Wanhua Chemical, the "first brother" of the domestic chemical industry, further deepened its cooperation with Middle Eastern countries. While cooperating with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to launch a 1.6 million ton chemical project, Wanhua Chemical once again joined hands with ADNOC L&S, the largest shipowner in the Middle East, to sign a large order of 13 liquefied gas carriers of 14 billion yuan in Jiangnan Shipbuilding.
4艘VLAC+9艘VLEC，江南造船与AW Shipping签约
On the morning of July 23, Jiangnan Shipbuilding and CSSC, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Group, jointly held a signing ceremony for the construction contract of 2+2 93,000 cubic meters of ultra-large liquid ammonia carriers (VLAC) and nine 99,000 cubic meters of ultra-large ethane carriers (VLEC) project with AW Shipping.
H. A.E., Member of the Federal Cabinet of the U.A.E., Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and CEO of ADNOC. E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Deputy Secretary of Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee and Mayor Wu Xiande, Chairman of Wanhua Chemical Liao Zengtai, Chairman of Jiangnan Shipbuilding Lin Ou, General Manager of CSSC Trading Hu Kai and other guests attended and witnessed the signing ceremony. Capt. Abdulkareem Al Masabi, Kou Guangwu, President of Wanhua Chemical, Lin Qingshan, Deputy General Manager of Jiangnan Shipbuilding, and Wu Aijun, Deputy General Manager of CSSC Trading, signed the documents on behalf of all parties.
AW Shipping is a joint venture between ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Wanhua Chemical, established in 2020 to develop ADNOC L&S's global business, meet the growing demand for new energy from China's decarbonization industry, and strengthen industrial ties between the U.A.E. and China.
According to the announcement issued by ADNOC L&S on the same day, the total value of the 13 new ships is as high as 1.9 billion US dollars (about 13.822 billion yuan). Among them, the total price of nine VLECs is about US$1.4 billion, which is equivalent to the price of a single ship of US$156 million, and the new ships will be able to run on ethane or conventional fuels, and are scheduled to be delivered between 2025 and 2027. With a total price of about US$500 million, equivalent to US$125 million per ship, the four VLACs can be powered by LPG or conventional fuels and are scheduled to be delivered between 2026-2028.
ADNOC L&S pointed out that there are currently more than 25 VLECs in operation worldwide, and with the delivery of nine of Jiangnan Shipbuilding's latest vessels, AW Shipping will have the world's largest fleet of VLECs.
Capt. Abdulkareem Al Masabi said: "This new order from AW Shipping supports ADNOC L&S's ongoing fleet expansion and will enhance our ability to transport low-carbon energy and support the energy transition. Importantly, these vessels will generate a significant revenue stream for ADNOC L&S, demonstrating our commitment to adding value to the strategic investments we provide to our customers. ”
Kou Guangwu, President of Wanhua Chemical, said: "We are very pleased to sign new VLEC and VLAC orders with our strategic partner ADNOC L&S in China through AW Shipping, which is a firm recognition of China's high-end equipment manufacturing capabilities and a solid foundation for further deepening the strategic cooperation between Wanhua and ADNOC L&S. These green and low-carbon ships will support Wanhua in reducing transportation carbon emissions and accelerating decarbonization goals, which is a concrete commitment of Wanhua to better respond to the challenge of climate change. ”
Lin Ou, Chairman of Jiangnan Shipbuilding, said: "As a global leader in the design and construction of a full range of liquefied gas tankers, Jiangsu South Africa is always pleased to further strengthen the good cooperation with ADNOC L&S and Wanhua Chemical. These newly ordered VLACs and VLECs are future-oriented green ships designed by JNAM. We are committed to delivering these vessels on time and with high quality to better support ADNOC L&S in achieving its transformational growth strategy and decarbonization goals." ”
Jiangnan Shipbuilding said that the 93,000 cubic meter VLAC is a derivative of the fourth generation of VLGC boutique ship type independently developed and designed by the company (Panda 93A), which is currently the world's largest liquid ammonia carrier, which is not only the preferred ship type for long-distance transportation of green ammonia, but also can be fully loaded with propane, butane and other liquefied petroleum gases. The total length of this type is 230.0 meters, the width is 36.6 meters, and the depth is 22.5 meters. The new generation of low-resistance linear type, which is completely independent and independently developed, makes it have excellent and balanced performance under full load, ballast and different specific gravity liquid cargo loading conditions. The engine room of this type of ship is equipped with a mature LPG dual-fuel main engine and shaft generator to meet the current carbon emission requirements, and at the same time, it is also actively working closely with the main engine manufacturers and fuel supply system manufacturers around the treatment of nitrous oxide for the ammonia fuel main engine in research and development, so as to lay the foundation for the application of ammonia power main engine in the later stage.
The 99,000 cubic meter VLEC is the world's largest VLEC (PANDA 99E), which is independently developed and designed by Jiangnan Shipbuilding, especially its core cryogenic cargo enclosure system is the B-type cabin (BrillianceE®) independently innovated and developed. With a total length of 230 meters, a width of 36.6 meters and a depth of 22.5 meters, the ship is suitable for transporting a variety of liquefied gases such as ethane, ethylene and LPG. The ship has won the highest award in the shipbuilding industry, the Science and Technology Grand Prize. This type of ship has the characteristics of "leading design, advanced technology, green environmental protection, high efficiency and energy saving, comfortable environment and intelligent management".
