Jinneng Chemical is a leading chemical company in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao, Shandong province. [photo/Xihaian News]

Jinneng Chemical, a leading chemical company in the West Coast New Area (WCNA) of Qingdao, a coastal city in Shandong province, has played a key role in expanding and strengthening the area's high-end chemical and new materials industrial chain.

As one of five traditional advantageous industries in the new area, the high-end chemical and new material industry accounted for 33.80 percent of the total industrial output value of the entire area from January to August.

Jinneng Chemical, which set up operations in the Dongjiakou Chemical Industry Park in 2018, has now established a propylene industrial chain in the area.

Zhang Zaibin, director of the Engineering Department of Jinneng Chemical, said the company is finishing its second-phase project of a high-performance polypropylene plant.

Propylene is an important petrochemical raw material and one of the most important raw materials for the extension of the chemical industrial chain. For the local chemical industry, the supply and voice of upstream propylene raw materials directly affect the extension and growth space of related downstream industrial chains.

Zhang said that the plant's level of automation and intelligence is set to lead the industry. In the polypropylene intelligent warehouse, out-of-warehouse packaging, palletizing, and loading will be all carried out by intelligent robots. The propane dehydrogenation device, with an annual output of 900,000 metric tons of propylene, requires less than 20 workers to operate.

Jinneng has also planned to expand downstream along the propylene industrial chain planned with a third-phase project as part of a green low-carbon high-end chemical industrial chain, which is set to place Qingdao as a world-class high-end chemical industry base.