Expansion in the Chinese Ethylene Production
Shell Nanhai (Shell) along with China National Offshore Oil Corporation announced plans to expand the production capacity of its ethylene plant
On 15th December, 2015, Shell Nanhai BV entered into an agreement with CNOOC Petrochemicals Investment Limited to expand the production capacity of the ethylene plant at the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Limited (CSPCL), a 50:50 joint venture between the two companies, located in China. CSPCL was founded in 2000 with an investment worth USD4.1 billion. The complex is the largest Sino-foreign joint venture and caters to the unabated growth in the demand for petrochemicals and plastics in China. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies have announced plans to increase the installed production capacity of the ethylene cracking unit at the facility by two-fold. The expansion of the facility is expected to be completed in about two years, taking the total capacity for ethylene production to over 1,000,000 MTPA. Moreover, the companies would also build additional facilities such as the ethylene derivatives unit plant and astyrene monomer and propylene oxide (SMPO/PDO) plant.
According to TechSci Research “the expansion strategy of these two companies is expected to prove beneficial for the ethylene market in China. The state of the art technology incorporated at the complex is expected to result in the manufacturing of high quality products, thereby expanding the business operations with existing as well as new customers in the country”.