FocusChina polyester capacity to expand by 2.45m tonnes/year in 2010

11 June 2010 05:06  [Source: ICIS news]

By Becky Zhang

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--China's polyester capacity is expected to increase by 2.45m tonnes/year in 2010 with eight new plants to come on line following the start-up of China’s Jiangsu Shenghong Chemical Fibre’s 200,000 tonne/year polyester yarn unit this week, market sources said on Friday.

Five of these plants would produce 1.65m tonnes/year of polyester yarn used by the textile sector and four of the new units would add 800,000 tonnes/year of polyester bottle chip capacity that is used by beverages industry, a regional market source said. (Please see table below)

China’s existing polyester capacity is estimated at around 26m tonnes/year.

Given the large size of the Chinese textile and beverages markets, the new capacity was unlikely to have an impact on prices and would not create an over-supply situation, industry sources said.

The beverages industry estimates that carbonated drinks would grow by 10% and juices by 20% this year - easily absorbing the new bottle chip polyester capacity - according to a forecast presented last week at the Polyester Industrial Summit organised by Shanghai-based commodity information service CBI.

Zhang Bin, Chief Analyst Textile & Apparel Industry, of brokerage house Sinolink Securities Co, said that China's textile industry was forecast to grow by 10% in 2010, thus easily consuming the additional capacity coming on line this year.

Followed by Shenghong plant in Jiangsu province on 9 June, another two plants were expected to start up this month.

Zhejiang Hengyi Group, the third largest polyester producer in China with existing polyester capacity of 1.5m tonnes/year, has plans to start up its first 250,000 tonne/year bottle chip line in Shanghai this month.

Yixing Huaya is expected to have another trial run at its 400,000 tonne/year yarn plant in Zhejiang province after a failed attempt on 6 June due to problems with its mechanical parts.

In the third quarter, four new plants are due to come on stream. Zhejiang Xinfengming will set up a new 250,000 tonne/year yarn unit in August, bringing its total yarn capacity to 750,000 tonnes/year.

Two new 200,000 tonne/year bottle chip plants will follow, including Zhejiang Zhengkai and Changzhou Huarun.

During August to September, a new 400,000 tonne/year yarn plant by Zhejiang Xiaoshan Rongsheng Group is expected to start commercial operation.  

Towards the end of the year, Shanghai Far Eastern will bring its new 150,000 tonne/year bottle chip unit on line. By then the company’s total bottle chip capacity will reach 750,000 tonnes/year, the second largest producer in China after Jiangsu Sanfangxiang.

Tongkun Group, another polyester giant in China, is to add another 400,000 tonne/year yarn plant at the end of this year, onto its existing 1.2m tonne/year yarn capacity.

With the start of the new plants, an additional 2.1m tonnes/year of fresh demand for feedstock purified terephthalic acid (PTA) would be created, a major Chinese trader said.

“This is the reason for PTA producers to have an optimistic outlook for the second half of the year,” the trader said, adding only one new PTA plant was planned in the whole of Asian region in the rest of 2010.

Jianying Chengxin Industrial Group plans to start commercial production at its 640,000 tonne/year PTA facility in September, according to an earlier report by ICIS news.

“China’s PTA market is a well-balanced market in terms of supply and demand. Any additional requirement for PTA will lead to a shortage of supply,” an industry observer said.

China consumes around 1.65-1.70m tonnes of PTA a month with 550,000-600,000 tonnes imported mainly from Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, and Japan, while the rest around 1.1m tonnes sourced from local PTA plants, he said.

China’s total PTA capacity was around 14.85m tonnes/year, with monthly output estimated at around 1.05-1.11m tonnes assuming the overall operating rates at 85-90%, he added.

New Polyester Plants in China in 2010:

Company	Region	Current polyester capacity, KT/y	New polyester capacity, KT/y	New product grade	Start-up date
Shenghong Chemical Fibre	Jiangsu	600	200	yarn	09-Jun
Zhejiang Hengyi	Zhejiang	1500	250	bottle chip	end June
Yixing Huaya	Jiangsu	200	400	yarn	end June
Zhejiang Xinfengming	Zhejiang	500	250	yarn	August
Zhejiang Zhengkai	Zhejiang	0	200	bottle chip	August
Changzhou Huarun	Jiangsu	470	200	bottle chip	August-September
Xiaoshan Rongsheng	Zhejiang	600	400	yarn	August-September
Shanghai Far Eastern	Shanghai	600	150	bottle chip	November
Zhejiang Tongkun Group	Zhejiang	1200	400	yarn	year end
Total new capacity in 2010			2450

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By: Becky Zhang
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