European oil company BP and Chinese oil refiner Sinopec have successfully completed the expansion of an acetic acid plant in south-west China's Chongqing Municipality, company officials have announced.

The joint venture required the investment of a further 1.2 billion yuan, according to the China Daily, bringing the project’s total investment to 2.8 billion yuan.

The expanded Yangtze River Acetyls (YARACO) plant is now capable of producing 350,000 tonnes of acetic acid per year.

Investors will also build storage and transport facilities to ensure the delivery of products in eastern China, company officials confirmed.

Steve Welch, BP group vice-president for aromatics and acetyls, told China Daily: "YARACO's success has given us the confidence to expand our business position in China.

"I'm fully convinced that, with the combination of BP's advanced technology, BP's and Sinopec's management skills and Sinopec's knowledge of the local market, YARACO will be a very competitive business in the marketplace."

Acetic acid is an intermediate product which is used in variety of downstream products such as paints, fibres, and adhesives.

It is used mainly in the production of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), which is used in the production of polyvinlyl acetate (PVA), and in the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), which is used in polyester manufacture.

There are several different manufacturing processes for acetic acid, each one using a platinum group metal catalyst.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd