A few days ago, the joint venture contract for the China-Saudi Arabia Gulei Ethylene Project was officially signed, and the signing ceremony was held via a video link “cloud signing”. Yin Li, Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee, Wang Ning, Governor of Fujian Province, and Yusuf Al-Bayan, Vice Chairman and CEO of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, jointly witnessed the completion of this cooperation.
SABIC and Fujian Petrochemical Group signed a joint venture contract (Photo by Xiao Chundao)
According to the contract, the world-renowned diversified chemical company Saudi Basic Industries Corporation and Fujian Petroleum Chemical Group Co., Ltd. will form a joint venture. The company plans to invest 40 billion yuan (approximately US$6.15 billion) to build and operate a world-class large-scale petrochemical complex at the Gulei Petrochemical Base in Fujian Province, China.
The planned large-scale petrochemical complex project plans to build an ethylene steam cracking unit for processing mixed raw materials. Its annual output of 1.5 million tons of ethylene unit is a world-class scale. At the same time, the project plans to build a series of downstream production units, including one set of ethylene glycol, two sets of polyethylene, two sets of polypropylene, one set of polycarbonate and other production units.
After the project is approved by relevant Chinese government departments, SABIC and Fujian Petrochemical Group will start the design of the production equipment and the final investment decision of both parties, jointly promote the implementation of the project, and strive to expand and extend the industrial chain of Gulei Petrochemical Base .
Recently, Fujian Province announced the “Special Plan for the High-Quality Development of Manufacturing Industry in Fujian Province during the 14th Five-Year Plan”. The “Plan” points out that by 2025, the scale of Fujian Province’s petrochemical industry will reach 1 trillion yuan, focusing on promoting the construction of “two bases and one special zone” large-scale petrochemical projects. Among them, Zhangzhou Gulei Petrochemical Base is promoting the construction of the second phase of China Shagulei Ethylene and Gulei Refining and Chemical Integration projects.
On August 18, the Gulei Refining and Chemical Integration Project, the largest cross-strait petrochemical industry cooperation project, was successfully completed and put into operation. It can produce 1 million tons of ethylene, 430,000 tons of propylene, and 120,000 butadiene annually. tons, with an annual output value of up to 26 billion yuan. Currently, the second phase of the project is being accelerated. It is expected that the ethylene production capacity will be increased to 1.4 million tons/year, and the total product volume will be increased to 4.2 million tons/year.
In the future, Gulei Petrochemical Base will strive to form two integrated refining and chemical industry chains with an energy level of 100 billion by the end of the “14th Five-Year Plan”. The single set and total scale of downstream petrochemical products will be in the leading position in the country. The production capacity has reached 21 million tons of oil refining, 3.5 million tons of ethylene, and 4.8 million tons of aromatics. It has cultivated several large-scale petrochemical enterprises that can participate in the international industrial division of labor and have an output value exceeding 10 billion yuan, forming an industrial cluster worth 100 billion yuan.
Fujian Gulei Petrochemical Base
In recent years, the charm of the Chinese market has formed a stronger attraction for multinational companies, and deeply cultivating China has become their only choice. With this choice, a number of world-class large-scale petrochemical projects have landed in China.
On September 5, 2019, LyondellBasell Industries and Liaoning Baolai Enterprise Group Co., Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding in Panjin, Liaoning, to conduct joint venture cooperation on light hydrocarbon comprehensive utilization projects. The two parties plan to implement a medium- and long-term petrochemical industry project with a total investment of US$12 billion as soon as possible within the next 10 years based on the first-phase project. In September 2020, the first phase of the Bora LyondellBasel light hydrocarbon project was put into production.
On November 23, 2019, BASF’s Guangdong new integrated production base project with a total investment of US$10 billion was launched in Zhanjiang. This is the first wholly foreign-owned large-scale petrochemical integration project implemented after the promulgation of my country’s Foreign Investment Law.
On April 22, 2020, ExxonMobil’s Guangdong Huizhou ethylene project officially started construction. This investment totaling US$10 billion is the first major petrochemical project wholly owned by an American company in China.
On May 17, 2020, CNOOC and Shell Huizhou Phase III ethylene project “cloud signing”. The project is based on the 1 million tons/year ethylene capacity in the first phase and the 1.2 million tons/year ethylene capacity in the second phase, adding an additional 1.5 million tons/year ethylene scale, with a total investment of approximately US$5.6 billion.
On August 5, 2021, Sinopec and BASF announced at the same time that the joint venture Yangzi Petrochemical-BASF Co., Ltd. will expand its Nanjing integrated production base.
In addition, a large number of foreign-invested projects such as INVISTA adiponitrile project, Dow silicone intermediates project, and BASF Shanghai Innovation Park project have begun to be implemented in China. Lanxess, LyondellBasell, Ineos and others also announced cooperation plans in China.
In recent years, the Chinese government has expanded market access for foreign investment, protected the rights and interests of foreign businessmen, actively created a fair, just and transparent business environment, and provided practical support for the development of foreign-funded enterprises in China. , the Chinese market will remain highly attractive to foreign investment! </p
