[Industry Focus]：The list of key petrochemical projects in Jiangsu Province was announced in 2024. What is the focus of Jiangsu's future development?

Jiangsu Province is a major province of China's chemical industry, with many large-scale and representative chemical enterprises. On January 5, 2024, the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission released a list of major projects in Jiangsu Province in 2024. The list of projects has a total of 510 projects, including 450 implementation projects and 60 reserve projects, with an annual planned investment of 640.8 billion billion yuan.

According to the list of major projects in 2024 released by Jiangsu Province, a total of 32 chemical-related lists were selected, including 18 chemical projects and 14 new material projects.

According to the list of key chemical projects in Jiangsu Province in 2024, the following trends can be seen:

first, Lianyungang is an important and largest chemical industry base in Jiangsu Province, with the largest number of key projects.

Among the key chemical projects in Jiangsu Province in 2024, Lianyungang City leads the province with 9 key projects, becoming the focus of development in this field. These projects include Shengbang aramid materials, Shenghong chemical new materials, Fenghai propane comprehensive utilization, etc., mainly related to the field of new materials, large-scale. The successful implementation of these projects, thanks to the excellent port resources and hardware conditions of Lianyungang City, has attracted investment from many well-known chemical companies, such as Shenghong Petrochemical, Satellite Petrochemical, and Sinochem. The settlement of these enterprises has further promoted the agglomeration and development of the chemical industry in Lianyungang City, making it an important chemical base in Jiangsu Province and even the whole country.

Compared with Lianyungang City, Nantong City also has a good performance in key chemical projects, with a total of 5 key projects. These projects are mainly concentrated in the field of high-end new materials, such as Qidong Huafeng Ruixun biological new materials, such as East Jiujiu new materials. Although the production scale of these projects is relatively small, they have the characteristics of specialization and refinement, and are committed to improving the technological content and added value of Nantong's chemical industry.

In addition to Lianyungang City and Nantong City, other regions in Jiangsu Province also have their own characteristics in the development of chemical industry. Nanjing, Taizhou, Wuxi and other places, relying on their own industrial base and resource advantages, have also made some progress in the chemical industry. However, due to land resource constraints and other constraints, the development of the chemical industry in these areas is relatively slow, showing a slowing trend.

On the whole, the development of chemical industry in Jiangsu Province shows an obvious trend of regional concentration. With their unique resources and location advantages, Lianyungang and Nantong have become important development bases of chemical industry in Jiangsu Province and even the whole country. In the future, with the continuous progress of technology and the adjustment and optimization of industrial structure, the chemical industry in Jiangsu Province will continue to maintain a steady growth trend, providing strong support for the sustainable development of the province's economy.

Figure 1 Urban distribution of key chemical projects in Jiangsu Province in 2024 (unit: unit)

second, the largest number of chemical projects and the type of chemical development with the largest investment

among the key chemical projects in Jiangsu Province in 2024, chemical-related projects occupy a prominent position. Among the total 18 key chemical projects, 10 projects are directly related to chemical industry, accounting for 56% of the total, becoming the leading type of chemical development in this year. In contrast, although the number of new material projects reached 14, it only accounted for 44% of the total, showing its secondary position in the chemical industry.

The chemical projects in Jiangsu Province show the characteristics of scale and large-scale. For example, Lianyungang Shenghong Chemical New Materials Project, Lianyungang Hongjing POE New Materials Project, Yizheng Jinling Petrochemical High-end New Materials Project and Lianyungang Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Materials Project, all of which have an investment of more than 100 million yuan, some even more than 1 billion yuan, belonging to the category of large-scale investment.

It is worth noting that the key chemical projects in Jiangsu Province in 2024 focus on the upstream end of the industrial chain and the basic projects of bulk chemicals. This shows that Jiangsu Province focuses more on the production of upstream large-scale products in the layout of the chemical industry chain, while the development of fine chemicals and new materials is restricted by technology and consumer markets, and the growth rate is relatively slow. This phenomenon reflects the strategic choice and priority setting in the development of chemical industry in Jiangsu Province.

2 Distribution of key project types in Jiangsu Province in 2024

third, new energy and related chemical projects show a growing trend

looking at the key chemical projects in Jiangsu Province in 2023 and 2024, we found that the number of chemicals related to new energy showed an overall growth trend. In terms of the number of projects and the scale of investment, new energy-related projects achieved significant growth in 2024, showing a qualitative leap.

New energy related projects in 2024 include Xuzhou Jinkong Xinhengsheng's electronic and new energy chemicals project, Wuxi Dongheng's lithium-ion carbon nano-new materials project, Huai 'an Kechuan's electronic functional film project, Sihong Qunchuang's high-performance functional film project, Suqian Lekai's optical film phase II project, and Sihong Sdik's new energy coating composite material project. These new energy-related projects will become a key driving force for the development of the new energy industry in Jiangsu Province.

Jiangsu Province is an important gathering place for fine chemical and foreign-funded enterprises in China, and it is also the largest pharmaceutical production area in China. However, environmental restrictions have led to the gradual relocation of some small and medium-sized and highly polluting projects from Jiangsu Province, which once brought problems of industrial chain vacancy and unbalanced development momentum to the province. With the clear positioning of the development direction of the chemical industry in Jiangsu Province and the overall idea of seeking differentiated development, the province has achieved curve overtaking and maintained an important position in the national chemical industry. With the support of several major projects, Jiangsu's chemical industry will continue to shine across the country in the future.