China braces for a new wave of PE capacity in 2019-2022

China’s PE capacity is expected to almost double over the course of the next four years, with the slated start-up of around thirty new production facilities. Sources close to the companies report that the country is set to bring 4.3 million tons/year of new PE capacity online by the end of 2019, and around 14 million tons/year in total by 2022.

ZPC, Jiutai Energy, Ningxia Baofeng Energy, and Hua Tai Sheng Fu are all readying to start up their HDPE/LLDPE swing units by the end of the next year. The plants will each have a production capacity of 300,000 tons/year, sources informed.

Looking ahead to the third quarter of 2019, Zhong An Lian and Zhong Mei Yi Li are planning to start up their new PE plants with respective capacities of 350,000 tons/year and 320,000 tons/year while Hengli Petrochemical’s new 400,000 tons/year HDPE unit will come on stream by the final quarter.

Shenhua (Baotou) Charcoal Chemical Industry’s 300,000 tons/year LDPE unit, Zhong Mei Yu Ling’s 300,000 tons/year LDPE/HDPE unit, and Qinghai Damei’s 300,000 tons/year unit are also among the new capacities slated to come on stream through 2019.

In addition to the domestic producers, the Singapore-based SP Chemical is also expected to add 650,000 tons/year of PE in China’s downstream capacity by the end of next year.

Sources also reported that fourteen new PE facilities with a total of 6.6 million tons/year of production capacity are slated to come online in 2020. The new facilities include Wei Xing Petrochemical’s 1.3 million tons/year and Nan Shan Yi Wan’s 1.4 million tons/year PE units.

As for 2021, Zhong Wei Guandong and ZPC are expected to start up their HDPE/LLDPE swing units, with respective downstream capacities of 1 million tons/year and 450,000 tons/year. ZPC is also expected to bring its new 400,000 tons/year EVA/LDPE unit online in 2021.

About 850,000 tons/year of PE capacity from Chinese producers including Qinghai Kuang Yeare and Hai Nan Refinery is due to come online by the end of 2022, boosting the country’s total capacity to close to 33 million tons/year.