Public Notice of Winning the Core Bid Package for the 21.3 Billion Yuan Technical Transformation Project of Shanghai Petrochemical, 1.2 Million Tons of Ethylene Project to Start Construction Soon

The bid-winning section is the EPC general contracting of the 1.2 million tons/year ethylene unit, 400,000 tons/year polyethylene (FDPE) unit and supporting works. The estimated contract amount of the section is about 5.634 billion yuan, the winning bid amount is about 5.604 billion yuan, and the planned construction period is 822 days.

This section includes a total of 9 main projects, covering the construction of a new 1.2 million tons/year ethylene unit, 400,000 tons/year polyethylene (FDPE) unit, ethylene fire aquatic environments booster pump station, ethylene circulating aquatic environments field, ethylene condensate aquatic environments station and thermal station, National Set 4 combined hydrogenation substation, National Set 4 hydrogenation cracking area cabinet room, elevated flare ground flare facilities and flare gaseous recovery facilities. Among them, the maximum design temperature of the 1.2 million tons/year ethylene unit is 910°C, and the maximum design pressure is 13.31MPa.

The project is located in the existing Shanghai Petrochemical plant in Jinshan District, Shanghai. The core idea is to decrease oil and increase chemical production. On the premise of maintaining the 14 million tons/year oil refining processing capacity, the unit structure optimization will be implemented. 18 sets of old units including the existing 700,000 tons/year ethylene unit will be shut down, and new 1.2 million tons/year ethylene and downstream new material units will be built, while improving the intrinsic security and ecological preservation level of the plant.

The project was officially launched in June 2025, and the main production units are expected to be completed and put into operation in 2028.

From the perspective of unit layout, this technical transformation project will build and convert a total of 20 sets of refining and chemical units. The refining sector will build 7 new sets and convert 3 sets; the chemical sector will build 8 new sets and convert 2 sets. The 8 new chemical units are respectively 1.2 million tons/year ethylene, 200,000 tons/year butadiene extraction, 700,000 tons/year pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation, 400,000 tons/year aromatic extraction, 300,000 tons/year vinyl acetate, 400,000 tons/year polyethylene, 100,000 tons/year carbonate, and 200,000 tons/year 1# C5 separation unit.

The 400,000 tons/year FDPE polyethylene unit in this first section is the focus of market attention. The unit has a nominal capacity of 400,000 tons/year and can create two types of items: LDPE low-density polyethylene and EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. After the unit is put into operation, it will add LDPE and EVA supply and supplement the polyolefin production capacity in East China. Among them, EVA items will optimize the regional photovoltaic-grade EVA supply pattern.

According to the plan, multiple sets of old units will be shut down and eliminated simultaneously in this project. The chemical sector will shut down multiple old equipment including the original 2# ethylene unit, butadiene extraction, and pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation; the refining sector will eliminate old units such as hydrocracking, hydrogen production, and sulfur recovery, and replace old production capacity with new units to realize the transformation of the refining and chemical sector to high-end new materials.

The total investment of the project is 21.307 billion yuan, and the capital sources include bank loans and self-raised funds of the enterprise. The main construction period of the project is about 3 years, and the construction period of supporting facilities is about 5 years. The final construction period shall be subject to the actual on-site implementation situation.

The successful bidding of the core EPC section has laid a construction foundation to the goal of putting the main units into operation in 2028. After completion, it will promote the upgrading of Shanghai Petrochemical from traditional refining and chemical to new materials, and enhance the supply system of high-end polyolefins and fine chemical raw materials in East China.