According to Reuters, Sinopec Corp’s refinery and petrochemical complex in Tianjin will shut down for two months, starting in early May, for a regular revamp with the aim to cut its crude throughput by about 2 million tonnes this year.
In fact, the plant which is located in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, will also undergo retooling work that will allow production of lower-sulfur refined products, including marine bunker fuel that meets new global emission rules.
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The overhaul will cut crude throughput this year by some 2 million tonnes, or roughly 16% from the 2019 production level, the source told Reuters.
Sinopec Tianjin Petrochemical Corp will shut down the 12.5 million tonnes per year (tpy), or 250,000 barrels per day, refinery from early May through early July. The revamp is due for completion in October.
The complex will also switch off its entire ethylene facilities for maintenance, including a one million tpy plant and a 200,000 tpy facility. The larger facility is a joint venture with Saudi Basic Industries Corp 2010.SE.
The company is adding secondary units, such as including a residue desulphurizer (RDS) and hydrotreating facilities for gasoline and diesel, to an existing crude distillation unit able to process 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
After the retooling, the plant will shut an aging coking unit making high-sulfur petroleum coke for which demand has been shrinking due to environmental reasons.
It was on Wednesday, May 5, when Sinopec announced the production capability of 10 million and 15 million tons of low-sulphur marine fuel oil in 2020 and 2023. By 2020, Zhoushan and other China major ports will be fully covered with Sinopec product availability, and more than 50 key overseas ports, including Singapore, will be covered with Sinopec supply ability.
In November, Sinopec said that it planned to create a fleet of 100 barges over the next three years aiming to supply IMO 2020 compliant marine fuel. If that happens, Sinopec would become a top regional supplier of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO).
The cost of buying the 50 new vessels would be approximately $571.91 million, while all the barges will be built in Chinese shipyards.