China doubles down on chemical plant expansion with tech breakthrough amid Iran war

China is doubling down on mega chemical plants to secure the “industrial gold” needed for its green technology and to scale the coal-based production of chemicals whose global supply is stalled by conflict in the Middle East.On March 20, construction began on the world’s largest coal-to-ethylene glycol project in Xinjiang’s Turpan prefecture, which is expected to produce 2.4 million tonnes per year, according to state news agency Xinhua.China’s first 100,000-tonne/year solution process-based polyolefin elastomer (POE) industrial plant using entirely domestic technology entered a critical commissioning stage at state-owned Sinopec’s Tianjin Petrochemical facility, according to an article published on March 22 in China Science Daily, a newspaper run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.The Turpan prefecture coal-to-ethylene glycol project is expected to produce 2.4 million tonnes per year, according to Xinhua. Photo: CCTVDomestic tech innovations, especially in coal-to-chemical efficiency and novel POE catalysts, help China fast track these mega plant expansions. These projects could secure critical chemicals for green tech and manufacturing while reducing dependence on overseas supplies.China is the world’s largest producer of standard chemicals, but it has long had gaps in the production of advanced, high-end chemicals. These gaps are now being filled with the help of technology breakthroughs that could insulate it from external market shocks amid rising global tensions.The global supply chain for high-end chemicals – many of them derived from oil and natural gas – has been significantly affected by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran.The Middle East not only supplies oil and natural gas for petrochemical production worldwide, but is also a major production and export hub for finished chemicals, whose major buyers include China.Ethylene glycol is a toxic alcohol used as an industrial antifreeze for vehicles and aeroplanes, and is also used as a raw material in manufacturing plastics.