China’s Sinopec completes test runs at Hainan ethylene plant

CHINA’S Sinopec said on Wednesday (Feb 22) it has completed trial runs at a one million tonnes-per-year ethylene plant in the southern Chinese province of Hainan that will boost exports.

The facility is part of a 28.6 billion yuan (S$5.6 billion) complex built at the site and is the second major petrochemical plant starting this year after a similar-sized facility was announced last week by PetroChina in Guangdong province.

Sinopec is aiming to turn the Hainan complex into an export-oriented producer, with exports of downstream petrochemical products accounting for half its production by the end of 2025, the company said. It also operates a 184,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery at the same site.

Sinopec said it has developed its own ethylene technology with plants capable of handling a wide range of feedstocks, allowing the refiner to process different types of crude oil.

Ethylene is a key building block of petrochemicals from plastics to chemical fibre. REUTERS