According to Sinopec Nanjing Engineering, on the morning of August 18, the main unit of the Dongying Weilian Chemical 2.5 million tons/year PTA project constructed by Nanjing Engineering Company was successfully handed over, and the project entered the stage of preparation for joint commissioning and production operation. It is understood that the Dongying 2.5 million tons/year PTA project is an extension project of the paraxylene industry. It mainly builds a PTA (purified terephthalic acid) unit with the largest monomer in China. After the completion of the project, it will be the first to open up the “crude oil” in Shandong Province. -Aromatics-Polyester” industrial chain.
The proportion of PTA production capacity in East China will become higher and higher
The PTA industry is an important hub connecting the two pillar industries of the national economy, petrochemicals and chemical fiber textiles, and is a core link in the industrial chain. PTA reacts with petrochemical upstream products such as ethylene glycol produced from ethylene to mainly produce polyester (PET). Polyester can be processed into fibers, films and plastic products, and is widely used in the packaging industry, electronic appliances, medical and health, construction, automobiles and other fields.
There is a saying in the industry: “Global PTA production capacity depends on Asia, and Asian PTA production capacity depends on China.” In other words, my country’s PTA production capacity is second to none in the world. According to statistics, Asia’s PTA production capacity currently accounts for approximately 87% of the world’s total production capacity, and China’s PTA production capacity accounts for approximately 65% of Asia’s production capacity.
From the perspective of geographical distribution, my country’s PTA production capacity is mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal area, and its production capacity accounts for more than half of the country’s production capacity, accounting for about 50.73%, mainly because its main terminal consumption – textiles and clothing are concentrated in this area. , in addition, my country’s refining strategic layout is also mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal areas, and new PTA devices are mostly supporting projects for integrated refining and chemical devices, so PTA production capacity is mostly concentrated in this area; followed by South China, accounting for approximately 10% of my country’s total production capacity 34.73%.
After 2022, with the new facilities of Hengli Huizhou, Xinfengming Phase IV, Jiangsu Tongkun, Guangxi Tongkun and Dongying Weilian Chemical will be launched one after another, the proportion of PTA production capacity in East China will become higher and higher.
The voice of the industry is mostly concentrated in leading manufacturers.
As market share continues to increase and domestic polyester production capacity continues to grow, a number of leading companies have begun to accelerate their production capacity layout due to their strong financial strength and obvious cost advantages in industrial chain integration.
From the perspective of PTA production enterprises, my country’s current total production capacity is 67.805 million tons, of which Zhejiang Rongsheng Petrochemical and Hengli Petrochemical have a production capacity of 18.8 million tons and 11.6 million tons respectively. The PTA production capacity of these two leading companies accounts for 18% of my country’s total production capacity. Nearly half of the country’s total production capacity accounts for about 48.44%, and the industry’s say is mostly concentrated in the hands of large manufacturers.
my country’s PTA production capacity has grown rapidly. From 2005 to the present, it has experienced two periods of rapid growth. The production capacity growth rates in 2006 and 2012 were 41.04% and 61.39% respectively, with annual output increasing from one million tons to tens of millions of tons. Because production capacity grew too fast, the growth rate slowed down in subsequent years. Starting from 2019, the PTA market has accelerated the pace of production. It is expected that by the end of 2022, the growth rate of PTA production capacity is expected to reach 23.03%.
Production capacity will be increased by 31.2 million tons next year
What impact will the rapid growth have on the market?
So what impact has the substantial increase in PTA production capacity brought to the market? Problems such as changes in the import and export pattern, declining operating rates, obsolete equipment, and squeezed production profits.
Among them, the change in the import and export pattern is particularly obvious. Before 2013, my country’s PTA import dependence was relatively high. In 2007, the PTA import dependence was 41.6%, with an import volume of 6.99 million tons. With the continuous growth of domestic production capacity, my country’s PTA production capacity has gradually become self-sufficient. By 2021, my country’s PTA import dependence will be only 0.1%, from the previous annual import volume of several million tons to the current tens of thousands of tons. . According to statistics, from January to July 2022, my country’s import volume was 9,400 tons.
The export volume of PTA has increased instead of falling. This is mainly because the substantial growth of domestic PTA production capacity has led to domestic overcapacity. Therefore, many suppliers have sought exports to relieve supply pressure. my country has gone from being an exporting country to more than 2 million exporters every year. The export volume of tons also laid the foundation for PTA’s internationalization. From January to July 2022, my country’s PTA export volume was 2.0592 million tons.
Although my country’s PTA production capacity is overcapacity, the continuous expansion and improvement of downstream polyester factories and the growing demand have made large PTA factories still profitable. Therefore, the pace of PTA production is still increasing.�There is no stopping. According to statistics, large-scale PTA devices will still be launched from the second half of 2022 to 2023, with plans to add 7.5 million tons of new production capacity. In 2023, PTA production capacity is expected to increase by 31.2 million tons.
With the large-scale expansion of production capacity in the PTA market, competition among industries will become increasingly fierce. The market will gradually move closer to large-scale, high-tech, and low-cost production enterprises. Small and backward production capacity will inevitably be eliminated, and the PTA industry will also face new challenges. Shuffle the cards and continue to refresh history.
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