Domestic demand for PTA is expected to reach 11.5 million tons in 2005 in China while supply is only 6.5 million tons. Domestic consumption in China for PTA accounts for nearly half of the world's total.
Sinopec Shanghai (SPC), a subsidiary of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co has developed a technology for producing purified terephthalic acid. With this the company has, for the first time, broken into a sector previously cornered by foreign companies including BP Plc, DuPont Co and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. These foreign majors charge significant patent fees for using the technology. The development, which has received five patents makes China only the second Asian country to own the procedure after Japan.
SPC's technology, which will allow it to produce 800,000 tons of PTA annually, could translate into a savings of 190 million yuan (US$23.5 million).
02-Dec-05 
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