CHINAPLAS 2024, the leading international plastics and rubber trade fair, was held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) from April 23 to 26. As Sinopec’s core exhibitor, Sinopec Chemical Commercial Holding Company Limited attended the exhibition under the theme of "Shaping All Things, Forging Boundless Futures". It set up six exhibition zones covering automotive materials, functional packaging, construction pipeline solutions, innovative material development, green sustainable development and Petrochem E-Trade, showcasing Sinopec’s latest synthetic resin and synthetic rubber materials to global industry peers.
Lightweight plastic substitution has become a mainstream trend in global automobile manufacturing. Modified automotive plastics feature low density and high structural strength, making them ideal materials for interior parts, exterior trims and load-bearing structural components. Leveraging its integrated R&D, production and sales advantages, Sinopec has developed 35 grades of 9 types of dedicated synthetic materials for automotive lightweighting, which have obtained qualification recognition from more than 100 domestic and foreign automakers and auto component suppliers.
For intuitive display, Sinopec placed a conceptual automobile prototype on-site, supported by digital interactive displays. The exhibition demonstrated over 80 material grades applied in more than 42 automotive components, including front-end frames, automotive fuel tanks, carbon fiber wheel hubs, interior door panels and tire inner liners, helping visitors directly perceive Sinopec’s technological edges in automotive polymer materials.
Three flagship automotive-grade polymer products were highlighted during the show. First, Zhenhai Refining & Chemical’s polypropylene grade E02ES boasts a wide foaming ratio and uniform cell structure, widely adopted for diaphragm production of power lithium batteries. Second, Yanshan Petrochemical’s high-melt high-impact polypropylene K7100 fits thin-walled lightweight complex parts such as automotive door inner panels and instrument panels. Third, Qilu Petrochemical’s hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) 3601 delivers outstanding heat resistance, oxidation resistance and chemical stability, serving as an essential raw material for automotive transmission belts and sealing rings.
As the world’s largest polyolefin supplier, Sinopec occupies a core upstream position in the global plastic packaging industrial chain. Shifting from single product sales to scenario-based solution marketing, Sinopec Chemical Commercial Holding cooperated with Sinopec research institutes and production subsidiaries to tailor cross-industry functional packaging solutions for downstream clients.
The functional packaging zone built an immersive supermarket scenario displaying BOPP and BOPE packaging films applied in drinking water, dairy products and snack packaging covering daily consumption scenarios. Visitors could scan QR codes to explore differentiated packaging performance parameters interactively. Two star packaging materials were released: Shanghai Petrochemical’s F800E polypropylene complies with both Chinese national food safety standards and U.S. FDA regulations, with low heat-sealing temperature, anti-blocking and anti-static properties for composite food packaging films. Yanshan Petrochemical’s terpolymer polypropylene F5605A is dedicated to POF heat-sealing layers, widely used in food and stationery high-end packaging.
Keeping track of pipeline industry upgrading trends, Sinopec integrated internal R&D and production resources to provide customized pipeline material services. It partnered with strategic client CCA Pipes to build an integrated whole-house pipeline scenario, exhibiting 21 grades of six categories of pipeline special materials to realize upstream and downstream collaborative system solutions for residential construction.
For silent water supply pipeline systems, CNOOC and Sinopec Petrochemical’s HDPE P5003DRC (23050) has passed national PE100 certification. It showed no brittle fracture after 10,000 hours of hydrostatic pressure testing, suitable for municipal water supply and agricultural irrigation projects. For gas transmission pipeline systems, Shanghai Petrochemical’s HDPE YGH041T is one of China’s earliest pipe-grade materials listed in the PE100+ Association recommended catalogue, featuring stable processing performance and excellent hydrostatic pressure resistance for smooth-surface gas pipeline production.
The innovative development zone gathered Sinopec’s latest breakthrough new material products. Hunan Petrochemical’s polycaprolactone (PCL-8080) has dual properties of full biodegradability and biocompatibility, plus shape memory function. It is widely used in medical radiotherapy positioning films, industrial 3D printing filaments and disposable degradable plastic films.
Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry (BRICI) developed in-situ autoclave expanded polypropylene (EPP). The material has smooth, soft surface with zero residual harmful foaming agents, meeting strict safety requirements for children’s toy manufacturing. In addition, Sinopec’s low-cis polybutadiene rubber features low gel content, light color and no low-temperature crystallization. It is the optimal toughening modifier for continuous bulk HIPS and ABS resins, with performance reaching global top-tier standards and achieving large-scale commercial application at clients including INEOS Styrolution and SPC.
Sinopec launched the joint environmental campaign "Every Bottle Counts" alongside CHINAPLAS organizer Adsale Exhibition Services and Leju Technology. Five waste plastic bottle recycling machines were installed at major exhibition entrances and core booth areas. Visitors could exchange recycled plastic bottles for gifts, practicing Sinopec’s brand philosophy of "Clean Energy, Beautiful Life". Meanwhile, Sinopec fully displayed the Sinopec+ plastic chemical recycling solution, demonstrating central state-owned enterprise social responsibility to curb white pollution via advanced chemical recycling technology.
Petrochem E-Trade is a core digital economic platform under Sinopec’s strategic layout of "One Foundation, Two Wings and Three New Growth Drivers". It ranks among the largest and most influential chemical B2B trading platforms in Asia. Centered on Sinopec self-produced chemical product sales, the platform provides one-stop services including online trading, logistics scheduling, industrial data analysis and digital marketing management for upstream and downstream enterprises.
By the end of 2023, the platform had over 20,000 registered corporate clients, with cumulative traded volume exceeding 70 million tons and total transaction value hitting RMB 500 billion.
During the exhibition, Sinopec hosted daily industrial knowledge seminars. Experts from BRICI, Tianjin Petrochemical and Maoming Petrochemical introduced newly developed specialty materials on-site. Authoritative industrial analysts from Dow Jones and Longzhong Information shared real-time global petrochemical supply-demand dynamics, building an open communication channel for cross-enterprise industrial resource docking.
