Sinopec and Sabic joint venture breaks ground

Sinopec Sabic Tianjin Petrochemical Company (SSTPC) held a ground-breaking ceremony in Tianjin Binhai New Area in China for a polycarbonate production complex with 260,000 metric tons per annum capacity. The company is a 50-50 joint venture between China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). The Phase One project, with annual capacity of one million metric tons of ethylene, has begun production since January 2010. With a total investment of RMB11 billion (US$ 1.7 billion) and covering a ground area of 67 hectares, this polycarbonate production complex is the Phase Two project which was approved by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in January 2012. It is expected to be operational in 2015. Upon operation, it can produce four major classes of polycarbonate, including the mixed grade, extrusion grade, optical grade, and molding grade polycarbonate. The project uses the world’s leading non-phosgene polycarbonate manufacturing technology, which complies with China’s national energy saving and carbon emission policy.
Polycarbonate demand
Demand growth for polycarbonate is the fastest among the top five engineered plastics. Polycarbonate has high purity and transparency properties. With its excellent overall performance, it is widely used in automotive parts, home appliances, medical products, etc. With the recent growth in industries such as electronics, automotive, information technology and building materials, there is a significant increase in demand of polycarbonate and other engineered plastics in China. In 2010, China consumed 1.13 million metric tons of polycarbonate, with a domestic output of 220,000 metric tons only. China mainly relies on imports for polycarbonate, and hence, polycarbonate was the highest by volume of imports among all engineered plastics. Based on initial estimation, demand for polycarbonate in China will reach 1.78 million metric tons by 2015, an average annual increase of nearly 10%. (April 4, 2012)