Ethylene Industry Enters Production Boom Period! Multinational Giants and Domestic Leaders Compete in Trillion-Dollar Track

In September 2025, the mechanical completion celebration of BASF's million-ton ethylene plant in the Zhanjiang base was held on Donghai Island. This base, with an investment of over 10 billion euros, utilizes green electricity and cutting-edge technology to reduce carbon emissions by 60%, setting a new benchmark for chemicals in the Asia-Pacific region. And it is just the tip of the iceberg—China is ushering in the most intensive ethylene capacity launch period in history, from the Gobi Desert in Xinjiang to the shores of the South China Sea.

The mechanical completion ceremony of BASF's Zhanjiang base's million-ton ethylene plant was held on Donghai Island (Source: BASF).

Capacity Race: 2025The wave of concentrated production launches this year is coming.

According to publicly available project progress statistics, the period from 2025 to 2027 will become a window for the explosion of ethylene production capacity.

BASFThe ethylene joint plant is designed with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons and plans to start feeding by the end of 2025. It will comprehensively integrate more than 10 downstream production units, directly providing...Acrylic acidProduction lines of polyethylene, butanol, and other products supply ethylene. The mechanical completion of basic chemical raw materials signifies that the facility is ready for trial production across the entire process. This development will fundamentally change the supply pattern of chemical raw materials in the Asia-Pacific region. Currently, some high-end polyolefins in South China rely on imports. After the Zhanjiang base is put into operation, the annual production capacity of the polyethylene unit alone will reach 500,000 tons, which can meet the urgent needs in fields such as new energy vehicle battery separators and high-end packaging materials.

August 31, 2025​Jilin PetrochemicalThe core unit of the refining and chemical transformation and upgrading project - the 1.2 million tons per year ethylene plant achieved a successful start-up on the first attempt. As a result, Jilin Petrochemical's total ethylene production capacity has risen to 1.9 million tons per year, placing it among the leading ranks in the country.

According to the data, the Jilin Petrochemical ethylene plant, with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons, has a total investment of 4.177 billion yuan and covers an area of 119,000 square meters. After the facility is put into operation, it can annually produce 1.2 million tons of polymer-grade ethylene and 587,000 tons of polymer-grade propylene. Additionally, it will produce more than 20 kinds of chemical raw materials, products, and semi-finished products as by-products, such as cracked C4, hydrogenated gasoline, acetylene, and hydrogen, ensuring the production of downstream facilities like polyethylene, acrylonitrile, and ABS. The efforts to "reduce oil and increase chemicals" and "reduce oil and increase specialty chemicals" have shown significant results, which will strongly promote the upgrade of downstream high-end materials and organic chemical industry chains. This lays the foundation for fostering new momentum for regional transformation and development and for seizing new opportunities in the petrochemical industry.

July 15, 2025ExxonMobilThe Huizhou Ethylene Project has officially commenced full operations. This project is the first major petrochemical project independently constructed by an American company in China. The first phase of ExxonMobil's Huizhou Ethylene Project includes a flexible feed steam cracker with an annual production capacity of 1.6 million tons of ethylene, two high-performance linear low-density polyethylene units with a combined annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons, a low-density polyethylene unit with the world's largest single-unit annual production capacity of 500,000 tons, and two differentiated high-performance polypropylene units with a combined annual production capacity of 950,000 tons.

Dushanzi Petrochemical TarimThe 1.2 million tons/year Phase II ethylene project has a total investment of 25.6 billion yuan, with an annual planned investment of 14 billion yuan. It offers advantages such as lightweight raw materials, high yield, short process, low investment, and low cost. This project integrates China's own technology and promotes green and low-carbon transformation, serving as a demonstration and benchmark project. It is also the leading project in the olefin industry cluster of Korla City. The basic mechanical construction is expected to be completed in 2025, with full completion and commissioning in 2026 (excluding LDPE/EVA). After commissioning, it will produce 1.2 million tons of ethylene annually, 2×450,000 tons of full-density polyethylene (FDPE), 300,000 tons of low-density polyethylene (LDPE, including EVA), 450,000 tons of polypropylene (PP), 120,000 tons of butadiene, 100,000 tons of cis-butadiene rubber, 250,000 tons of aromatics, among others, with a total of 13 main units.

Zhongsha GuleiThe ethylene project has a total investment of 44.8 billion yuan. In February 2024, the main construction of the project will commence fully, and the project is expected to be completed in 2026. Upon completion, it will become the largest ethylene facility in the world. The Zhongsha Gulei Ethylene Project is the largest single foreign-invested joint venture project in Fujian Province. It is jointly invested by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Fujian Energy Petrochemical Group, and Zhangzhou Jiulongjiang Group. The construction includes a world-class ethylene plant with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year (with an estimated maximum annual ethylene production capacity of 1.8 million tons), as well as downstream deep-processing complex units. Ethylene and downstream: The ethylene production scale is planned to be 1.5 million tons per year. The downstream plans include the construction of 100/10 thousand tons per year of ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol, 400 thousand tons per year of HDPE, 600 thousand tons per year of mLLDPE/HDPE, and 50 thousand tons per year of hexene-1. Propylene and downstream: The downstream plans include the construction of 400 thousand tons per year of polypropylene (impact/random copolymer) and 550 thousand tons per year of polypropylene (homo/random copolymer). Other propylene downstream plans include the construction of 250/150 thousand tons per year of phenol-acetone, 270 thousand tons per year of bisphenol A, and 290 thousand tons per year of polycarbonate. Additionally, the project will include supporting facilities such as 910 thousand tons per year of pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation (including styrene extraction), 220 thousand tons per year of butadiene extraction, 56 thousand tons per year of butene-1 units, and 570 thousand tons per year of aromatics extraction.

The Zhongsha Gulai Project in the picture (Southeast Net)

May 28, 2025China Shell Huizhou Phase III Ethylene ProjectHeld16010,000 tons/ The groundbreaking ceremony for the civil construction and installation of the ethylene plant. The CNOOC and Shell Huizhou Phase III Ethylene Project will build a 1.6 million tons/year ethylene plant and 16 downstream chemical units, along with utilities and supporting facilities. Upon completion in 2026, the ethylene production capacity of CNOOC and Shell will reach 3.8 million tons/year, continuing to hold the title of the largest single ethylene plant in China, with significant economies of scale.

The surge in production capacity also conceals challenges.

In the unprecedented capacity race of the ethylene industry, 2025 is undoubtedly a turning point. From BASF's green electricity-driven technology at the Zhanjiang base to ExxonMobil's wholly-owned breakthrough in the Huizhou project, and to the domestic milestones of Jilin Petrochemical and Sinopec-SABIC in Gulei, China is rapidly integrating multinational capital and local innovation to create a trillion-dollar petrochemical ecosystem.

The intensive commissioning of these projects has not only pushed ethylene production capacity to a new high but also reshaped the global supply chain landscape. The domestic substitution rate of high-end polyolefins and new energy materials is rapidly increasing, injecting strong momentum into automotive lightweighting and the photovoltaic industry. However, behind the capacity surge lies hidden challenges: the release of tens of millions of tons of ethylene in 2026-2027 may lead to market supply-demand imbalances. Companies need to find new ways through technological differentiation (such as Dushanzi Petrochemical's green electricity cracking) and export development.

Looking ahead, the ethylene industry is no longer merely a competition of scale, but the ultimate test of "carbon competitiveness."

Edited by: Lily