On 30 July, on the coastal edge of the Yellow Sea at the Yangkougang Economic Development Zone in Rudong, Jiangsu, a stretch of open and barren beach land saw long-absent bustle as Jiangsu XINGI TECH New Material Co., Ltd.’s 20,000-ton-per-year ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber expansion project held its groundbreaking ceremony here.
Jiangsu XINGI TECH New Material Co., Ltd., currently the largest UHMWPE fiber producer in China, has ballistic product quality that has reached international levels, and news of the project’s groundbreaking quickly drew great attention from the new materials industry at home and abroad.
The site of the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion project of Jiangsu XINGI TECH New Material Co., Ltd.
It is understood that the product of this project, namely UHMWPE fiber, is one of the world’s three major high-tech fibers (carbon fiber, aramid fiber and UHMWPE fiber). Because of its extremely high molecular weight and strong main-chain bonding, it has the highest strength of all fibers today, equivalent to 14 times that of high-quality steel wire and 10 times that of ordinary chemical fiber. It also offers outstanding properties such as low density, high modulus, impact resistance and cut resistance, and is widely used in national defense and military supplies, aerospace composites, ballistic vests and ballistic helmets, oceangoing vessels, naval ship ropes and cables, deep-sea fishing trawls, deep-sea aquaculture cages, construction reinforcement, cut-resistant gloves, home textiles, fishing line, lightweight automotive bodies, sports equipment and many other fields.
According to Chairman Zhou Xinji of the company, the product of this project was put into production at Jiangsu Jiujiujiu Technology Co., Ltd. in 2014. After nearly eight years of development and innovation, the product line has grown from a single 400D specification to dozens of specifications and hundreds of varieties today, achieving differentiated production and sales. The company’s high-end products, such as ultra-high-strength polyethylene fiber, colored polyethylene fiber and highly cut-resistant polyethylene fiber, are currently in short supply. The ultra-high-strength series in particular is currently the only new material product that can meet China’s latest ballistic protection requirements, and market demand is extremely high. This project will not only effectively promote the development of the industry but also serve as an industry demonstration in import substitution.
Chairman Zhou Xinji briefs attending guests on the project
Jiangsu XINGI TECH New Material Co., Ltd., as a standing council member of the UHMWPE Materials Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance, has had its UHMWPE fiber products certified by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as a Manufacturing Single Champion product. The 2021 China Chemical Fiber Industry preliminary output ranking list released by the China Chemical Fibers Association (CCFA) also shows that the company ranked first in the 2021 China UHMWPE output preliminary ranking list, while its production scale and production capacity also rank first worldwide.
According to people familiar with the industry, there are dozens of UHMWPE fiber producers in China, including Shandong Aidi, Beijing Tongyizhong and Yizheng Chemical Fibre, most of which are small in scale. As of now, the largest UHMWPE fiber producer in China and worldwide is Jiangsu XINGI TECH New Material Co., Ltd.
It is understood that, after energy-saving upgrades and technical renovation of its existing production lines, the company’s actual production capacity can reach 15,000 tons per year, far exceeding other peer enterprises in scale. At present, 5,280 tons of capacity is under expansion and is expected to come on stream in the first quarter of next year. Together with the 20,000 tons of new capacity in this project, total capacity will then exceed 40,000 tons, once again far surpassing and leading UHMWPE fiber producers at home and abroad in both capacity and production level.
Leaders and experts at the project’s groundbreaking ceremony
The project is invested in and built by Jiangsu XINGI TECH New Material Co., Ltd., with an investment of RMB 2.39 billion. It covers a total land area of 450 mu (30 hectares), including the production area, the public utility support area, and administrative office and living service facilities. The project will build 23 new structures, including production plants, product warehouses and supporting production facilities, with buildings and structures occupying a footprint of about 200,000 square meters and a total floor area of 210,000 square meters.
It is reported that the project uses efficient and advanced screw extruders and solvent recovery units, with main transformers and chillers selected for Grade 1 energy efficiency. Energy consumption per unit of product is 1.66 tce/t, and overall energy efficiency reaches a leading domestic level. Once completed, the project will produce 20,000 tons of UHMWPE fiber per year, with expected annual sales of RMB 4 billion and taxes and profits of RMB 1.2 billion.
Reprinted from China Economic Weekly – Economy Net, People’s Daily