Zhongxin Chemical phenol acetone production expansion approved, phenol 426000 tons, acetone 261000 tons.

On February 11, 2026, the Guangdong Provincial Energy Bureau officially issued a review opinion, agreeing in principle to the energy-saving report of Huizhou Zhongxin Chemical's 450000-ton phenol acetone plant expansion project, and confirming that its main technical standards and construction plans basically meet the requirements of relevant national and provincial energy-saving regulations and energy-saving and carbon-reduction policies. This node means that the key administrative obstacles to the progress of the project have been cleared, and the timetable for the planned July 2026 production has been further implemented.

this expansion project is located at No.6, Binhai No.11 Road, Petrochemical Avenue, Huizhou Daya Bay Petrochemical Industrial Zone, the total investment is only about 20 million yuan. In the context of billions of large-scale refining and chemical projects, this investment volume is particularly light, fully reflecting the typical characteristics of "tapping the potential to expand production.

The main construction content focuses on the transformation of the bottleneck link of the device: adding key equipment such as the second reboiler of the refined acetone tower and the oxidation tail gas heat exchanger, and expanding the phenol acetone production line. There is no need to significantly add land or main units, and capacity can be released by relying on the existing unit base.

Expected annual production capacity after completion:

• cumene: 577000 tons/year
• phenol: 426000 tons/year
• acetone: 261000 tons/year

traders focus:

the existing plant size is 450000 tons of phenol acetone, and the increase in phenol production capacity after expansion is worthy of attention. Daya Bay Park itself has gathered a large number of downstream users of phenol (epoxy resin, bisphenol A, caprolactam, etc.), strong in-situ digestion capacity, but incremental supply will still form marginal pressure on the spot price of phenol and acetone in South China.

Project pure benzene and polymer grade propylene as raw material, the whole process adopts the cumene method phenol acetone process, which is the mainstream technical route of phenol production in the world at present, with convenient access to raw materials, mature process and good economy of by-product acetone co-production.

The process covers three modules: phenol-acetone synthesis (cumene oxidation & rarr; cumene hydroperoxide concentration & rarr; decomposition), phenol and acetone purification (acid removal and separation of decomposition solution), α-methylstyrene hydrogenation and phenol recovery (phenol removal from wastewater).

In terms of technical selection, the cumene unit adopts molecular sieve cumene technology the phenol-acetone unit is equipped with mature processes such as low-pressure oxidation, two-stage decomposition, sodium phenol neutralization, phenol-acetone azeotropic distillation and catalytic purification, and the overall technology combination can achieve a lower energy consumption level, which is also an important support for the principle approval of this energy-saving report.

Complete supporting facilities, including intermediate tank farm, acetone tank farm, loading and unloading station, steam desuperheating and decompression station, control room, substation, liquid incinerator, circulating water station, air pressure nitrogen refrigeration station, spare parts warehouse and hazardous waste warehouse, etc., with independent and safe operation conditions.

upstream raw material end: the demand for pure benzene and polymer-grade propylene will increase simultaneously after the expansion of the project. Daya Bay Park pure benzene resources are more concentrated, but if multiple sets of phenol plants in the region simultaneously increase the volume, pure benzene supply and demand balance or a phase of tight, the relevant traders can pay attention to the second half of 2026 Daya Bay pure benzene to the factory price trend.

Downstream product end: as important basic organic chemical raw materials, phenol and acetone are widely used in bisphenol A, epoxy resin, polycarbonate, solvents and pharmaceutical intermediates. South China is the main consumer market of bisphenol A and epoxy resin in China, and the incremental supply formed by the expansion of Zhongxin Chemical is expected to alleviate the tight supply of phenol in the region in the short term, while the spot premium is suppressed in the medium term.

With 20 million yuan to pry 577000 tons of isopropyl benzene, 426000 tons of phenol, acetone 261000 tons of production capacity volume, Zhongxin Chemical this expansion of the capital efficiency is very high, is a typical stock asset depth tapping operation. As the July 2026 production node approaches, upstream and downstream traders should track the progress of the plant and the pace of raw material procurement in advance, and adjust the inventory and pricing strategy of phenol, acetone and pure benzene in South China in a timely manner.