China Coal-to-ethylene Glycol Industry Report, 2009

Since its abundance of coal and shortage of petroleum and natural gas, the energy consumption in China was reliant primarily upon coal (accounting for about 70%) from 2001 to 2009, and in the long run, such structure of energy consumption led by coal will continue further. Meanwhile, China is exposed to great pressure from environmental protection and low-carbon challenge. In order to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emission per GDP by 40%-45% in 2020, the estimated total emission reduction of CO2 will be 6-7 billion tons. 

The development of coal energy consumption structure is of vital importance to achieve the objective of China’s emission reduction; therefore, clean coal chemical will become the main trend of China’s future development. Correspondingly, Chinese government has clearly called for steady headway of coal chemical demonstration projects, encouraging the development of demonstration projects like coal liquefaction, coal to olefins, ethylene glycol from coal, etc. 

At present, China is at the early stage of a new round wave of investments into coal chemical. Coal-to-ethylene glycol project, as a key branch of coal chemical field, has aroused wide attention, too. In 2009, there were at least 14 coal-to-ethylene glycol projects under construction or to be constructed in China with the total investment of more than RMB24.96 billion. 

Take Henan Coal Chemical (Group) Company as an example. As of mid-March, 2010, at least 4 ethylene-glycol-from-coal projects with the annual output of 200,000 tons have been laid foundation and put into production, with total investment approximating RMB9.55 billion. To be specific, these 4 projects are Yongjin ethylene glycol project with the annual output of 200,000 tons, Anhua ethylene glycol project with the annual output of 200,000 tons, Xinxiang ethylene glycol project with the annual output of 200,000 tons, and the raw material route alteration of fertilizer devices and ethylene glycol project with annual production of 200,000 tons of Zhongyuan Dahua Company.

In terms of the supply and demand, Chinese ethylene glycol market characterizes great demand potentials. From 2001 to 2009, the apparent consumption of ethylene glycol in China witnessed an average annual growth rate of 17.4% while the average annual growth rate of ethylene glycol supply in China was 17.1%, showing that the increase of domestic output was far from meeting the growth of demand.

Analyzing the operating environment, development situation and development advantages of China’s ethylene glycol from coal industry, the overall market and downstream sectors of the ethylene glycol industry in 2009, the report focuses upon the progression of ethylene glycol from coal projects under construction or to be constructed in 2009 and 2010 as well as the development of relevant key enterprises such as Danhua Chemical Technology, Hualu-Hengsheng Chemical, Shanghai Huayi Group, and Henan Coal Chemical Industry Group.