On August 15, Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. stated at the 2022 semi-annual performance briefing that Fujian’s annual output of 400,000 tons of isocyanate (MDI) equipment is being invested and constructed as planned, and is expected to be put into operation from the end of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023. run.
MDI integration project
Wanhua Chemical and Fujian Petrochemical Group Co., Ltd. jointly established Wanhua Chemical (Fujian) Co., Ltd. in March 2021 in the west area of Jiangyin Port City Economic Zone with a shareholding ratio of 80% and 20%. The joint venture will build a 400,000-ton /year MDI and aniline supporting projects. In the first phase, a 400,000 tons/year MDI device will be constructed, and in the second phase, a 480,000 tons/year nitrobenzene and 360,000 tons/year aniline device will be constructed.
The first phase of the MDI device was laid and started piling in December 2020, and large equipment installation began on August 21, 2021. This means that the first phase of the MDI project will be completed in September 2022, and is expected to produce qualified MDI by the end of 2022. product.
Wanhua’s total MDI production capacity will reach 3.65 million tons/year
In 2021, Wanhua Chemical completed the technical transformation and expansion of the 1.1 million tons/year Yantai MDI device. The company’s MDI production capacity has thus increased to 2.65 million tons, accounting for nearly 30% of the global market share, making it the world’s largest MDI manufacturer.
Up to now, there are only five domestic MDI manufacturers including Wanhua Chemical, BASF, and Covestro. MDI is the flagship product of Wanhua Chemical’s polyurethane segment. As one of Wanhua Chemical’s three main businesses, the polyurethane segment accounts for more than 40% of the company’s total revenue.
In addition, Wanhua Chemical is also carrying out technical transformation of the existing MDI equipment at the Ningbo base, increasing the total production capacity of the MDI equipment to 1.8 million tons/year, with the first phase expanding from 400,000 tons/year to 600,000 tons/year. The second phase will expand from 800,000 tons/year to 1.2 million tons. After the MDI projects at the Fujian and Ningbo bases are put into operation, Wanhua Chemical’s total MDI production capacity will reach 3.65 million tons/year.
Wanhua Fujian Industrial Park
Wanhua Fujian Industrial Park is the third largest production base after Yantai and Ningbo. Its western area will rely on the Jiangyin Chemical New Materials Zone and utilize the excellent world-class port supporting industry chain cluster. Once completed, it will form an annual output of 1.6 million tons/year MDI. , 350,000 tons of TDI, 800,000 tons of PVC, and 1 million tons of caustic soda.
In terms of project progress, the first phase of MDI will be mass-produced before the end of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023, and PVC and TDI are scheduled to be put into production in the first half of 2023.
Confident in the MDI market
At the performance briefing, Wanhua Chemical stated that polyurethane is currently the most widely used insulation material due to its excellent performance of low thermal conductivity. In the context of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”, polyurethane will play a more important role in the field of building insulation and have a broader application market space.
In addition, China’s refrigerator industry has competitive advantages on a global scale and has a complete upstream and downstream industrial chain. More than 50% of the products in China’s refrigerator industry are exported to overseas markets. In addition, according to statistics over the past ten years, global MDI consumption has maintained an annual growth rate of 4-5%, with an annual increase in consumer demand of about 400,000 tons. The company is full of confidence in future market demand.
Wanhua Chemical also said that the current downstream applications of polyurethane products involve all aspects of the national economy and people’s livelihood, and are widely used in automobiles, construction, home furniture, home appliances, textiles and clothing, synthetic leather, sports and leisure and other fields. In addition to continuing to delve into the above-mentioned fields, the company will continue to expand the scope of downstream applications of polyurethane through technological innovation and cultivate the application of polyurethane in emerging downstream fields such as formaldehyde-free artificial panels, road paving, building insulation, and polyurethane composite materials.
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