Jiangnan Shipbuilding/CSSC Trading, ADNOC L&S and Wanhua Chemical have successful cooperation cases in projects such as ultra-large liquefied petroleum gas carriers (VLGC) and large LNG carriers. In the context of the strategic cooperation between China and Argentina, all parties have adhered to their new vision of green development and successfully worked together again to inject new impetus into the future low-carbon cause.
Hand in hand with the "local tyrants" in the Middle East, Wanhua Chemical will launch a 1.6 million ton project
In addition to the shipbuilding agreement with Jiangnan Shipbuilding, AW Shipping also signed a time charter agreement with Wanrong New Materials (Fujian) Co., Ltd., a joint venture subsidiary of Wanhua Chemical, for nine VLECs, each with a 20-year charter term. The total value of these nine VLEC time charters will reach US$4 billion (about 29.102 billion yuan). These VLECs will meet the capacity needs of Wanhua Chemical for ethane and ethylene procurement, including Wanrong New Materials' upcoming Fujian joint venture project.
It is understood that Wanrong New Materials was established in 2021 and is a joint venture company established by Wanhua Chemical and Yantai Zhongtao Investment Co., Ltd. in Fujian, focusing on the development of petrochemical and polyolefin businesses. Wanhua Chemical holds 80% of the equity of Wanrong New Materials, and Yantai Zhongtao Investment Co., Ltd. holds 20% of the shares of Wanrong New Materials. As of the middle of this year, Wanrong New Materials has total assets of 2.38 billion yuan and net assets of 1.393 billion yuan.
It is worth mentioning that on July 23, Wanhua Chemical announced that Wanrong New Materials signed a "Project Cooperation Agreement" with ADNOC, Borealis and Borouge in Beijing. According to the agreement, ADNOC, Borealis and Borouge will form an investment consortium to form a Sino-foreign joint venture with Wanrong New Materials, mainly using Borealis's advanced proprietary Borstar® technology, to jointly start the feasibility study of building a set of special polyolefin integrated facilities with a capacity of 1.6 million tons/year in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province.
ADNOC is a leading diversified energy and petrochemical group wholly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, according to the announcement. ADNOC's goal is to maximize the value of the emirate's vast hydrocarbon reserves through responsible and sustainable exploration and production to support economic growth and diversification in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.).
Borealis is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, with 75% owned by the Austria Oil & Gas Group and the remaining 25% owned by ADNOC. Borealis is one of the world's leading providers of advanced and sustainable polyolefin solutions. In Europe, Borealis is also an innovation leader in the field of polyolefin recycling and a major producer of basic chemicals.
Borouge is listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, with ADNOC owning 54% of Borouge and Borealis holding 36%. Borouge is a leading petrochemical company providing innovative and differentiated polyolefin solutions for the infrastructure, energy, transportation, healthcare, agriculture and advanced packaging industries.
Wanhua Chemical said that Borealis's advanced and proprietary Borstar® technology, ethane-based pyrolysis process, and synergistic industrial chain utilization will become the core of the project. The investment consortium, including Borouge's extensive experience in the production of specialty polyolefins (multiple feedstock routes including ethane), and Wanhua's advantages in the ethane supply chain (including ethane feedstock costs, terminal resources, VLEC, production processes, etc.) form an excellent economic basis for the ethane feedstock-based joint venture.
Wanhua Chemical has already established a complete polyurethane industry chain in Fuzhou, and plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as a whole through the joint venture project of ethane cracking by-product hydrogen and the full use of carbon dioxide captured in the polyurethane industry chain, as well as the use of 100% zero-carbon electricity in the joint venture project. After the implementation of the special polyolefin project, Wanhua Chemical will give full play to the advantages of each shareholder and jointly study the development of high-end differentiated grades with high import dependence and difficult production.
It is understood that high-end polyolefins are mainly used in aerospace, automobile manufacturing, military equipment and plastics industries. The barriers to high-end polyolefin materials related technologies are high, and some core key technologies such as polymerization technology, catalyst technology and processing modification technology have been monopolized by foreign companies for a long time, which makes the development of high-end polyolefins in mainland China relatively slow and requires a large number of imports.
According to the data, in 2022, China's high-end polyolefin output will be about 4.8794 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 26.56%, while the demand will be about 12.496 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 16.24%.
Wanhua Chemical was founded in 1998 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2001, with the latest market value of more than 250 billion yuan, making it the chemical stock with the highest market value in the A-share market. As a globally operating new chemical materials company, Wanhua Chemical is mainly engaged in the R&D, production and sales of a full range of polyurethane products such as isocyanates and polyols, petrochemical products such as acrylic acid and esters, functional materials such as water-based coatings, and special chemicals.
Since 2019, Wanhua Chemical has been working with Abu Dhabi for a partnership with Abu Dhabi for July of that year, when ADNOC signed a framework agreement and joint venture agreement with Wanhua Chemical with a potential value of up to US$12 billion. In the third quarter of last year, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority became the eighth largest shareholder of Wanhua Chemical, and in the following two quarters, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority continued to increase its holdings of Wanhua Chemical, with the latest holdings of 22.0894 million shares, still ranking as the eighth largest shareholder, with a shareholding ratio of 0.7%, and a market value of 1.759 billion yuan based on the latest stock price.
Founded in 1976, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is a global investment institution that invests in stocks, bonds and real estate, with a mission to prudently invest U.A.E. state-owned assets, create long-term value, and maintain and maintain the current and future prosperity of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In 2022, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was selected as one of the top 10 sovereign wealth funds in the world, ranking third with $790 billion.