SP Chemicals to increase ethane usage at Eastern China plant

Chan Hian Siang, CEO of SP Chemicals, said on Thursday that the company is looking at ways to increase ethane usage as a feedstock in its petrochemical plant in Jiangsu Province (east China) to 90%.

He said that Technip was still studying the possibility of using up to 90% more ethane.

Chan stated that the company plans to invest between 400 and 500 million yuan (between 56 million and $69 million) into the project in Taixing City.

In order to combat shrinking profits, Chinese petrochemical companies import ethane.

Chan stated that ethane was still cheaper than the other feedstocks at the moment. He added that Enterprise Products Partners is the main supplier of ethane to the company. He refused to confirm if Enterprise Products Partners had received a waiver on U.S. imports of ethane.

China has waived its 125% tariff for ethane imports from the United States. This was reported by late April. Last week, the two countries agreed to a temporary truce in their dispute over trade.

Chan added that SP Chemicals will also build a 200,000 cubic metre ethane facility, which will almost double the storage capacity of its feedstock.

He added that the company intends to build three new Very Large Ethane Carriers by 2028.

(source: Reuters)