Domestic environmental protection of aromatic oil production is difficult to increase

Affected by the weak market demand, this year's domestic production of environmentally friendly aromatic hydrocarbon oil (TDAE) will be unlikely to increase significantly. It is expected that the total output of five domestic environmental protection aromatic oil production enterprises this year will be less than 10,000 tons. Domestic demand will still mainly depend on imports. Imports are expected to increase from 118,000 tons last year to 120,000 to 140,000 tons this year.

The aromatic oil is currently commonly used in tire production at a cost that is 30% higher than conventional aromatic hydrocarbon rubber. On September 5th, the price of high-grade aromatic rubber in East China market was between RMB 5,700 and RMB 6,300/ton, which was still RMB 2,950/ton lower than the lowest price for environmental protection aromatic oils. Therefore, some market participants have stated that unless the Chinese government introduces compulsory use regulations, environmental-friendly aromatic hydrocarbon oils are difficult to promote in tire and rubber product manufacturing because of cost considerations.

At the same time, as the EU requires its member states to obtain TDAE supply only from manufacturers that have passed its certification, of the five domestic companies that produce environmentally-friendly aromatic oils, only the Binzhou refinery under CNOOC Ltd. has passed the EU certification. There is no favorable support for exports, coupled with low domestic demand, manufacturers' enthusiasm for production is not high.

In addition, the sample testing of this new product takes several months to complete, and the process of promoting this technology is still slow. Nantong Shengsheng International Trading Co., Ltd. said that foreign tire manufacturers that currently have production bases in mainland China, such as Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. and German Continental Group, have already participated in the test. The test period ranges from 4 months to 8 months. The cycle greatly reduces the development and application of this product.

Siwang Energy stated that in 2010 China's domestic consumption of environmentally-friendly aromatic oil accounted for 12.7% of the total consumption of 786,700 tons of rubber oil, while aromatic oil accounted for 38.9% of the total consumption of rubber oil. Industry insiders believe this data will not change much this year. At present, the Kunshan Plant under Zhengxin Tire Co., Ltd. uses 200 tons of environmentally-friendly aromatic oil, which is only 10% of its monthly consumption; monthly consumption of aromatic hydrocarbon oil, Huasheng Tire Co., Ltd. of Shandong Triangle (100%), and its aromatics The monthly usage of rubber oil is between 600 and 700 tons; the monthly consumption of aromatic hydrocarbon rubber oil and environmental protection aromatic hydrocarbon oil of Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Company is between 200 and 300 tons.