China’s Zhenyang achieves on-spec PVC production

Market: Petrochemicals
10/01/24

Chinese state-owned petrochemical producer Ningbo Zhenyang Development achieved on-specification production at its new polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant on 8 January, during successful trial runs.

The 300,000 t/yr PVC plant, located at Ningbo, Zhejiang province in eastern China, which completed construction on 29 September 2023, has 300,000 t/yr capacity for vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), 480,000 t/yr for ethylene dichloride (EDC) and 350,000 t/yr for caustic soda.

But Zhenyang shut the PVC plant soon after the trial runs because the caustic soda unit is undergoing maintenance. The PVC plant will start commercial operations in late January.

Zhenyang has no ethylene production facilities and the PVC plant will rely on ethylene purchased mainly from state-owned Sinopec Zhenhai Petrochemical and state-owned Ningbo Fund Energy via pipeline.

Some more PVC plants with a total capacity of 1.6mn t/yr will come on line in China in 2024 (see table). Domestic PVC prices could face further downward pressure as a result, forcing Chinese producers and traders to l;look at export markets.

China's new PVC capacities
Company	Product	Grade	Capacity ('000 t/yr)	Timeline
Shanxi Jintai	PVC, carbide-based	Suspension	600	second-half 2024
Wanhua Chemical (Fujian) 2nd Phase	PVC, ethylene-based	Suspension	400	end 2024
Tianjin Bohai Chemical	PVC, ethylene-based	Suspension	400	end 2024
Qingdao Haiwan	PVC, ethylene-based	Suspension	200	end 2024

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Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

30/04/25

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30/04/25

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

Madrid, 30 April (Argus) — Repsol said it expects its five Spanish refineries to return to normal operations within a week following Monday's nationwide power outage. The company confirmed that power was restored to all its refineries on Monday evening, allowing the restart process to begin. It will take three days to restart the crude distillation units and 5-7 days to restart the secondary conversion units, with hydrocrackers taking the longest, according to chief executive Josu Jon Imaz. A momentary and as-yet unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal, disrupting petrochemical plants and airports, as well as refineries. Imaz noted that Repsol was fortunate that its refineries avoided damage from petroleum coke formation and other solidification processes during the shutdown. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Petronor refinery in Bilbao was the first to restart, thanks to electricity imports from France, he said. State-controlled petroleum reserves corporation Cores has temporarily reduced Spain's obligation to hold 92 days of oil product consumption as strategic reserves by four days, mitigating potential supply issues from the outage. Imaz declined to speculate on the cause of the power outage. By Jonathan Gleave Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Orbia focused on cost in face of weak PVC market

25/04/25

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25/04/25

Orbia focused on cost in face of weak PVC market

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