Sinopec builds up world's largest mask material production base.
Petrotahlil - Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China's largest oil refiner Sinopec, put into operation the 12th of its 12 meltblown non-woven fabric production lines Saturday to meet the brisk demand of face mask producers.
Sinopec has now completed the construction of all 16 of its production lines of such fabric. After those production lines become fully operational and combine with Sinopec's joint venture enterprises, which can produce 7 metric tons of meltblown non-woven fabric per day, the company's daily production capacity is expected to reach 37 metric tons and its annual production capacity will exceed 13,500 metric tons, which can be used in making 13.5 billion medical masks.
As the essential material to make masks, the non-woven fabric is the core raw material that serves as the filtering layer in the middle part of masks to absorb dust, bacteria and pollen.
Sinopec has spent 76 days to construct the world's largest meltblown non-woven fabric production base since it launched its construction plan on February 24, according to the company.
Sinopec is the upstream producer of the polypropylene raw materials in the industrial mask chain. Faced with a market shortage of masks, the company invested 300 million yuan (about 42 million U.S. dollars) to build the production facilities in its subsidiaries Sinopec Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Co., Ltd. in Beijing and Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fiber in eastern Jiangsu Province.
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