China's Sinopec Completes Test Runs At Ethylene Plant

China's Sinopec Corp. announced it has completed trial runs at a 1-million-tons/year ethylene plant in the southern Chinese province of Hainan. The plant will boost exports, according to the company.

Reuters reports the facility is part of a 28.6-billion-yuan (U.S. $4.15 billion) complex built at the site and is the second major petrochemical plant starting this year after a similar-sized facility was announced last week by PetroChina in Guangdong province.

Sinopec is aiming to turn the Hainan complex into an export-oriented producer, with exports of downstream petrochemical products accounting for half its production by the end of 2025, the company says. It also operates a 184,000 barrels/day crude oil refinery at the same site.

Sinopec said it has developed its own ethylene technology with plants capable of handling a wide range of feedstocks, allowing the refiner to process different types of crude oil.