SINOPEC Chongqing SVW Chemical Co. Ltd. opened a specialty polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) unit with capacity of 50,000 tons per year on Monday, taking the site’s total annual capacity to 210,000 tons and making it the world’s largest single-plant production base for high-end PVA, according to a statement by Sinopec on Monday.
PVA, known as the “universal additive” of fine chemicals, is an indispensable base material for emerging sectors including new energy, optoelectronic displays, high-end packaging and precision manufacturing. The opening of the new unit will strengthen raw material supply security in the country, the statement said.Chongqing SVW Chemical Co. has spent more than 40 years in the PVA sector, expanding from a single grade when it started up to more than 100 products through sustained research and development. More than 70 are now exported to more than 40 countries, and the company supplies more than 80 percent of China’s PVA exports to Europe’s high-end market.It is also the only Chinese PVA producer to have broken into the US market, said Sinopec.Ground was broken for the project on Dec. 18, 2024. Sinopec said at the time that it would raise SVW Chemical Co.’s PVA capacity from 160,000 tons a year to 210,000 tons, putting the company’s specialty PVA capability first in China and leading the global ranking.PVA is one of the few vinyl polymers that is both water-soluble and biodegradable, with performance sitting between plastics and rubber. It is widely used in pharmaceuticals, paper production, textiles, construction, food and polymerization aids.Specialty PVA is made by applying special processing to conventional grades, giving it properties that standard PVA cannot deliver or improving on them, according to Sinopec.The new unit is intended to consolidate and expand that traditional capacity advantage, build what Sinopec calls a “single-product champion” in specialty PVA, scale up the group’s fine chemicals and new materials business, fill gaps in the domestic high-end market and supply quality feedstock for other functional new materials, the company said.