China planning dozens of plants that use coal instead of oil to make plastics

China is stepping up its efforts to use its vast coal reserves instead of oil to produce plastics and synthetic rubber.

Coal can be refined to make olefins – an essential raw material for tens of thousands of chemical products that include plastics, synthetic fibres and rubber.

While the mainstream practice is to produce olefins from oil, using coal can bring significant cost savings and might help to reduce the country’s reliance on imported fuel at a time when Donald Trump is seeking to expand US control over the world’s oil supplies.

In recent years, Beijing has approved a total of 36 projects – 20 of which are already operating – with a total annual capacity exceeding 24 million tonnes in coal-rich areas such as Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia, China Science Daily reported.

The process will remain profitable so long as the oil price stays above US$35 a barrel, according to calculations by industry blogger PTGChemical.

The blog said that producing materials from coal cost around 6,300 yuan (US$900) per tonne – about 1,500 yuan less than using oil.

South China Morning Post