On June 21, four units of the Huajin Aramco Fine Chemicals and Raw Materials Project, located in Panjin, Liaoning Province, completed their intermediate handover (mechanical completion).
The four units are: a 200,000 t/y high-density polyethylene (HDPE) unit, a 590,000 t/y ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol (EO/EG) unit, a 300,000 t/y propylene oxide (PO) unit, and a 200,000 t/y polyether polyols unit.
This milestone marks the formal transition of the project's key fine-chemical production capacity from the construction phase to the commissioning and trial-run preparation stage.
Overview of the Four Units
200,000 t/y HDPE Unit – employs a slurry-process technology and is capable of swing production across multiple product grades. HDPE is mainly used in packaging containers, water supply and drainage pipes, gas pipelines, and cable sheathing.
590,000 t/y EO/EG Unit – features relatively low ethylene consumption and high selectivity. Ethylene glycol is a key raw material for the polyester industry chain, with downstream applications in polyester fibers, bottle-grade chips, films, and photovoltaic backsheets. Ethylene oxide is used in surfactants, medical disinfectants, and household cleaning products.
300,000 t/y Propylene Oxide Unit – adopts HPPO technology, jointly developed by Shanghai Engineering Company, Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Processing, Changling Refining & Chemical, and Qingdao Safety Engineering Research Institute. This process produces no co‑products, has lower wastewater and waste gas emissions, and meets industry quality standards. Propylene oxide has numerous downstream derivatives, including polyether polyols, propylene glycol, lithium battery electrolyte solvents, and cement admixtures. A portion of domestic demand is still met by imports.
200,000 t/y Polyether Polyols Unit – does not include a catalyst production line. Compared with traditional batch-process technologies, it offers better product batch-to-batch stability and reduced material and energy consumption. Polyether polyols are the main raw material for polyurethanes: flexible foams are used in furniture and automotive seats, rigid foams in building insulation and cold-chain equipment, and specialty grades in wind turbine blades and medical materials.
Overall Project Profile
The Huajin Aramco Fine Chemicals and Raw Materials Project is located in the Panjin Liaodong Bay National Economic and Technological Development Zone, with a total investment of RMB 83.7 billion and covering an area of 8.97 km². The project scope includes 15 million t/year of oil refining, 1.65 million t/year of ethylene, and 2 million t/year of para-xylene, comprising 32 process units and supporting utilities.
The project is a cooperation initiative signed between the Chinese and Saudi Arabian governments, and is listed as a key project under the Belt and Road cooperation framework and a major revitalization project in Northeast China.
Construction began in March 2023, and by December 2025, all 32 main process units had achieved mechanical completion.
The project company, Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Co., Ltd., was established in December 2019, with three shareholders: North Huajin Chemical Industry Group (51%), Aramco Overseas Company B.V. (30%), and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group (19%).
Saudi Aramco will supply crude oil feedstock to the project. A supporting 300,000 DWT crude oil terminal was put into operation in May 2026, with plans to supply approximately 10 million tons of crude oil per year, meeting about 70% of the project's feedstock requirements.
As of April 2026, overall project progress exceeded 95%. The remaining units and auxiliary facilities will be handed over successively, with full commercial production expected to commence by the end of the third quarter to year-end 2026.
The project's refined-oil yield is below 30%, with the majority output being high-value-added chemical products. Upon operation, it will form an integrated value chain covering refining, ethylene, aromatics, and fine chemicals, with estimated annual sales revenue exceeding RMB 100 billion.
