Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner, will team up with oil giant BP to expand acetate production, with a new acetyl chemicals plant to be built in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

Company officials said on Wednesday that the plant would have an annual production capacity of 650,000 tons of acetate, enabling BP's Chongqing facility to produce 1 million tons of acetate annually. That would make it one of the largest acetate producers in the world.

The Chongqing facility is run by the Yangtze Acetyl Chemicals Co., Ltd. in Chongqing, which is a joint venture of Sinopec's Sichuan vinylon plant, BP Chemicals' investment company and the city's energy investment company.

The project will cost 3.5 billion yuan (479.5 million US dollars) and generate estimated annual sales of 4 billion yuan.

Sinopec said that BP would provide state-of-the-art technology while Sinopec would supply natural gas, the raw material for acetate, which is used in synthetic fibers, coatings, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, food additives and dyes.

Listed in Hong Kong, New York, London and Shanghai, Sinopec is the largest oil refiner and one of the largest oil producers in China.

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2008)