OREANDA-NEWS. Chinese petrochemical producer Sichuan Shengda Chemical plans to finally start up its new 1mn t/yr purified terephthalic acid (PTA) unit at Nanchong by the end of this year.

Construction began in June 2012 and was finished in July last year, but difficulty in securing supplies of feedstock paraxylene (PX) delayed the start-up. Sichuan Shengda plan to use PX from PetroChina Pengzhou Petrochemical's plant, near Chengdu also in Sichuan province, to produce the fiber intermediate, with it to be transported 200km by rail between the two plants.

"The construction of PTA plant and the railroad were already finished," said a Shengda Chemical official "But we were still waiting for the approval of railway transportation by the government as PX is a dangerous chemical. It seems we will get it at the end of 2015. If we get the approval, we will start up the unit as soon as possible."

But market participants are still doubtful that Sichuan Shengda will start up its PTA plant so quickly, given that current fierce domestic competition is seeing most PTA producers lose money. Sichuan Shengda is also far from its main consumers, 1,500km away in east China, which will add to transport and logistics costs.

Sichuan Shengda said its lower operating costs in Sichuan will cover the additional logistics of delivering PTA from Sichuan to the east China market.