(Yicai Global) July 2 -- Chinese materials firm Kingfa Sci. & Tech plans to invest CNY10.5 billion (USD1.5 billion) on a petrochemical plant capable of making modified polypropylene products that combine the advantages of rubbers and plastics in a bid to reduce domestic reliance on imported materials.

Its subsidiary Ningbo Kingfa New Material signed a framework agreement with the Administration Committee of Ningbo Economic and Technical Development Zone yesterday to build the facility in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, the Guangzhou-based parent said in a statement the same day.

The plant will produce 1.2 million tons of propylene, 1.2 million tons of polypropylene and 400,000 tons of modified polypropylene each year at full capacity, hopefully reducing China's need to import medium- and high-end polypropylene products, it added.

Construction will take place in two stages. The first, costing CNY6 billion, is expecting to complete by the end of 2023 and will include the modified polypropylene production facilities. The second is expected to enter operations around 2026.

Editor: James Boynton