The cracking furnace of China's Zhongshagu Lei Ethylene Integration Project is ignited and will be put into operation at the end of August.

By SKYSEVEN Chemical Technical Team · 2026-08-12

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On August 5, 2026, the Sino-Saudi joint venture large-scale ethylene integration project located at the Gulei Petrochemical Base in Zhangzhou, Fujian, China, ushered in a major node, and the core ethylene cracking furnace was successfully ignited in one-time oven.

Key progress of 1. project

august 5, 2026, located in gulei Petrochemical Base, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China the Sino-Saudi joint venture large-scale ethylene integration project ushered in a major node, the core ethylene cracking furnace one-time oven ignition success. The project officially bid farewell to the civil installation stage and entered the sprint cycle of commissioning. According to the construction plan, the whole device will be officially put into operation at the end of August 2026.
With a total investment of over 44 billion yuan, the project is a world-class Sino-Saudi cooperative petrochemical base, which will effectively complement the short supply of high-end polyolefins and engineering plastics in China and become an important support for the import substitution of chemical raw materials in the southeast coast of China.

Basic Overview of 2. Project: Benchmark of China-Saudi Arabia Strategic Cooperation Integration

the project is fujian, China the key Sino-foreign joint venture benchmarking project, jointly developed by SABIC of Saudi Arabia and Fujian Energy Chemical Group of China, with an equity ratio of 51:49, is a landmark chemical project to jointly build "the belt and road initiative" to connect with Saudi Arabia's 2030 vision, and at the same time set a record. Fujian, China single foreign petrochemical investment record.
The project is located in Gulei Petrochemical Core Park with an approved investment of 42.071 billion yuan and a total investment of 44.8 billion yuan. The unit takes 1.5 million tons/year ethylene cracking unit as the core, and the maximum operating load can reach 1.8 million tons/year. It is equipped with 14 sets of upstream and downstream deep processing units to create a dual industrial chain of ethylene and propylene. The project achieves 100 per cent deep processing of all cracking by-products, solving the problem of single structure and waste of by-products in traditional refining products.
Industrial chain product matrix: ethylene downstream layout EO/EG, high low density polyethylene, 1-hexene; propylene downstream construction of polypropylene, phenol acetone, bisphenol A, polycarbonate (PC); synchronous supporting pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation, butadiene extraction, aromatic extraction device.
After the project is fully put into operation, the annual output value can reach 34 billion yuan and the annual tax revenue can reach 3 billion yuan, which can indirectly drive the investment of downstream supporting industries to exceed 160 billion yuan and accelerate the speed. Southeast China new materials industry cluster formation.

3. construction node resumption, production target steadily landed

project construction continues to accelerate in 2026, with a number of device nodes cashing in one after another:
In June, the main unit of 1.5 million tons/year ethylene completed the intermediate handover and started the linkage test run of the system;
At the end of July, polypropylene and full-density polyethylene granulation equipment completed the trial run with materials, and the downstream production line was ready for production;
On July 29, the ethylene cracking furnace was successfully ignited and the core heat source system operated stably;
In early August, the ethylene three-machine steam turbine linkage test run ended, the core compressor unit commissioning into the end.
The ignition of the cracking furnace is an important watershed of the project, marking the completion of the installation of the project and the orderly progress of the production target by the end of August 2026.

4. core highlights: the world's largest single-line metallocene PE device, to achieve high-end product import substitution.

The most industry-influential installations of the project are 600000 tons/year metallocene high and low pressure polyethylene co-production plant, the world's first single series scale. The device was the first to complete the intermediate handover in April 2026.
The device adopts low-pressure gas phase fluidized bed process, which can flexibly produce mLLDPE and high-end HDPE. Metallocene resin has the advantages of high transparency, high puncture resistance, high cleanliness and high rigidity. It is widely used in high-end packaging films, functional agricultural films, water supply pipes, cable sheaths, large blow-molded containers and other high-end fields.
For a long time, China's high-end metallocene polyolefin has relied heavily on imports from North America, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East, which is a key import category in the polyolefin field. Relying on SABIC catalyst technology, large single-line production capacity and the cost advantage of Gulei integration, the device will directly impact the import supply and reshape after it is put into operation. southeast coast of china high-end membrane material, pipe raw material supply pattern.

5. strategic industry value

the project is not just a simple addition of petrochemical capacity, yes. China high-end upgrading of petrochemical industry has multiple strategic significance:
  1. promote independent control of high-end chemical raw materials
    Simultaneous supporting of general polyolefin and PC engineering plastics production capacity, the nearby supply of new energy, electronics, high-end packaging industry chain, shorten the local supply chain, reduce downstream enterprises import costs and overseas supply chain risks.
  2. Efficient and Green Utilization of Resources
    Butadiene, aromatics, carbon four and other cracking by-products in-situ deep processing, the comprehensive utilization rate of raw materials reached 95%, in line with China's refining refinement, green, high value-added transformation direction.
  3. Create a new model for Sino-foreign petrochemical cooperation
    Combined with Saudi Arabia's low-cost light hydrocarbon resources, advanced technology, overlay. Fujian, China coastal port logistics, downstream market and park supporting advantages, forming a typical model for foreign investment in China's high-end petrochemical industry construction, providing reference for subsequent transnational chemical project cooperation.

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