SINGAPORE: Sinopec said on Wednesday it has successfully started up a new ethylene complex in northern China, part of China’s recent additions of large-scale petrochemical plants.

Sinopec began operating a 1.2 million tons per year (tpy) ethylene plant that is designed to provide 4 million tons annually of high-end chemical products and fine chemical feedstocks, the state firm said in a statement.

The new project, built in the Nangang industrial zone of port city Tianjin, near Beijing, brings the total ethylene capacity at Sinopec Tianjin subsidiary to 2.5 million tpy, Sinopec said.

There are 13 downstream projects including linear low-density polyethylene, a high-performing plastics used for packaging, and polyolefin elastomers (POE), a new chemical with the characteristics of both rubber and plastics that widely used in vehicles, medical appliances and toys.

Sinopec says it has secured 10% more gas for winter than a year earlier

The new ethylene complex, partly powered by solar and designed as an energy and water efficient project, is integrated with Sinopec Tianjin’s 320,000 barrels per day refinery, Sinopec added.