Robust consumption and growing demand for ethylene oxide in China

03-Oct-13

Ethylene Oxide is a key organic chemical raw material only next to polyethylene and PVC among the derivatives of ethylene industry, ethylene oxide (EO) is widely applied in the manufacturing of ethylene glycol, nonionic surfactant, polycarboxylate water reducer, crystalline silicon cutting fluid, ethanol amine, etc. In 2012, the EO capacity around the globe was mainly distributed at Asia-Pacific, North America and Middle East, with proportion exceeding 80%. China is one of the major producing areas of EO, and the EO capacity totaled 5 million tons approximately as of August 2013, sharing 17% or so of world’s total capacity. The capacity distribution is characterized by obvious regional features, with around 60% capacity distributed in Eastern China, which is consistent with the distribution of ethylene (main raw material), as per ChinaMarketResearchReports.com. Along with the growth of EO capacity in China, the output also witnesses continuous improvement, and climbed up to 3.7 mln tons or so in 2012. According to the proposed/ongoing projects, the newly added capacity of EO in China will reach 3.5-4 mln tons during 2013-2015. The growing capacity will make the EO industry encounter the risk of overcapacity in short term, and it is predicted that the integral operating rate of the industry will decline to less than 80%.The consumption fields of EO in China mainly involve ethylene glycol, nonionic surfactant, ethanol amine, etc., with consumption proportion in 2012 accumulating to 90% or so. In future several years, due to the rapid growth of coal-based ethylene glycol capacity, the growth in the demand of ethylene glycol for EO will slow down, while the demand of fine chemical fields as ethanol amine and polyethylene glycol for EO will witness rapid growth. The EO manufacturers in China mainly consist of subsidiaries of Sinopec and CNPC, joint ventures and a few private enterprises. As of August 2013, Sinopec’s subsidiaries (including joint ventures) contributed 56.4% of total capacity of EO in China, and CNPC’s subsidiaries contributed 9.6%; among the private enterprises, Ningbo Skyford and Sanjiang Chemical are both with relatively bigger EO capacity, respectively hitting 500 kilotons and 330 kilotons, and in particular, 500 kiloton capacity of Ningbo Skyford and 100 kiloton capacity of Sanjiang Chemical were both newly commissioned in H1 2013.