Sinopec Group Fires on Full Power at COVID-19

Melt-blown fabric is a critical material for the masks which are greatly needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. To meet the increasing demands for the material, China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is in full swing in producing melt-blown fabric and contributing to the battle against the pandemic.

World's largest melt-blown fabric production base

When melt-blown fabric became critical as the pandemic raged, Sinopec Group allocated resources at home and abroad to build melt-blown production lines.

The first production line was completed within 12 days and began operation at Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical Company on March 6.

Later, on March 29, another melt-blown production line in Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fibre Co., Ltd. came online after only 35 days of construction.

With the exception of one imported wind turbine, all core equipment was urgently developed and manufactured by Chinese enterprises.

Subsidiaries of China National Machinery Industry Corporation Ltd (Sinomach) were responsible for design, assembly, installation and adjustment of the equipment.

With the cooperation of many sides, Sinopec Group opened 16 melt-blown production lines with annual productivity of 13,500 tons within 76 days, making the company the world's largest high-quality melt-blown fabric production base.

Output of the material is enough for production of 13.5 billion surgical masks annually.

Whole industrial chain of mask production

Producing whatever is needed has been Sinopec Group's approach throughout the pandemic.

To relieve shortages of masks, the company sought cooperation with enterprises along the industrial chain to break barriers between them and improve the speed of mask production.

The company also helped allocate stock masks, optimized resources and improved output.

As students started to return to campus, Sinopec Group improved production of masks specifically for young people.

The company has produced 12.32 million children's masks since its fully-automatic dedicated production line started operation.

At present, the company is contributing to anti-pandemic battles in other countries by providing medical supplies to governments, international organizations and overseas enterprises.

Stabilizing mask prices with enough supply

So far, Sinopec Group has supplied 1,877 tons of melt-blown fabric -- enough for production of 2 billion masks -- to 165 enterprises in 21 provincial regions at a price much lower than the market price.

In the meantime, four emergency reserve warehouses and distribution bases were built in Wuhan of Central China's Hubei province, which was the hardest-hit region during the pandemic, as well as Nanjing of East China's Jiangsu province, Shanghai and Beijing to guarantee anti-pandemic needs after resumption of work and to support pandemic prevention and control in poverty-stricken areas.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)