Chinese private-sector firm Bora is pushing to complete a planned petrochemicals project in Panjin, Liaoning province, through a partnership with global petrochemicals firm LyondellBasell.
The companies signed a preliminary agreement last month to set up the joint venture, with LyondellBasell set to take a 50pc stake in the project, said the Panjin government's public procurement, inspection and management office. It is not clear if the joint venture has been finalised.
Bora has refining experience but little expertise in petrochemicals. But a glut of oil products in China is pushing private-sector refiners to expand into petrochemicals.
The project includes a 1mn t/yr steam cracker, in line with Bora's strategy to develop a major petrochemical complex. The complex will also produce 800,000 t/yr of polyethylene, 600,000 t/yr of polypropylene, 350,000 t/yr of styrene and 120,000 t/yr of butadiene.
Bora is expected to start up the project by 2020.
The company operates the 200,000 b/d Panjin North Asphalt Fuel (PNAF) refinery in Liaoning — one of the bigger independent refiners in northeast China.
Bora's 1mn t/yr steam cracker is likely to run mostly on naphtha from the PNAF refinery, but it is expected to also purchase external feedstock.
Other proposed ethylene projects in China include those by Binzhou-based Shandong Chambroad and Dongying-based Fuhai, which could add up to 2mn t/yr of capacity. The timelines for these projects are unclear.
Liaoning is seeking to woo foreign investment to revitalise its economy. The province's GDP growth has remained well below the national average for several years. But Liaoning's GDP growth rose to 6.1pc during January-March this year, surpassing the 6pc mark for the first time in 17 quarters, aided by rapid growth in its manufacturing sector. But GDP growth fell to 5.8pc over January-June, according to local government data.
China's GDP growth rose by 6.4pc in the first quarter but slowed to 6.2pc in the second quarter of this year.
Liaoning province's power demand grew by 4.2pc to 650 MWh/d during January-August this year, while national power demand rose by 4.4pc to 19.5 TWh/d over the same period.

