MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Global Chemical and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. have signed an agreement that establishes a joint venture between the two companies to operate Sinopec's recently completed 800,000 tonnes per year naphtha cracker in Wuhan, China, according to Apic-Online.
SK, which now owns a 35% interest in the Wuhan project, noted that this is "by far the largest joint venture project in the petrochemical area since the 1992 resumption of China-Korea diplomatic ties". Besides, this is the first occasion for any non-Middle East Asian company to produce ethylene in China, as per the company's statement. Sinopec holds the remaining 65%.
The USD2.9-billion project includes facilities for the production of 300,000 tonnes per year of high-density polyethylene, 300,000 tonnes per year of linear low-density polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes per year of polypropylene.
We remind that, as MRC reported previously, last year SK Group set up a USD588 million joint venture with China’s state oil firm Sinopec. The new venture is led by unlisted SK subsidiary SK Global Chemical and will produce butanediol, a synthetic fiber precursor. The butanediol JV is a part of a Sinopec petrochemical complex in which BP is also participating.
China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group is a state-owned company solely invested by the State, functioning as a state-authorized investment organization in which the state holds the controlling share. Headquartered in Beijing, Sinopec Group has a registered capital of RMB 182 billion.
MRC