China's petrochemical industry saw rapid growth in the first half of the 2010, with major economic indicators better than expected, but its dependence on oil from outside increased to 55 percent, said Li Yongwu, chairman of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation.
Li said that industrial output value was up to 4 trillion yuan ($640 billion) in the six months of the 2010, a new record. By the end of June, there were 35,700 large companies in the industry. Profits also saw a sharp rise and, by May this year, the larger companies generated more than 271 billion yuan in profits, a 74-percent increase year-on-year.
In addition, production capability has kept up its rapid growth and, in the first half of the 2010, among 78 major petrochemical products and related goods that are tracked by the industrial federation, there were 74 that showed growth in output.
The industry has also seen an upturn in exports, with imports and exports totaling $220 billion in the first six months, a 61-percent increase over the same period of last year. Crude oil accounted for the largest proportion in imports, amounting to $66 billion worth, up 114 percent year-on-year. This is an indication that China is increasingly dependent on foreign oil.
Federation statistics show the total amount of China's petroleum from production and import was 220 million tons from January to June, with a 55-percent dependence on imports. Experts predict the Chinese petrochemical market in the second half of the 2010 will remain stable, with chemical fertilizer showing an improvement and organic chemical raw materials and synthetic materials perhaps showing greater fluctuation, depending on the crude oil market.
"We'll intensify our monitoring of the economy of major industries and companies and put more effort into promoting energy saving and emissions reduction and to eliminating the use of out-dated production methods," said Li. In addition, "The federation will support strategic emerging industries, such as new chemicals and new medicines and encourage research, development, and industrialization of top petrochemical products."