

The growth of polyethylene production capacity in the past five years is mainly from northeast Asia and North America. Northeast Asia is the region with the largest increase in PE capacity. From 2017 to now, the PE capacity in Northeast Asia has increased by about 12.95 million tons, with a five-year compound capacity growth rate of 7.8%, followed by North America, which has increased by about 7 million tons, with a five-year compound capacity growth rate of 5.5%.

● By country: China, the US and Saudi Arabia

Global PE production capacity is concentrated in China, the United States and Saudi Arabia. China has the largest PE production capacity in the world at present. As of April 2022, China's PE production capacity reached about 29.18 million tons, accounting for 21% of the world's total PE production capacity, followed by the United States, whose PE production capacity was about 23.75 million tons, accounting for 17% of the world's PE production capacity. The third largest PE production capacity is Saudi Arabia. Its polyethylene production capacity reached about 11.06 million tons, accounting for 8% of the global polyethylene production capacity.

According to the capacity increment in the past five years, the growth of polyethylene capacity is mainly concentrated in China and the United States. From 2017 to April 2022, China's polyethylene production capacity increased by about 11 million tons, with an average annual capacity growth rate of 10%, followed by the United States, which increased by about 6.99 million tons, with an average annual capacity growth rate of 7.2%. The rapid growth of Polyethylene capacity in China is mainly due to the expansion and upgrading of the petrochemical industry and the rapid development of light hydrocarbon cracking process, while the growth of polyethylene capacity in the United States is mainly due to the ethane cracking project brought about by the shale gas revolution. China and the United States are also the main reasons for the rapid growth of polyethylene capacity in Northeast Asia and North America.

Excerpt from - China Chemical Industry Information Weekly