The plans of Dow Chemical (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) and China’s Shenhua Group (Beijing; http://en.shenhuachina.com) to build a large coal-to-chemicals plant in Yulin city, Shaanxi province are a step closer to being realised. Numerous Chinese media report that the two companies have submitted a project application report to the Chinese government for approval of the project, whose first phase is to cost some USD 10 bn.

Once completed, the complex is to have 23 units with an annual production capacity of 3.32m t of methyl alcohol, 1.22m t of methanol to olefins and 500,000 t of chlor-alkali products.

Wu Xiu-Zhang, president of China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Company, said he believed “the success of this project between Shenhua and Dow will be a showcase of great partnership between a leading Chinese state-owned enterprise and a leading multinational corporation doing business in China.”