The ceremony was officiated by Prince Saud bin Thunayan Al-Saud, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and SABIC's chairman, SABIC's Vice Chairman and CEO Mohamed Al-Mady and senior leaders of the company who are holding high level exchanges with senior government officials in Boao, Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin. They include Zhang Gaoli, member of the political bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Tianjin Party Secretary; Huang Xingguo, Tianjin deputy party secretary and Tianjin Mayor; He Lifeng, Tianjin deputy party secretary and secretary of Binhai New Area; Yang Dongliang, member of Tianjin Municipal Standing Committee and Tianjin Executive Vice Mayor; Fu Chengyu, chairman of Sinopec; Wang Tianpu, vice chairman and president of Sinopec; and Dai Houliang, senior vice president of Sinopec.
Established in October 2009, SSTPC is a joint venture with SINOPEC and SABIC each holding 50 percent equity. The Phase One project, with annual capacity of one million tons of ethylene, began production in January 2010. With a total investment of RMB11 billion ($1.7 billion) and covering a ground area of 67 hectares, this polycarbonate production complex with an annual capacity of 260,000 tons is the Phase Two project and was approved by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Jan. 13.
With two sets of phosgene free production systems, with an annual capacity of 130-kilo ton each to be built, the new polycarbonate production complex started construction yesterday (April 3) and 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. With the advanced equipment, the products are designed to be high tech and high value-added, which can be used for a wide range of applications. Hence, it will play an important role in promoting the development of Tianjin petrochemical industry and drive the economic growth in the Bohai rim region, which can effectively meet the market demand for petrochemicals in Asia-Pacific.
Huang Xingguo said: "This is another big project following the Tianjin's one million tons of ethylene and 10 million tons of oil refining projects by Sinopec and SABIC. It deepens the cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia, and accelerates the development of Binhai New Area and is strategically important for the construction of state-level petrochemical industry base. We will put full effort to provide quality services and create the environment to safeguard the smooth project implementation."
Fu Chengyu said: "This project is the fruitful result of cooperation between Sinopec and SABIC. It is also an important move for Sinopec to adjust our product mix, to elevate our target product market, and to expedite the change of the ways of economic developments. The construction of the complex will further enhance the competitiveness and lead China's way in the petrochemical sector. It also brings both parties to form a closer tie in strategic cooperation, as well as to tighten the bilateral relations between China and Saudi Arabia. Both parties are committed to strive for efficiency, excellence, safety and environmental-friendliness in the project."
Prince Saud said: "Today's ground-breaking ceremony is an important milestone for SABIC. It marks another collaboration we have with Sinopec, and our closer connection with the Chinese people. SABIC and Sinopec have shared ambitions of establishing long-term strategic partnership that contributes toward enriching the economies of Saudi Arabia and China in the areas of scientific research, technology, reform and product marketing."
Demand growth for polycarbonate is the fastest among the top five engineering 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 China in the demand of polycarbonate and other engineering plastics. In 2010, China consumed 1.13 million tons of polycarbonate, with a domestic output of 220,000 tons only.
China mainly relies on imports for polycarbonate and hence polycarbonate was the highest by volume of import among all engineering plastics. Based on initial estimation, demand for polycarbonate in China will reach 1.78 million tons by 2015, an average annual increase of nearly 10 percent.
