Coal-to-ethylene glycol survival is still difficult under high oil prices

The middle of the year has arrived, but the high international crude oil prices have failed to relieve coal-to-ethylene glycol companies
.
According to recent research, the operation of some domestic coal-to-ethylene glycol projects is still not ideal
.

At the recently held 2022 Petrochemical Industry Development Conference, Sun Weishan, vice president of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, said that under the current high oil price, modern coal chemical industry has ushered in development opportunities.
The operating rates of olefins, coal-to-gas, etc.
have all been raised to a healthy level, except for the coal-to-ethylene glycol project
.
In 2021, there is still a gap in energy consumption indicators and the quality of ethylene glycol products from coal (synthesis gas), and many projects have been put into operation, resulting in the operating rate of coal-to-ethylene glycol projects dropping to 40.
2%, a year-on-year decrease of 10.
1 percentage points
.
It is predicted that 6 coal-to-ethylene glycol projects will be put into operation in 2022, with an additional capacity of 4 million tons
.

"The rise in international oil prices should have improved the operating rate and economic benefits of China's modern coal chemical projects, including coal-to-ethylene glycol, but the actual situation of coal-to-ethylene glycol projects of several companies I visited It's not as beautiful as imagined
.
" An industry expert said
.

It is understood that the coal-to-ethylene glycol project of Xinjiang Tianye Group has been compressed due to the transportation distance and the impact of imported products from the Middle East
.

Some coal-to-ethylene glycol companies that were launched in a hurry in the early stage were very sad even when oil prices were high
.

In addition, the coal-to-ethylene glycol project of Jiutai Energy, which is scheduled to start in September, adopts the route of co-production of methanol.
According to the current coal price, the profit of ethylene glycol products is limited.
Transformation and upgrading
.

In contrast, only the Tongkun Group, which has extended its industrial chain upstream from "Yipipu", has had a better life.
They use natural gas as raw material to produce ethylene glycol.
Since they can get low-cost natural gas and ethylene glycol products at the place of origin And some profit
.

Expert analysis believes that the reasons for the low operating rate of domestic coal-to-ethylene glycol plants are not only excessive project production and oversupply of products, but also high steam consumption and no upstream and downstream industrial chains
.
For example, some ethylene glycol units built earlier consume as much as 10 tons of steam per ton of product.
Even companies with upstream and downstream industrial chains like Tongkun consume 8 tons of steam per ton of product
.
Only newly built coal-to-ethylene glycol enterprises such as Jiutai Energy are expected to consume slightly lower steam per ton of product due to the adoption of relatively advanced technology
.
In addition, the coal-to-ethylene glycol projects of some companies have no upstream and downstream industrial chains to provide raw materials and digested products, or the projects are built in the west, and the transportation costs are too high, so the profits are further compressed
.

"The current 'two-carbon' strategy controls coal to a dead end, coupled with safety issues, as well as high costs, single products and poor sales, all of which will lead to low operating rates and loss of profits for coal-to-ethylene glycol projects
.
" Industry insiders said
.

Tang Hongqing, who was a consultant of Zhongke Synthetic Oil Technology Co.
, Ltd.
, also told reporters that compared with petroleum-based ethylene glycol, the coal-to-ethylene glycol process route is long and the scale is often not large.
The production of ethylene glycol by chemical fertilizer technology is inherently insufficient, and the technology is not mature.
More importantly, they do not master coal resources
.
"Modern coal chemical companies without coal resources in the future will definitely find it difficult to survive
.
" Tang Hongqing emphasized
.