Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

The world's largest expandable polystyrene (EPS) producer, Loyal Group, has just won a contract after bidding on a 160,000-sq-m industrial parcel in the Gaolan Port Economic Zone. 

The Taiwan-headquartered group plans to build a large-scale 600,000-ton EPS project in the Gaolan chemical industrial area with a total investment of 1 billion yuan ($145 million). Wikipedia states that polystyrene is used in protective packaging, containers, lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, and disposable cutlery.

Taiwan's Loyal Group [Photo courtesy loyalgroup.com]

According to an official of the Gaolan Port Economic Zone, the project will have an output value of 5 billion yuan ($726.4 million) upon operation. It will apply world-advanced general purpose polystyrene (GPPS), a clear polymer that exhibits high stiffness, good dimensional stability, low specific gravity, and excellent electrical properties. It also will use high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), a versatile, economical, and impact-resistant plastic that is relatively easy to machine and fabricate. The project is said to be of great significance in improving the area's high-end fine-chemical engineering industry chain. 

Loyal Group's EPS capacity is 2 million tons annually with sales revenue exceeding 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion). 

In recent years, the Gaolan Port Economic Zone has been endeavoring to develop hi-tech new-material and fine-chemical industries with high value-added and low energy, risk, and emission. It is strict in implementing Zhuhai's project acceptance system and carries out "one-vote veto" in environmental protection and security to projects planning to settle in Gaolan. Hi-tech enterprises that can strengthen and complement the present industrial chain are prioritized in investment promotion to optimize industrial structure and enhance the technical innovation level, the official noted.