Brother Industries Help Stimulate Petrochemical Industry     

To address the global financial crisis, the Chinese government has promulgated a series of adjustment and stimulation programs for ten major industries. The petrochemical industry, one of those ten, is one of the pillars of Chinese economy. The adjustment and stimulation of related industries has also brought opportunities and stimulation to the development of the petrochemical industry.

1. The stimulation of the textile industry benefits the chemical fiber and the dyestuff sectors in the petrochemical industry

China's textile industry has a remarkablly international competitive advantage and has played an important role in the prosperity of the domestic market - expanding exports, creating jobs, increasing farmers' revenue and promoting urbanization.
   The textile industry is an important downstream user of the petrochemical industry. Chemical fibers and dyestuffs play a pivotal role in the development of the textile industry. More than 80% of the products of China's dyestuff sector are consumed by the domestic textile industry. The implementation of the adjustment and stimulation for the textile industry will not only help China's textile industry gain strong competitiveness on the basis of large scale, but also benefit related sectors of the petrochemical industry.
   The adjustment and stimulation of the textile industry mainly aims to encourage independent innovation, technological renovation and the elimination of outdated units, which suggests a route that the petrochemical industry could follow. In order to enhance the independent innovation capability of the textile industry, the program requires speeding up the industrialization of new fibers, high performance fibers and composite materials, such as carbon fiber, aramid fiber, polyphenylene sulfide, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, basalt fiber, polyimide and new-type polyesters. The total output of such materials should be increased from the present 70 000 t/a to 140 000 t/a by 2011. Cellulose fiber by the solvent extraction process should achieve industrialization at a scale of over 10 000 t/a. The proportion of biomass cellulose fibers should be increased from the current 6.3% to 8% by 2011. So the petrochemical industry can play a key role in the research, development and application of high-end fiber technologies for the textile industry.
    This program requires that the chemical fiber sector adopt advanced and applicable technologies to upgrade traditional chemical fiber processes, equipment and production control levels; to achieve the flexible, diversified and efficient production of polyesters, polyester fiber, viscose fiber, nylon and acrylic fiber; and to speed up the research and development of multi-functional and differentiated fibers and the non-stop application of textile products to improve their added value. The differentiation rate of chemical fibers should be raised from the present 36% to about 50%.
   The introduction of this series of policies and measures will both vigorously promote the development of the textile industry and boost the demand for the textile industry for dyes and chemical fibers.
   
2. Light industry and the chemical industry rely on each other heavily

The light industry is a downstream sector with a strong correlation to the petrochemical industry. The rapid development of China's light industry has benefited from the stable supply of high-quality petrochemical raw materials. So the petrochemical industry has become an indispensable foundation for the light industry. At the same time, the vast market and effective demand of the light industry will also continually help improve the output and quality of petrochemicals such as ethylene, synthetic resin, modification additives, food additives and coatings.
   Light industry consumes large amounts of petrochemicals. In the adjustment and stimulation program of the light industry, the government will further expand the varieties of household appliances for which village buyers can get subsides, raise the export rebate rate of some light industrial products and adjust the processing trade directory to vigorously expand domestic demand and exports. Plastic resin has become the second largest raw material of the household electrical appliance manufacture sector second only to the steel sector, with the highest growth rate in consumption - an average annual growth rate of about 30% in recent years. Take ABS resin as an example, the rapid development of the household appliances market has stimulated the fast development of ABS resin in China. The annual capacity of ABS resin in China has increased from 480 000 t/a in 2000 to over 2 million t/a in 2008. The latest data released by the China Light Industry Association show that the implementation of policies to stimulate domestic demand, such as the "giving subsides to farmers who buy new household appliances" policy, have led to growth in the production and sales of household appliances and related products. The sales-to-production ratios of refrigerators, washing machines and electric water heaters all have reached over 98.5%. As one of the most widely used plastics in household appliances, ABS still has favorable prospects. Data also show that industrial production, total assets, workforce and exports of the plastic products sector account for about 10% of the total of China's light industry. The export value of plastic products ranks first in the light industry. The economic conditions of the plastic resins sector can have a direct impact on the development trends of all light industry. And the restructuring and stimulation of light industry also has a direct, decisive influence on the development prospects of the plastic resin sector.
    The improvement of quality in petrochemical products can help light industry establish a guarantee system for the quality and safety of its own products. The adjustment and stimulation program of light industry clearly requires that light industry should speed up the creation and revision of its industrial standards. Four hundred and fifty items of new national standards need to be made for food additives, meat products, brewing and wines, dairy products, beverages, furniture, decoration and decorative materials, of which 70 are for food additives and 50 for furniture, decoration and decorative materials. Five hundred and fifty items of national standards are more than five years and need to be revised, related to plastics, metal, leather, detergents and beverage. There is also a recognized need to improve and perfect safety standards, basic and common standards, key product standards and testing standards for household appliances, paper, plastics, lighting appliances, hardware and leather. And new or revised standards are needed for degradable plastics, pulp and paper, leather tanning and battery recycling; and improvements are necessary in the corresponding system for technical standards. These enhancements of standards will improve the quality of light industrial products, including food, and will narrow the application thresholds of petrochemicals including food additives and flame retardants.
   From a technical point of view, promoting the innovation and industrialization of key technologies can help strengthen the competitiveness of China's light industry. This program supports the innovation and industrialization of key technologies and equipment in new plastic materials for farming, the cogeneration of sugar and energy, new energy-saving light sources, new micro-composite materials for the treatment of high-concentration wastewater, advanced functional surface-active agents, new kinds of batteries, emissions reduction