In recent years, polypropylene raw materials have diversified development. We divide propylene sources of polypropylene enterprises into the following categories: oil, coal, purchased methanol, purchased propylene, PDH. At present, the raw materials of polypropylene are mainly oil and coal.

Oil PP has always occupied a major position in the Chinese market. As of November 2016, the production capacity of oil PP reached 11.57 million tons, accounting for 60%, mainly Sinopec and PetroChina enterprises. In recent years, there are few new oil-based PP plants, and the proportion of production capacity is being squeezed by coal chemical industry, PDH and other enterprises. In the next few years, the proportion will continue to decline.

Coal based PP is the fastest growing raw material source of polypropylene at present. In 2016, the capacity of coal based PP reached 4.16 million tons, accounting for 21%. In the next few years, coal will still account for the majority of the new capacity of polypropylene, so it is expected that its capacity share will still grow rapidly.

PDH (propane dehydrogenation to propylene) is a new source of propylene in China. After the successful start-up of Shaoxing Sanjin project in 2014, Donghua energy Yangzijiang Petrochemical Co., Ltd. was successfully put into production in 2015. At present, Hebei Haiwei PDH plant is in the stage of test run. In the future, Donghua energy Fuji petrochemical, Zhongjing petrochemical and other units will be put into production. Although the propylene source mode of PDH only accounts for 5% of the total production capacity of PP at present, the profit of this mode of PP production has been good, and it may be favored by investors in the future.

The proportion of purchased methanol and purchased propylene to produce PP is small. The price of propylene and methanol fluctuates frequently in recent years, and the price is on the high side, which leads to the decrease of profit level of these enterprises, and the growth is limited in the next few years.