Hainan Baling Chemical New Material, a subsidiary of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), has launched production of its styrene-butadiene copolymer (SBC) project in Hainan, China, which will reach an annual production capacity of 170,000 tons.

 

Sinopec now has the largest world's largest production capacity of SBC plants. Baling New Material and Sinopec Hainan Refining and Chemical invested 1.924 billion yuan in the Hainan Baling project ($279.74 million).

 

The project's SBC plant produces 170,000 tons of SBS and styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) products annually, including 120,000 tons of SBS products and 50,000 SEBS products.

 

The plant has 13 units including refining, polymerisation, coalescence, recycling, auxiliaries preparation, and post-treatment, as well as supporting production and public facilities.

 

TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) is a class of copolymers that can be plasticised at high temperatures and has rubber elasticity at room temperature, and SBC is a type of TPE, the products of which include SBS, SEBS, styrene Isoprene Styrene (SIS), and styrene Ethylene Propylene Styrene (SEPS), which are widely used in shoes, asphalt modification, resin modification, adhesives, food packaging, medical equipment, sports equipment, automotives, and consumer electronics.

 

The Project uses Sinopec's self-developed SBS and SEBS full solution sets, including a clean manufacturing method that can create SBCs of varying grades and performances to fulfill customers' product customisation needs.

 

In the meanwhile, it's using Hainan Refining and Chemical's styrene and butadiene, Baling New Material's new technologies, and the Hainan Free Trade Port to minimise raw material and transportation costs and expand the industrial chain to optimise revenue.

 

The Initiative will export SBC goods to developing European, Southeast Asian, and South Asian markets.-TradeArabia News Service