Caofeidian Construction Heats up     

The Hebei provincial government has unveiled a three-year development plan for the Caofeidian area: a port with annual throughput capacity of 500 million tonnage, a 15 million t/a mill for fine steel products, an integrated petrochemical base housing a 10 million t/a refinery, and a 15 million ton crude oil reserve base as well as a 4.6 million kilowatt power plant.
   Caofeidian, just less than 100 kilometers away from Tangshan (about 200 kilometers from Beijing), has been set the No.1 project by the Hebei provincial government and also the key project in China's 11th Five-year Program. After four years of construction, roads which connect the island and railways have been completed in Caofeidian, so are other public works such as water and power supply, telecommunications access, and waste and sewage treatment plants.
   Sinopec Corp. has put into operation of a 300 000 tonnage crude oil terminal in Caofeidian since the end of August 2008, the largest and most advanced oil dock in northern China to date. The port's auxiliary projects, such as oil tanks farm and pipelines later came into service in October 2008. Sinopec said the terminal would bring crude imports increase to supply a refinery of Sinopec Beijing Yanhua Co., Ltd. (Yanshan Petrochemical Co., Ltd.) in Fangshan, Beijing. The company also expects to construct a hub for commercial crude reserve in northern China which helps stabilize domestic crude market.
   China aims to create three mega refining bases in Ningbo, Shanghai and Nanjing, each with annual capacity of over 30 million tons, and six large bases with annual capacity of more than 20 million tons in Maoming, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Quanzhou, Tianjin and Caofeidian, according to the government's petrochemical revitalization packages.
   "Construction on Caofeidian will be in full swing in 2009, and we estimate the area could draw investment of RMB65 billion this year," said Tangshan Mayor Chen Guoying. The 20 million t/a crude oil throughput capacity at Caofeidian port, plus the 10 million t/a in Tianjin port, will provide adequate feedstock to Caofeidian's petrochemical plants, easing supply shortage for the northern China area.
   PetroChina Co., Ltd. has made an oil discovery in Nanpu, 80 kilometers from Tangshan, with proven geological reserves of over 445.1 million tons of oil equivalent in May 2007. The discovery would greatly help Caofeidian develop its petrochemical business.
   Beijing's steel maker Shougang Group has relocated its production facilities to Caofeidian to make way for the "green" 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Caofeidian will develop logistics, steel, petrochemical and machinery manufacturing as its four key industries.
   Hebei provincial government has determined to create five industry clusters centered on Caofeidian, which are Caofeidian recycling economy demonstration zone, Chengde and Qinhuangdao industrial parks, Nanpu marine chemical industry zone, Tanghai Lingang industrial supporting area and a tourism district in Binhai. (CCR2008 No. 28, No. 23)