(Yicai Global) March 13 -- Zhejiang Satellite PetroChemical Co. will set up a joint venture with a U.S. petrochemical company for the management and use of ethane export facilities to provide raw material for the company's petrochemical plants under construction in China.

Satellite Petrochemical USA Corp., U.S. subsidiary of Zhejiang Satellite PetroChemical, plans to set up a joint venture with Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals L.P., or SPMT, affiliate of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., in Texas, the U.S., said the Chinese petrochemical processing company in a statement yesterday.

The total investment for the proposed joint venture is USD630 million, in which SPMT will invest USD334 million, taking 53 percent stake, and Satellite Petrochemical USA will invest USD296 million, taking 47 percent stake, the statement revealed.

The joint venture aims to promote the export of extra ethane and to provide a stable supply of raw materials for the company's 320-million-tons light hydrocarbon comprehensive project in Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu province, it said.

Among light alkane products produced by shale gas separation in the U.S., methane, propane and butane all have a mature global market. Ethane products are abundant after meeting the U.S.'s needs for ethylene production from ethane cracking, and the companies are, therefore, seeking export markets, the statement added.