◎ Yang Honghui
| Hejin City, Shanxi Province is located at the triangle zone where the Fenhe River and the Yellow River meet. It was called Longmen Jiangzhou in ancient times. It is the place where the legend of King Yu tamed the flood, and where “The Carp Leap Through the Dragon’s Gate”. On June 8, there was another happy event happening in Hejin City. That was Shanxi Anlun Chemical Co., Ltd. holding a grand ceremony for the commissioning of two 50,000 tons/year hard carbon black production lines. So far, the Company’s carbon black production capacity has reached 350 thousand tons/year, becoming the world’s largest carbon black production base. In the process of Anlun realizing its blueprint of “making a big splash, and flying high”, the commissioning of the new production lines has painted an indelible mark. |
Rely on the Industrial Chain to Establish Scale Advantage
According to Chen Wenxing, general manager of the Company, Anlun Chemical is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shanxi Sunlight Coking Group Co., Ltd., which mainly produces high-quality carbon black for rubber. Currently, there are nine advanced wet granulation production lines, with an annual production capacity of 350 thousand tons. Among them, there are seven hard carbon black production lines, with an annual production capacity of 300 thousand tons, and two soft carbon black production lines, with an annual production capacity of 50 thousand tons. The main products are hard carbon black N110, N115, N134, N220, N234, N326, N330, N339, N347, N351 and N375, soft carbon black N539, N550, N660, N762, N774, etc., and the Company also has independent research and development capabilities, so that products of special specifications can be customized for users.
In recent years, Anlun carbon black has developed rapidly and its production capacity has been continuously improved. In 2017, the Company’s carbon black production reached 248,400 tons, accounting for about 6% of the national output of carbon black, which ranked the fourth among the national carbon black production enterprises. Under the circumstance that the national environmental protection requirements are becoming stricter and the carbon black sales market is fiercely competitive, Anlun Chemical has not only achieved a gradual expansion of carbon black production, but also rapidly improved product quality. The reason why this achievement can be accomplished, Chen Wenxing believes, is that for one thing, the Company has attached great importance to and invested a lot in environmental protection in recent years; for another, strong group support and industrial chain advantages are also important factors promoting the rapid development of Anlun Chemical.
Established in 1988, Sunlight Group, the parent company of Anlun Chemical, is a large-scale coal coke gasification clean energy enterprise, integrating “coal production, raw coal washing, coke smelting, tar processing, carbon black production, fine chemicals, self-supplied power generation, railway transportation, gas external supply, logistics and trade, international trade” and others into a whole, with assets and operating income both reaching RMB 10 Billion Yuan. Sunshine Group is one of the three “10 Millionton Coking Circular Industrial Parks” that have been established in Shanxi Province. It is the main body of coke enterprise integration established by the provincial government.
At present, Sunshine Group has an annual production capacity of 5 million tons of coke, ranking the first in Shanxi Province. The annual quantity of raw coal washing is 8 million tons. The annual production capacity of chemical products such as tar, ammonium sulfate, crude benzene, refined anthracene, carbazole, refined fluorene and anthraquinone is 300,000 tons. The annual production capacity of carbon black is 350,000 tons. The annual tar processing capacity is 1.08 million tons, anthracene oil processing capacity is 100,000 tons, power generation is 6×12,000 kWh, and external supply of commodity gas is 800 million m³.
According to Chen Wenxing, relying on the Group’s tar and gas resources, Anlun Chemical has grown rapidly since 2010. The coal tar produced by the Group is all supplied to Allen. Coal tar and anthracene oil can meet 70% of the Company’s demand for feedstock oil. The gas produced by the Group can meet 100% of the Company’s demand for fuels. In addition, the Group’s railway shipping capacity can meet 15% of the Company’s carbon black product shipments. The advantage of the raw material industry chain enables Anlun carbon black to have strong market competitiveness.
“Eat up and Run out” to Achieve Circular Economy
Liu Zhaohui, deputy general manager of Anlun Chemical, told reporters that in addition to the raw material advantages of the industrial chain, another major advantage of Anlun Chemical was that the industrial chain realized a complete circular economy. At present, Anlun Chemical has its own tar processing capacity of 720,000 tons/year, with raw materials coming from the group company and partly from outsourcing. It has an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of carbon black oil, which can not only ensure the stable supply of carbon black raw materials, but also resist the risk of market fluctuation. It has unique advantages in terms of cost, quality and stable supply.
At the same time, in order to “eat up and run out of” raw materials, the Company also established Shanxi Haolunke Chemical Co., Ltd., which is a core enterprise newly formed under the guiding principle of Shanxi Sunlight Coking Group standing firmly on industrial extension and strengthening fine chemicals. Liu Zhaohui introduced that Haolunke Chemical Company fully utilized the platform of the group-oriented circular industrial park, focused on the extension of the industrial chain of coal tar processing, implemented the strategy of “technology-driven scale development”, created a competitive advantage centered on “cost and environmental protection”, and built a brand image with “technical innovation value” as the core appeal. At present, the Company has a coal tar processing capacity of 360 thousand tons/year, industrial naphthalene processing industry chain of 30 thousand tons/year, and anthracene oil processing capacity of 100 thousand tons/year. The main products are chemical products such as refined naphthalene, industrial naphthalene, dinaphthol, refined anthracene, carbazole, anthraquinone and modified asphalt, enabling these products that did not produce benefits before to access to the market, and become the Company’s new economic growth point.
“The exhaust gas produced by the Company’s carbon black production is all used for power generation. At present, Anlun has four sets of power generation units, with an installed capacity of 30 MWh. The power generation of 2017 was about 206 million kWh, which met the needs of the Company’s production and staff life.” Liu Zhaohui said that in the process line, all the fuel required for the carbon black reactor was from the gas produced by the Group company. Large amount of the heat generated during the reaction was fully used. Equipments such as high-temperature air preheater, feedstock oil heater and waste heat boiler were used, reducing the production consumption, and producing steam to meet production and life needs.
Future Goal: Becoming an Outstanding Supplier around the World
According to Chen Wenxing, in addition to the two 50,000 tons/year hard carbon black production lines that have just been put into production, the Company is currently constructing another two 50 thousand tons/year hard carbon black production lines, which are scheduled to be completed and put into production in March 2019. By that time, the Company will have 11 carbon black production lines with a production capacity of 450 thousand tons/year. In addition, two sets of power generation units with a total installed capacity of 30 MWh will be built to support the carbon black production lines. After the completion of the project, the total installed capacity of the power generation will reach 60 MWh, and the annual power generation will be nearly 500 million kWh, completely meeting the need of carbon black production.
Chen Wenxing emphasized that while continuing to grow bigger, Anlun Chemical was also committed to being stronger and more refined, refining corporate management, improving technology research and development capabilities, enhancing the brand awareness of “Anlun”, making Allen carbon black step onto a higher stage, and becoming an excellent partner of the global tire rubber enterprises. At present, the Company’s main customers are domestic large tire manufacturing companies and some internationally renowned tire manufacturing companies. At the same time, the products are also exported to Southeast Asia, and the export volume accounts for about 15% of sales.
Chen Wenxing expressed that he was full of confidence in the future development of Anlun Chemical. Sunlight Group will achieve 11 million tons of coke production in three years, and will further expand coke production capacity in the next few years. Taking advantage of this raw material industry chain, the Company will continuously strengthen technological progress and improve management system in the meantime. Anlun Chemical will become one of the best carbon black producers in the country, and will go global and become an excellent supplier for rubber tire users worldwide.
