China's Wankai to build new PET plant in Nigeria

Wankai New Material (Chongqing Wankai), in an official statement, announced its plan to construct a new PET plant in Nigeria with the project estimated to cost around CNY 329 million ($46 million). The company will partner with a veteran Singaporean trading house - XJP Company, which has more than a decade of trading experience in PP, PE, PVC, and PET in Nigeria and West Africa.

Chongqing Wankai holds a 65% stake in the project, with an investment of $29.25 million.

The new plant will be located in the Sagamu Area, Ogun State of Nigeria, with a production capacity of 300,000 tons/year of food-grade PET material, focusing on the domestic market of Nigeria.

“The reasons for choosing Nigeria as the new project venue are clear. Nigeria is the largest country in Africa in terms of population and GDP, boasting a stable political and business environment. Additionally, it is the largest single PET consumer market in Africa,” said, a representative from Wankai.

Currently, Wankai New Material is one of the largest PET producers in China with an annual production output of about 3 million tons/year. The company has been selling to Russia, Egypt, Nigeria, and other countries and regions. The construction of the projects mentioned above is conducive to further development of overseas markets, and at the same time, it alleviates the pressure on the domestic PET production capacity launch cycle.

As of the end of 2022, China maintained its leading global position in bottle-grade PET production, boasting a nominal annual capacity of 12.31 million tons, which constituted approximately 35% of the world’s total capacity. The top four enterprises—Yisheng Petrochemical, Wankai New Materials, Sanfangxiang, and China Resources Materials—collectively accounted for 80% of China’s domestic production capacity.