Jinling Huntsman building high-purity isobutylene production plant in China

Nanjing, China – Jinling Huntsman, a JV between Sinopec-owned Jinling Petrochemical and Huntsman Corp., has started construction work on a high-purity isobutylene project in Nanjing, on the eastern coast of China.

The production facility will have the capacity to produce 60 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of isobutylene, said an announcement by the official Jiangsu provincial website 11 July.

The statement did not provide a timeline for the project but said once completed, it could generate annual sales of Yuan590 million (€75 million).

The plant will use a process technology for 'dehydrating' t-butyl alcohol to produce isobutylene with a product purity of more than 99.9%, according to the Jiangsu authority.

The feedstock product, it said, will be used mainly in the manufacture of materials for car tires and automotive insulation products, among other applications.

According to the website, global demand for isobutylene currently exceeds 3 million tonnes per annum, with China being one of the countries “with the fastest demand growth”.

Established in 2012, Jinling Huntsman currently operates a methyl t-butyl ether and propylene oxide production facility, forming “a complete upstream and downstream” industrial chain.