China Merchants partners up with Rongsheng Petrochemical
China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), the energy transport unit of China Merchants Group, has signed a agreement with Rongsheng Petrochemical to form a strategic partnership.
Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly develop cooperation opportunities in the area of shipping, logistics, and financing, especially for the Rongsheng’s Zhoushan Green Petrochemical Base project, which started a trial operation recently.
Zhoushan Green Petrochemical Base project is a new integrated refinery and petrochemical project on Zhoushan Island, and it is set to become one of the world’s largest crude-to-chemicals complex.
Saudi Aramco signed an agreement in February to acquire a 9% share in the project.
The two-phased project, which is estimated to cost RMB200bn ($28.8bn), is expected to officially commence operations in 2021. Each phase is expected to process 20 mtpa of crude oil and produce 1.4mtpa of ethylene and 5.2mtpa of aromatics.
The project will feature a crude oil terminal, separate process units for oil refining and petrochemical production, storage tanks, and transport and service installations.