In 2022,faced with a range of complex and challenging circumstances and market conditions both domestically and globally, resulting in the triple impact of shrinking demand, supply-side shock, and weaker growth forecasts, further exacerbated by a downturn in the chemical industry, Sinochem International 's board of directors and c-suite executives persist in implementing the major directives of the CPC Central Committee, building party leadership and improving quality and efficiency in operations. By harnessing its extensive operational and HSE experience, the company was able to respond swiftly to market volatility, ensuring business stability while stringently controlling operational risk, consolidating advantageous resources, building core industry chains, ensuring the successful startup of new projects, advancing strategic projects through integrated planning and execution, focusing on technological innovation, empowering mid and long-term development, overcoming adverse conditions, and ensuring consistent performance levels throughout the year.
1.Improving Quality and Efficiency to Stabilize Operations
In 2022, Sinochem International focused on " Improving Quality and Efficiency",implementing tasks across operations and production, responding swiftly to market volatility to ensure the stability of inventories while stringently controlling operational risk, consolidating advantageous resources to build core industry chains, and ensuring the successful startup of new projects.
Sales: After conducting an in-depth probe into market conditions, the company quickly changed tack and actively exploited the world market, thereby offsetting weaker domestic demand and maintaining operations at a steady pace despite turbulent market conditions. As a result of these actions, sales of the company's key products grew by 42%.
Production: In response to the impact of market conditions within China, the company has proactively optimized production processes and has continued to transform technologically, ensuring stability in production and operations, while maintaining growth in production output, and improving capacity load and energy / material consumption levels at key facilities.
Supply: In response to a significant slowdown in logistics nationwide in the first half of 2022, all production bases joined forces to tackle the problem head-on, ensuring constant supply, production, and project development, while minimizing the impact of external conditions.
2. Promoting Strategic Projects
In 2022, in response to adverse macroeconomic factors impacting project progress, Sinochem International doubled down on efforts to promote the implementation of strategic projects, revealing the company's core strategic industrial chain.
C3 Industrial Chain: Six main facilities of C3 Production Chain, including ECH, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, epoxy resin, bisphenol A, and phenol-acetone have been started up. Equipment for PDH and PO facilities were in the process of being installed, with build-out in the final stretch.
Polymer Additives Industrial Chain: The 25,000 tons/year antioxidant project in Thailand kicked into gear and has now been authenticated by a total of 30 domestic and overseas clients.
Aramid Industrial Chain: Sinochem International has achieved major breakthroughs in high-tensile strength and high-modulus Aramid, as well as product stability. The performance and excellent product rate of the products have reached industry-leading levels, and have obtained international leading customer certification in the fields of tire rubber, optical cable, etc, while the proportion of sales of high mold and high strength products gradually increasing.
Engineering Plastics Industrial Chain: PA 66 Project successfully broke through all technical barriers to start up production at an annual capacity of 40,000 tons. Through synchronously promoting the sales of Hexamethylene diamine (HMD)-nylon combination and customer certification, the production and sales increased rapidly.
ABS Industrial Chain: Phase I of the Yangzhou Modified ABS Project with an annual capacity of 24,000 tons kicked into gear.
During the reporting period, Sinochem International made big moves in the area of industry consolidation. In the announcement released on 17 November, regarding the sale of assets by wholly-owned subsidiary, Sinochem International announced the proposed transfer of 36% stake in rubber producer Halcyon Agri Corporation Limited to China Hainan Rubber Industry Group Co., Ltd. The final delivery of assets was completed on 3 February, 2023, realizing the company's further focus on the core business of new chemical materials.
3. Continuous Innovation to Improve the Output of R&D
Upholding the value of “In Science We Trust”, Sinochem International increased investment in science and technology in 2022, homing in on key technologies and strategic R&D projects, with an emphasis on commercialization of innovation, expediting the process whereby R&D produces actual results, while continuing to achieve new technological breakthroughs.
In 2022, the company invested 1.256 billion RMB in research and development and applied for 288 new patents. The company has also made considerable effort in commercialization, effectively increased new products sales by a huge margin: new product sales grew by about 41% compared to 2021.