China's CNPC scraps PX plans after protest fears

13 October 2008 11:27  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has scrapped plans for a 2.4m tonne/year paraxylene (PX) plant in the eastern coastal city of Taizhou in the face of opposition from residents, said a local official on Monday.

 

“In our original plan, we wanted to build a PX project but cancelled it after consideration,” added the source in Mandarin.

 

Additional plans for a 1.2m tonne/year ethylene cracker, associated 20m tonne/year refinery and other petrochemical plants costing up to $8.8bn were still on the table and likely to get the government nod but had yet to be approved, he added.

 

It was likely break ground next year and come on stream in 2013, he said.

 

Residents had set up and a website - http://blog.sina.com.cn/baoweitaizhou - opposing the PX project on environmental concerns, in an area full of such plants, and urged mass protests, Reuters reported.   

 

Last year, protests against a PX plant planned for another coastal city, Xiamen, led to officials deciding to relocate it.

 

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By: Judith Wang
+65 6780 4359

< previous article(ICIS Chemical Business podcast November 2, 2009)

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