January 18, 2025 – China National Petroleum Corporation Achieves Milestone in New Materials Production
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has marked a significant milestone in its new materials industry, surpassing the 2 million tonne production threshold ten days ahead of schedule in 2024. This extraordinary growth signifies an accelerated advancement into a new era of prosperity for CNPC’s new materials sector.
Since 2021, CNPC has embarked on a comprehensive layout for its renewable energy and new materials business, establishing subsidiaries for refining, marketing, and new materials, along with implementing a business unit reform. The new materials business has been elevated to an equal footing with refining and basic chemicals in terms of importance. Additionally, the Shanghai Advanced Materials Research Institute and the Japan Advanced Materials Research Institute have been founded, accelerating the construction of a research system for new materials science and technology. To further propel the rapid development of the new materials industry, CNPC has registered and established Blue Ocean Advanced Materials (Tongzhou Bay) Co., Ltd., and Kungang Advanced Manufacturing (Beijing) Co., Ltd., while focusing on the development of five major new materials bases in Dushanzi, Lanzhou, Jilin, Liaoyang, and Blue Ocean.
Remarkable achievements have been made in the development and value-added enhancement of new materials products by CNPC Refining & Chemicals New Materials Company. According to AsiaMB’s insights, the company has successfully launched over 135 new chemical product grades since 2024, with production volumes increasing by nearly 20% year-on-year. Notably, significant breakthroughs have been achieved in domestic gas-phase polyolefin elastomer (POE) technology, with product performance reaching international advanced levels, breaking the long-term monopoly of foreign products. Furthermore, the first domestically developed double-terminated functionalized solution-polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber has also broken foreign technology monopolies, ensuring strategic security within China’s tire industry chain. In the field of metallocene polyethylene, CNPC’s production has surpassed 60% of domestic total output, further consolidating its leading position in the domestic market.
CNPC has made significant progress in various new materials fields. With wax production ranking first globally and holding over 85% of the domestic market share, the company also holds a 53% domestic market share for low-sulfur petroleum coke and is among the top producers of premium electrode coke globally. In terms of nitrile rubber, Lanzhou Petrochemical has a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year, ranking second globally and first domestically. For solution-polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber production, Dushanzi Petrochemical is the largest producer with the most comprehensive product range domestically. Specialized asphalt covers 11 categories, with leading domestic market shares in hydraulic and waterproof asphalt.