CNPC Invests in C4, Butyl Rubber Project in Gansu Province

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Lanzhou Petrochemical, a China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) (Beijing) subsidiary in Gansu Province, signed an agreement with Jiangsu GPRO Group Company Limited (GPRO) in late December to jointly invest $270.3 million in a C4 and rubber project. The project includes a 200,000-ton-per-annum (TPA) C4 deep-processing unit and a 60,000-TPA butyl rubber unit. The butyl rubber unit will be one of China's largest when complete, according to a CNPC news release.

CNPC said the C4 deep processing unit will adopt new technology for lower alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbon transformation to produce pure benzene, toluene, xylene and C9 aromatic hydrocarbons.

In the butyl rubber unit, the companies will build 30,000-TPA halogenations devices, as well. Currently the two products are in short supply.

A construction timeframe was not immediately available, but GPRO CEO Guo Jindong said the companies will set up a new company as soon as possible to manage the business.

The rocketing international oil price has brought up China's butyl rubber price, up to about $7,567.6 per ton. The high price has suppressed the downstream demand for the product, and analysts say the price probably won't fall anytime soon.

Lanzhou Petrochemical processes 10.5 million tons of crude oil, producing 700,000 tons of ethylene, 520,000 tons of chemical fertilizers, 1.13 million tons of polyolefin and C4, among other things. Its products include chlor-alkali products, propylene oxide, polyether and titanium dioxide. GPRO owns a dozen of the subsidiaries with the total production capacity reaching several million tons.

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