Coal-based methanol, PVC seen to double in China

26 March 2008 22:09  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The output of coal-based methanol and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) will double in China by 2012 from current levels, CMAI China managing director Paul Pang said on Wednesday.

He told the audience at the 2008 World Petrochemical Conference here that more than 90% of PVC and 85% will be coal-based in 2012 compared with 76% PVC and 60% methanol in 2007.

In addition, coal-to-olefins has drawn lots of attention, said Pang. By mid-2010, a 260,000 tonnes/year coal-to-ethylene and 1.2m tonnes/year coal-to-propylene plants will be started up.

“Once these projects’ operability and economics are proven, there is a high probability that many more similar projects will be built in the country,” he added.

However, Pang noted a number of challenges for these coal-based projects. The majority of projects are in north and west China where the coal reserves are located. Due to transportation bottlenecks with overloaded railways, they are mostly stranded.

Northwest China is an arid region but these coal-based chemicals consume a lot of water. For example, 18 tonnes of water are need to produce 1 tonne of methanol. This would make the region’s water shortage much worse.

Coal-based chemicals also generate pollutants in both gaseous and solid forms, added Pang.

Very large capital investments are required, especially in the case of methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plants.

Some of the chemical technologies to be used remain unproven. The MTO and methanol-to-propylene (MTP) plants under construction will be the first commercial units in the world, Pang noted.

For more on methanol and PVC please visit ICIS Chemical Intelligence

By: Peter Taffe
+44 20 8652 3214

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