Shenghong Achieved 'One Million Tons of Acrylonitrile'

On December 1, the fourth set of 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile unit of Shenghong Sierbon Petrochemical was put into operation at the Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base in Jiangsu Province, producing high-grade acrylonitrile.

So far, Shenghong's acrylonitrile production capacity has increased to 1.04 million tons/year, becoming the world's largest acrylonitrile production base.

Since 2016, domestic production capacity, including Shenghong's, has been released, China's acrylonitrile imports have decreased significantly, and import dependence has also been significantly reduced. In 2016 and 2017, China's acrylonitrile imports were 306,100 tons and 270,800 tons respectively, with import dependence rates of 13.7% and 12% respectively.

While promoting import substitution, Chinese acrylonitrile companies represented by Sheng Hong have also accelerated their participation in the global market and filled gaps in overseas markets.

Shenghong cooperates with Zhongfu Shenying

In 2022, China's carbon fiber demand will account for about 55.1% of the world. Domestic carbon fiber will be about 45,000 tons, surpassing imported volume for the first time. In recent years, carbon fiber demand has increased significantly and domestic substitution has accelerated. As the largest acrylonitrile supplier, Shenghong has guaranteed more than half of the raw material supply for China's carbon fiber production companies includes Zhongfu Shenying, the leading domestic carbon fiber company.

In Lianyungang Banqiao Industrial Park, Zhongfu Shenying's annual output of 30,000 tons project started construction in April 2023. After it is put into operation, it will become the world's largest high-performance carbon fiber production base. This base is only more than 20 kilometers away from Shenghong Petrochemical Industrial Park.

In May 2023, Zhongfu Shenying and Shenghong Petrochemical signed a strategic agreement on raw material cooperation. The two parties will cooperate in all aspects of acrylonitrile supply. "Cooperating with Shenghong will help us obtain a stable supply of raw materials, thereby improving the resilience of the entire industry chain." said the relevant person in charge of Zhongfu Shenying.

In fact, Zhongfu Shenying is also the first user of Shenghong's acrylonitrile products. Shenghong's first 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile unit was put into operation, and Zhongfu Shenying began to trial Shenghong's products.

The relevant person in charge of Zhongfu Shenying Business Department said that they look forward to the two parties strengthening innovation collaboration, such as creating customized raw materials for the carbon fiber industry, and working together to protect this important strategic material for China

In addition to carbon fiber, China's ABS resin, acrylamide and other industries have also maintained steady growth in recent years. For example, ABS resin, which is widely used in home appliances, automobiles, building materials and other fields, China's demand in 2022 was 5.7587 million tons, while domestic production was approximately 4.466 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.37%. The demand for acrylonitrile raw materials remains high.

 Shenghong’s core raw material platform for oil, coal and gas

How to optimize the raw material supply structure and achieve multiple resource guarantees? Bai Wei, President of Shenghong Petrochemical Industry Group, pointed out that Shenghong Petrochemical has built an innovative development model of core raw material platform + new energy, new materials and other diversified industrial chains, and created a core raw material platform of oil, coal and gas. It can provide the optimal combination of raw material sources for the production of acrylonitrile, MMA (methyl methacrylate), photovoltaic grade EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer), ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, etc.

Oil: In December 2022, Shenghong Petrochemical’s 16 million tons/year refining and chemical integration project was fully put into operation. After nearly a year of operation, this largest single-process refining and chemical project in China has produced ethylene, propylene, propane, vinyl acetate, etc., which has effectively met the raw material needs of Shenghong's acrylonitrile and other products.

Coal: Shenghong Sierbang Petrochemical has the world's largest monomer-scale alcohol-based polygeneration unit with an annual capacity of 2.4 million tons/year. It uses methanol as raw material and produces ethylene and propylene through the MTO (methanol to olefins) process.

Gas: In April 2022, the 700,000-ton/year PDH (propane dehydrogenation) unit of Shenghong Sierbang Petrochemical was successfully commissioned and successfully produced high-quality propylene products. Combined with the MTO unit, Sierbang's overall propylene production capacity reaches 1.2 million tons/year, which can fully meet the raw material needs of four sets of 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile units.

In terms of million tons of EVA: Dongfang Shenghong currently has an EVA production capacity of 300,000 tons/year. At present, Shenghong Chemical's new material project is progressing steadily, with a total investment of 21.6 billion yuan. It plans to build projects with an annual output of 700,000 tons of EVA, 50,000 tons/year of high-end polyolefins, PO/SM and polyols. After the project is fully completed, Shenghong will achieve the strategic goal of "million-ton EVA" and become the world's largest high-end EVA supply base, with the global market share of photovoltaic-grade EVA ranking first in the world. The project will gradually start production at the end of 2024 and be completed in 2025.

In terms of million tons of acrylonitrile: The company currently has an acrylonitrile production capacity of 780,000 tons/year. After the 260,000 tons/year production capacity is put into operation, the total production capacity will reach 1.04 million tons/year, ranking first in the world.

In terms of millions of tons of degradable plastics: Dongfang Shenghong is currently building 200,000 tons/year maleic anhydride, 150,000 tons/year BDO, and 12 tons/year PBAT projects, and plans to put them into full production in 2025. In addition, on July 25, 2022, Hubei Hongrui New Materials Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dongfang Shenghong, passed the approval for a new project with an annual output of 1.5 million tons of acetic acid and other special chemicals. The project is planned to produce an annual output of 100,000 tons of PGA and PBAT, and 300,000 tons of BDO. The company's overall plan for degradable materials reaches one million tons.