China will increase propylene capacity with more steam cracking and PDH

摘要

As many countries look to increase PC production,China is projected to increase propylene capacity to 42.18MM mt in 2025,a 56% increase compared to propylene capacity of 33.44MM mt in 2018.The projected addition of new capacity will allow the country to produce 47% of global propylene supply.While coal-to-olefins and methanol-to-olefins capacities will still be added,the majority of new Chinese propylene capacity will likely consist of steam cracking and propane dehydrogenation(PDH)plants.Steam cracking has gained significant traction in China with the startup of multiple refinery and petrochemical complexes using the technology.These steam crackers use LPG and naphtha feedstocks to produce around 800K mt/y of ethylene and 400K mt/y of propylene,with a 2:1 yield ratio of ethylene to propylene production.Steam crackers using ethane feedstock will have low propylene yields,and the use of propane and butane feedstocks will result in yields similar to crackers using naphtha.China's SP Chemicals Taixing Co.Ltd.will commission a light paraffin cracker that will use ethane and propane feedstocks.