China's Sinopec-SK petchem JV resumes expansion after months-long halt -Xinhua.

Petrotahlil - Sinopec-SK Wuhan Petrochemical Corp resumed work on Monday at an expansion project of the firm's petrochemical facilities after a halt of more than two months due to the coronavirus outbreak, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The joint venture between China's Sinopec and South Korea's SK Innovation had since early this year halted construction at the expansion project based in the city of Wuhan, the initial epicenter of the novel conoravirus.

The expansion program started in late 2018 and is expected to be completed by early 2021, when the firm's ethylene capacity will be enlarged to 1.1 million tonnes per year from 800,000 tonnes, Xinhua said.

More than a fifth of the total 1,000 construction staff on the project have returned to work, after the firm carried out strict quarantines and virus checks, Xinhua reported.

The agency also reported that the existing petrochemical facilities have been operational all along during the virus outbreak and are now ramping up to full capacity from 80% previously.

The plant produced 14,700 tonnes of materials during the outbreak period, which can be used to make 147 million face masks, Xinhua reported.

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Reuters

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