China to Register Huge Gains in Petrochemical Sector with LPG Demand Tracing Pre-Lockdown Levels

After a devastating hit on petrochemical sector due to Coronavirus uncertainties, China, one of the world largest economies, is projected to witness huge gains on propelling requirement for feedstock LPG in the second half of the year. LPG demand is anticipated to register a significant surge from 756000 TPM (tonnes per month) to 1.3 million TPM on increase in operations from six new petrochemical projects. Plants with scheduled commencement include Fujian Meide and Oriental Energy with required total feedstock of 132000 TPM of LPG for their Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) units. In addition, Wanhua Chemical will also consume 200000 TPM of Propane for its Ethylene Cracker Unit on its resumption scheduled in the coming October. In the month of August, Zhejiang Petrochemical and Zhejiang Huahong’s PDH units are likely to consume 48000 tonnes and 18000 tonnes of Propane respectively running at 80 and 40 per cent efficiencies. Furthermore, consumption of LPG from Bora chemical plant is likely to be reach 90000 tonnes With companies reaching their bottleneck petrochemical capacities by the end of year, this outpaced demand for LPG is expected to gradually lose its pace with just 3 new projects scheduled to come onstream in 2021. These projects are likely to consume 132000 TPM of LPG registering 13.8 per cent of the projected demand of LPG by the end of 2020.