World's Largest Coal-to-Ethylene Glycol Project Starts: 2.4 million Tons of New Capacity Locked in 2028, Ethylene Glycol Supply Pattern Deeply Reshaped Countdown

March 20, 2026, Hengyi Energy Technology (Turpan) Co., Ltd. 2.4 million tons/year high quality fiber coal to ethylene glycol project in the Turpan Economic Development Zone coal-based new materials recycling industrial park officially started. Investment in the first phase of the project 25.7 billion yuan(Total investment 25.7018 billion yuan of which environmental investment 1.55 billion yuan, accounting for the total investment 6.03 percent), land occupation 253.75 hectares, is expected production in 2028. The monomer capacity of 2.4 million tons/year makes it as of now. The world's largest coal-to-ethylene glycol project it is also a major strategic extension of Hengyi Group in the field of coal chemical industry after Zhejiang Zhengkai and Sichuan Zhengdakai, marking the further strengthening of the trend of domestic polyester leading to the deep layout of upstream raw materials.

1. process route and by-product system: mature technology superimposed on the multi-realization, cost competitiveness is full of confidence.

The route is mature and reliable, and the technology has been endorsed by precedents. The project uses lignite from Aidin Lake mining area in Turpan as raw material, and adopts a complete process chain of "gasification-syngas-CO/H₂ separation-dimethyl oxalate-ethylene glycol": coal gasification generates syngas, CO and H₂ are separated after transformation and purification, CO reacts with purchased methanol and self-produced nitric acid to generate dimethyl oxalate, and then hydrogenates to reduce to obtain ethylene glycol. The project supports the construction of synthetic ammonia plant, self-produced synthetic ammonia as the raw material of nitric acid plant, to achieve the key intermediate self-closed loop. Technically, the project adopts pujing Chemical Ethylene Glycol Complete Process Technology and Proprietary Catalyst china Chengda is responsible for the engineering design. Pujing Chemical has been in Sichuan Zhengdakai before. 1.2 million tons/year the large-scale industrialization verification is completed in the ethylene glycol project. The Turpan project is the key practice for its leap to a larger scale, and the technical maturity is well documented. The pace of advancement is also worthy of attention-The Department of Ecological Environment of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has december 16, 2025 completion of EIA approval publicity, october 2025 the process package opening meeting has been held in Chengdu, and the acceleration of the project is clear.

The by-product system is rich, and the comprehensive liquidity capacity significantly diluts the cost of the main product. In addition to the main product 2.4 million tons/year polyester grade ethylene glycol in addition, the project by-products include: ethanol 52120 tons/year dimethyl carbonate 76000 tons/year sulfur 32485 tons/year liquid ammonia 28404 tons/year nitric acid (50% wt) 24500 tons/year. Among them, dimethyl carbonate is an important solvent raw material for new energy battery electrolyte, market demand with the rapid growth of the power battery industry, its liquidity capacity will effectively strengthen the project and petroleum-based ethylene glycol price competitive advantage.

2. market impact study: 2028 is the key node that must be forward-looking layout.

The scale of the shock cannot be underestimated. Ethylene glycol is the core raw material of polyester industry chain, downstream polyester fiber, PET bottle sheet, film and other demand volume is huge. At present, the overall supply pattern of domestic ethylene glycol has gone through many rounds of expansion, and the dependence on imports has declined but is still at a high level. If the new production capacity of 2.4 million tons/year is concentrated into the market as scheduled in 2028, it will form a significant incremental impact on the existing domestic coal-to-ethylene glycol production capacity, which will put substantial pressure on the existing import sources and the price competition pattern of petroleum-based ethylene glycol in East China.

Regional strategic significance is equally prominent. The project completely breaks the traditional resource export mode in Xinjiang, is an important exploration of the local transformation and high-end utilization of coal resources in Xinjiang, promotes the strategic leap of Xinjiang from "exporting raw coal" to "exporting high-end chemicals", and also provides a replicable path reference for the transformation and upgrading of the coal chemical industry structure in Northwest China.

Core advice for overseas traders and supply chain practitioners:2028 is a strategic time node that needs to focus on forward-looking research. It is suggested that the project construction progress and production time node should be closely tracked from now on, the contract structure and price strategy of ethylene glycol export to China should be evaluated in advance, the layout of procurement channels should be dynamically adjusted, and the double impact of price and channel after the centralized release of production capacity should be avoided.