CNPC Hikes Production of Medical Protection Raw Materials

Having produced 90,000 tons of medical materials by Feb 18, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is operating at full steam to supply more to combat the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP).

Some CNPC's refinery enterprises in the Xinjiang Uygur, Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions as well as Liaoning and Gansu provinces are pulling out all stops to produce raw materials for scarce articles including masks and protection suits.

Polypropylene (PP) is a main material of surgical and N95 masks. To help increase mask availability, CNPC's subsidiaries plan to increase PP production.

CNPC in Dushanzi, Xinjiang, is now able to produce 684 tons of PP S2040 per day. A total of 14,700 tons was made by the company between Jan 25 and Feb 15. So far, 12,700 tons have been sent to mask producers and it is predicted that a total of 13,700 tons of S2040 will be produced in February.

CNPC in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia is focusing on production of the non-woven fabric HT40-S. The first 3,000 tons were made on Feb 7, three days ahead of schedule and were delivered to Shandong and Hebei provinces on Feb 10. 

The company has planned to produce 10,800 tons of HT40-S in February, including 7,800 tons already in the pipeline. 

CNPC in Lanzhou, Gansu Province started to produce S900, a kind of high melt fiber PP used in surgical masks and protection suits. By Feb 15, the company had produced 3,783 tons, 3,368 tons of which were sent to east and south China.

About 3,588 tons of NX40, also a kind of advanced PP material, were produced by CNPC's Ningxia branch. It is estimated that the company could generate 7,000 tons of such material in February, three times more than its normal output.

Another kind of PP for mask and protection suit production, Z30S, is a main product of Dalian West Pacific Petrochemical Company. The company made 10,000 tons from early January to Feb 16 and its output of Z30S has now reached 13.5 tons per hour.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)