With a total investment of more than 220.8 billion yuan, 16 key chemical projects in Guangdong, China have been scanned in depth: five ethylene giant clusters reshape the petrochemical pattern in South China.

Guangdong, China is taking Huizhou Daya Bay, Zhanjiang Donghai Island and Jieyang Nanhai three world-class petrochemical bases as the core to comprehensively promote the high-end, green and cluster transformation of the petrochemical industry. Recently, 16 key projects are under construction and promoted, with a total investment of about 220.8 billion yuan, covering six major sectors: refining and chemical integration, million-ton ethylene, new chemical materials, fine chemicals, green fuels and supporting transformation. 2026 to 2027 will be the key window for the centralized release of production capacity, and the regional supply and demand balance of core products such as PE, PP, EG, PC and PO is facing deep reconstruction.

Cluster of five ethylene giants: South China's production capacity will meet a historic jump.

The main line of the most strategic impact of this round of investment is the landing of the five ethylene integration projects.

China National Marine Shell Huizhou Phase III (with a total investment of about 52.1 billion yuan) is located in Daya Bay, Huizhou. It will be fully launched in January 2025. As of January 2026, the cumulative completion progress is 42.49, and the planned investment in 2026 is 12.43 billion yuan. In March 2026, the last large-scale equipment tail gas distillation tower of the core ethylene plant was hoisted, the unit and process pipeline installation were started in the third quarter, and the mechanical completion is expected in the second quarter of 2027. Eighteen units are planned, including 1.6 million tons/year ethylene, 600000 tons/year mLLDPE, 500000 tons/year PP, 645000 tons/year EO/EG, 400000 tons/year LAO, 50000 tons/year PAO, etc., of which LAO/ID/SHF/PAO technology is first adopted in Asia. After completion, the total ethylene production capacity of CNOOC and Shell will reach 3.8 million tons/year, and the annual supply of petrochemical products will exceed 11 million tons.

BASF (Guangdong) integrated base (total investment of about 68 billion yuan, about 8.7 billion euros) is located in Zhanjiang Donghai Island, covering an area of about 4 square kilometers. It is BASF's third largest production base in the world and the largest wholly-owned single project of German enterprises in China. On March 26, 2026, it was fully completed and put into operation, with a total investment of more than 60 billion yuan. 18 sets of equipment and 32 production lines have been built. The 1 million-ton/year ethylene combined plant is the world's first million-ton plant with 100 percent of its main compressors driven by renewable energy. Its carbon emissions are reduced by up to 50% compared with traditional bases, and it can produce more than 70 products. The degree of greening is in a leading position among similar plants in the world.

Maoming Petrochemical Refining Transformation and Upgrading of Ethylene (with a total investment of about 30 billion yuan) has reached 63% in June 2026, and is expected to be fully delivered by the end of 2026. The ethylene production capacity was expanded from 1 million tons/year to 1.64 million tons/year, reducing the output of refined oil by 1.85 million tons/year and increasing the production of ethylene raw materials by 1.67 million tons/year. Of the 16 units, 14 are equipped with Sinopec's own technology, with a localization rate of 98.65. Downstream, 300000 tons/year propylene oxide, 240000 tons/year hydrogen peroxide and 100000 tons/year POE units are newly built to fill the gap of high-end polyolefin in China.

ExxonMobil Huizhou Phase I was officially put into production in July 2025, including 1.6 million tons/year flexible feed steam cracker, a total of 1.2 million tons/year high-performance LLDPE, the world's largest monomer 500000 tons/year LDPE, and a total of 950000 tons/year differentiated high-performance PP. The Proxxima project will start construction in the first quarter of 2026 and strive to be put into production in the third quarter of 2027, with an annual output of 20400 tons of thermosetting polyolefin resin monomer mixture after production.

PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical (with a total investment of over 70 billion yuan) has been fully put into operation in 2023. It has a production capacity of 20 million tons/year for oil refining, 2.6 million tons/year for aromatics and 1.2 million tons/year for ethylene. Aromatics production capacity accounts for "half" of PetroChina. Since its operation, it has processed over 56 million tons of crude oil, with a total industrial output value of 310 billion yuan and a tax contribution of over 46 billion yuan. It has become an important cornerstone of South China Petrochemical pattern.

High-end new materials and green track: localization and low-carbon transformation two-line promotion.

In the field of new chemical materials, CSPC Huizhou Polycarbonate Project (with a total investment of about 9.3 billion yuan) will build 260000 tons/year PC, 240000 tons/year BPA and 220000 tons/year DPC. It adopts Shell's world's first industrial application proprietary technology. It is expected to complete the machinery in December 2026 and plans to complete the investment of 2.827 billion yuan in 2026, which will have a far-reaching impact on China's domestic PC import substitution process.

The 200000-ton/year unit of Guangdong Dongyue Waste Plastic Resource Project (with a total investment of about 1.2 billion yuan) has passed the 72-hour on-site performance assessment of the Petrochemical Federation in December 2025, the hydrodechlorination unit has passed the environmental impact assessment in January 2026, and the second phase of planning is in progress. It is a benchmark project for waste plastic chemical recycling in South China. Guangdong Zhengqun Microchemical Electronic Chemicals Project (with a total investment of about 0.179 billion yuan) has an annual output of 100000 tons of high-end electronic chemicals, including 8000 tons of electronic nitric acid and 5000 tons of electronic hydrochloric acid, which directly supports the construction of semiconductor domestic supply chain.

In terms of green fuel, China Gas Foshan Green Methanol Base (with a total investment of 5 billion yuan) covers an area of about 311 mu. The first phase is expected to be put into operation in 2028, with an annual output of 200000 tons of green methanol. Combined with the total production capacity of Inner Mongolia Base, it will reach 500000 tons/year to support Hong Kong's development of an international green marine fuel filling center. Guangdong Isco C4 C5 high-end new materials (with a total investment of 7.342 billion yuan) are located in Nanhai, Jieyang. 500000 tons/year C5 separation, 150000 tons/year maleic anhydride, 80000 tons/year SIS/SEPS and other units are built. The by-products are returned to Guangdong Petrochemical to form a circular economy closed loop.

For overseas traders and supply chain practitioners, the completion of CNOOC Shell Phase III machinery around the second quarter of 2027 will be the most critical capacity release node, it is recommended to study in advance PE, PP, EG, PC, PO and other categories of regional supply and demand rebalancing strategy.