Domestic acrylonitrile production facilities are mainly concentrated in the China Petrochemical Corporation (hereinafter referred to as SINOPEC) and China National Petroleum Corporation (hereinafter referred to as petrochina). The total production capacity of Sinopec (including joint ventures) is 860,000 tons, accounting for 34.8% of the total production capacity; The production capacity of CNPC is 700,000 tons, accounting for 28.3% of the total production capacity; The private companies Jiang Suselbang Petrochemical Co., LTD., Shandong Haijiang Chemical Co., LTD., and Zhejiang Petrochemical Co., LTD., with acrylonitrile production capacity of 520,000 tons, 130,000 tons and 260,000 tons respectively, together accounting for about 36.8 percent of the total production capacity.
Since the second half of 2021, Zhejiang Petrochemical Phase II 260,000 tons/year, Korur Phase II 130,000 tons/year, Lihua Yi 260,000 tons/year and Srbang Phase III 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile new units have been put into production, the new capacity reached 910,000 tons/year, the total domestic acrylonitrile production capacity has reached 3.419 million tons/year.
Acrylonitrile capacity expansion did not stop there. It is understood that in 2022, East China will add a 260,000 tons/year acrylonitrile new unit, Guangdong will add a 130,000 tons/year unit, Hainan will also add a 200,000 tons/year unit. The new production capacity in China is no longer limited to East China, but will be distributed in many regions in China. Especially, the production of the new plant in Hainan makes the products close to the markets of South China and Southeast Asia, and the export by sea is also very convenient.
The huge increase in capacity has led to a rise in output. Jin Lianchuang statistics show that in 2021, China’s acrylonitrile production continued to refresh the high point. By the end of December 2021, the total domestic production of acrylonitrile exceeded 2.317 million tons, up 19 percent year-on-year, while the annual consumption was around 2.6 million tons, showing signs of overcapacity in the industry.
Acrylonitrile future development direction
In 2021, for the first time, acrylonitrile exports exceeded imports. Last year, the total import of acrylonitrile products was 203,800 tons, down 33.55% from the previous year, while the export volume reached 210,200 tons, up 188.69% from the previous year.
This is due to the concentrated release of new domestic production capacity and the industry’s transition from tight balance to surplus. In addition, in the first and second quarters, many sets of units in Europe and the United States were shut down, which led to a sharp decline in supply. Meanwhile, the units in Asia were in the planned maintenance cycle. In addition, the domestic prices were lower than those in Asia, Europe and the United States, which helped China’s export volume of acrylonitrile.
The increase in exports has been accompanied by an increase in the number of exporters. Before, our acrylonitrile export products mainly sent to South Korea and India. In 2021, as overseas supply shrank, acrylonitrile exports increased and were sent to the European market, involving 7 countries and regions including Turkey and Belgium.
It is predicted that acrylonitrile capacity growth in the next 5 years in China is greater than downstream demand growth, import volume will further decline, exports will continue to increase, 2022 China acrylonitrile future export volume is expected to hit a high of 300 thousand tons, thus reducing the pressure of domestic market operation.
Post time: Sep-06-2022