China Fujian Zhongsha Gulei Ethylene Project Polypropylene Plant Zhongjiao

1. Project Overview: Key Milestones of Sino-Saudi Joint Venture Benchmarking Project

on April 26, 2026, the China-delivery ceremony for the 550000-ton/year polypropylene plant of the Zhongshagu Lei Ethylene Project in Fujian, China was officially held. Li Chao, deputy secretary of the party committee and general manager of China Chemical Engineering 14th Construction Co., Ltd., attended the speech. The CCAC marks the countdown to the full production of this heavyweight project.

China's Fujian Zhongsha Gulei Ethylene Project is the largest Sino-foreign joint venture project with one-time investment in Fujian Province, China, and it is also a key benchmark project for deepening production capacity cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia. The project takes 1.5 million tons/year ethylene cracking plant as the main platform, and the downstream product matrix spans multiple tracks of polyolefin, engineering plastics and fine chemicals, which is one of the most complete layouts of the product system in China's monomer petrochemical project.

At the construction end, three industry record-level installations have been completed simultaneously: at present, a single set of the world's largest extruder, the world's highest extrusion granulation frame and China's largest labyrinth compressor, which not only reflects the substantial jump in the construction capacity of China's large petrochemical plants, but also sets an engineering benchmark for similar international projects.

2. product matrix and market shocks: multi-species, large-scale, full-chain

product system: complete closed loop from ethylene to high-end new materials. Around the 1.5 million tons/year ethylene main platform, the project downstream planning to build three product chains:

olefin derivative chain covers 10/1 million tons/year ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol, 400000 tons/year HDPE, 600000 tons/year mLLDPE/HDPE, 50000 tons/year hexene -1, 950000 tons/year polypropylene (including this 550000 tons/year plant); Aromatic derivative chain includes 25/150000 tons/year phenol acetone, 270000 tons/year bisphenol A and 290000 tons/year polycarbonate; the supporting auxiliary chain covers 910000 tons/year pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation, 220000 tons/year butadiene extraction, 56000 tons/year butene-1 and 570000 tons/year aromatics extraction, realizing full quantitative high-value utilization of resources.

The direct impact on the polypropylene market is the most urgent. The total production capacity of 950000 tons/year polypropylene is a super-large-scale device in China's monomer projects. This 550000-ton/year device is the first to be handed over, which means that this part of the production capacity is in place. Combined with the recent continuous release of new polypropylene production capacity in China, the supply pressure in the East and South China markets will further intensify, and the price difference between imported materials will continue to be compressed-overseas polypropylene suppliers need to assess the impact of the narrowing of the export window to China in advance.

The medium-term impact on the phenol acetone, bisphenol A and PC industry chain is also worthy of attention. The project plans 25/150000 tons/year phenol acetone, 270000 tons/year bisphenol A and 290000 tons/year polycarbonate, superimposing the previously disclosed expansion plans of China Dongfang Shenghong 300000 tons PC and China Shandong Zhemei optical grade PMMA. China's aromatic derivatives supply side is ushering in a concentrated expansion cycle, and the Asian regional pricing center of related varieties is facing systematic downward pressure.

The strategic significance of regional industrial chain: rewriting the supply pattern in the south of East China. After the China Gulei Petrochemical Base project is fully put into operation, it will greatly enhance the ethylene raw material self-sufficiency capacity of the coastal petrochemical industry belt in Fujian, China, and steadily supply polycarbonate, ethylene glycol, butadiene and other varieties to the downstream, changing the supply structure of the southern part of East China that has long relied on external transfers. For traders in the region, the increase in local supply sources means the dual optimization of logistics costs and procurement radius, but it will also reduce the spread space of existing cross-regional trade.

The demonstration effect of China-Saudi Arabia cooperation cannot be ignored. As a benchmark project for capacity cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia, the smooth progress of the project will provide a reference model for the construction and operation of similar international joint venture petrochemical projects, help attract more international capital to participate in the construction of Sinopec base, and further strengthen China's attractiveness as a global petrochemical investment destination.

Follow-up points: polypropylene plant has been completed, the full production node is expected to land in 2026. The progress of the successive delivery and trial production of each device, the first batch of product quality certification, and the production timeline of ethylene glycol, bisphenol A and PC devices will be the core observation indicators for overseas traders and supply chain practitioners to continuously track.