Progress in the Aromatics Industry
                       Chai Guoliang
Aromatics are organic chemical raw materials  as  important
as ethylene, propylene and butadiene.   Varieties  closely
related with people life  include  benzene,   toluene  and
xylene (p-xylene and o-xylene).
Aromatics mainly come from catalytic reformed cuts, cracked
gasoline and coal tar.
1. Production
The production of aromatics in China is mainly concentrated
in large petrochemical enterprises. The  biggest  producer
is Yangzi Petrochemical Corporation, and then come Zhenhai
Refining &  Chemical  Industrial  Co. ,   Ltd. ,   Gaoqiao
  Petrochemical  Corporation,   Jilin  Chemical  Industrial
Corporation, Shanghai  Petrochemical  Corporation,   Fshun
Petrochemical  Corporation  and  Liaoyang  Chemical  Fiber
Corporation. The total capacity of aromatics in more  than
20 catalytic reforming units is over 5 million t/a.  Table
1 shows the output of aromatics in  China  in  the  recent
years. As is seen from Table  1,   the  output  of  xylene
( including  p- xylene  and  o- xylene)   is  the  highest,
accounting for around 45% of the total. The output of pure
benzene is next, accounting for around 44%. The output  of
toluene accounts for around 11%. The annual growth rate of
the total output reached 21.93% from 1992 to 1997.
2. Import and export
Due to the fast increasing  consumption  and  the  resource
shortage in the domestic  market,   a  certain  amount  of
aromatics has to be imported. Table 2 shows the import and
export of aromatics in China in  the  recent  years.   The
annual growth rate of the net import has reached 59.34% in
  the  recent  years.   Yangzi  Petrochemical  Corporation,
Shanghai Petrochemical  Corporation,   Qilu  Petrochemical
Corporation and  Yanshan  Petrochemical  Corporation  have
imported some mixed xylene to be separated into p-xylene.
3. Consumption
Benzene is mainly used in the synthesis of styrene (27.25%)
, polyamide resin (12.65%), phenol (11.37%),  chlorobenzene
(10.98%), nitrobenzene (9.8%), alkylbenzene (7.84%),   agro
-chemicals (5,56%) and phthalic anhydride (4.71%).
The apparent consumption of aromatics has increased fast in
the recent years. Table 3 shows the  detail.   The  annual
growth rate of the apparent  consumption  reached  20. 76%
from 1992 to 1997. The net import  amount  only  accounted
for 16.41% of the apparent consumption in  1997.   If  the
  inventory  carried  over  from  previous  years  is   not
considered, the supply of aromatics can basically meet the
demand.  Only  toluene  and  m- xylene  have  a  low  self
-sufficiency rate and need some imports.
The rapid expansion in capacity and the impact from imports
have led to a downward market price of aromatics.
The capacity of aromatics is further  expanding  in  China.
Yangzi Petrochemical Corporation has invested 600  million
yuan in the renovation of an  aromatics  integrated  unit.
The processing capacity of  the  hydrocracking  unit  will
increase from 1.8 million t/a to over 1. 88  million  t/a.
  The  processing  capacity  of  the  reforming  unit  will
increase from 1.06 million t/a to 1.32 million t/a.
The supply  and  demand  of  aromatics  in  China  will  be
basically balanced in 2000, and some surplus pure  benzene
can be used for export.
       Table 1   Output of Aromatics in China in the Recent Years         (t)

        Product              1993        1994        1995        1996           1997   Jan.-Sept.1998
  Pure benzene              848 200     892 000     1 034 600   1 106 900    1 714 600   972 764
  Annual growth rate (%)     2.20       5.16        15.99       6.98         21.42       11.27
  Toluene                   321 500     367 600     273 700     318 500      405  396    334 793
  Annual growth rate (%)     45.74      14.34       -25.54      16.37        27.28       21.49
  Xylene                    946 441     1 068 2451  227 747     1 269 032    1 727 613   -
  Annual growth rate (%)     18.97      12.87       14.93       3.36         36.14       -
  Of which: p-xylene        584 925     767 000     839 000     863 000      1 029 153   -
   annual growth rate (%)     9.09      31.13       9.36