China’s ethylene output soared in first half

China’s ethylene production in the first half of this year amounted to about 6.01 million tons, up 25.5% year-on-year, according to a report by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The output expansion was largely attributed to a spate of large-scale new crackers, along with capacity hikes at existing crackers. China Petroleum and Chemical, better known as Sinopec, which accounted for more than half of the country’s ethylene output, said at the end of July that the Sinopec Group produced some 4.2 million tons of ethylene in the January-June period, a year-on-year jump of 41%. The increase is remarkable even taking into account the facts that the figure included production by joint ventures with overseas companies and that it had to cut back production in early 2009 because of the economic slowdown. Additional capacities that were brought online from the second half of 2009 include those of Fujian Refining and Petrochemical in Fujian Province, Panjin Ethylene in Liaoning Province, and Tianjin Petrochemical and Zhenhai Refining and Chemical in Zhejiang Province. (August 5, 2010)