China plans to "steadily control" exports of some high carbon petrochemical products and will draw up a list of such goods, its industry ministry said, as the country strives to deal with climate change, reported Reuters.
China, the world's biggest GHG emitter, has cut export quotas of refined oil products such as gasoline and diesel to discourage plants from over-processing, as it has vowed to bring its carbon emissions to a peak by 2030.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology did not elaborate on the details of high carbon-intensive products export restrictions.
It said the country will strictly control new capacity in its oil refining industry and will accelerate the elimination of inefficient and outdated production capacity.
"We will promote refining and chemical projects to reduce the output of refined oil products and to increase chemical products, and to extend the petrochemical industry chain," the ministry said in a statement.
China has been striving to modernize its oil refining industry and to produce more high-end fine chemical products to meet demand from fast-growing industries such as consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals. Dozens of small, independent refineries in the eastern province of Shandong have been shut down to make way for a new petrochemical complex.
The ministry also urged refiners to adopt better technology to reduce emissions as China has vowed to continue improving air quality while meeting climate change pledges.
It aims to cut emissions of volatile organic compounds, a major pollutant from the oil refining sector, by 10% by 2025 from 2020 levels.
As MRC informed earlier, China's state refiners are honoring existing Russian oil contracts but avoiding new ones despite steep discounts, heeding Beijing's call for caution as western sanctions mount against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. State-run Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, CNOOC, PetroChina and Sinochem have stayed on the sidelines in trading fresh Russian cargoes for May loadings, according to sources. Chinese state-owned firms do not wish to be seen as openly supporting Moscow by buying extra volumes of oil, after Washington banned Russian oil last month and the European Union slapped sanctions on top Russian exporter Rosneft and Gazprom Neft.
We remind that amidst the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine in Eastern Europe, key industry players are releasing announcements regarding their stand on this topic. From taking firm actions such as retracting services to provide humanitarian resources, there is a lot happening around the globe. In this curated piece, get a clear understanding on plastic additives industry’s take and the measures they are adopting that will alter the market trends and developments moving forward.
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