Chinese Economics Thread

vincent

Grumpy Old Man
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I don’t understand why these people are chest thumping based on experimental technologies. Never seen an scalable green hydrogen based ammonia production. You need Copper, Nickel, Bauxite, Lithium to electrify everything. And where is the any evidence that those supply sources or routes are going to remain intact? On the contrary, I am seeing large number of countries selling themselves out ( their resources for security) to other than China. Very soon, these feedstocks which power the New Economy will be on the chopping block. Very soon.
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By the end of 2024, China had almost 100 green ammonia plants either planned or in construction. If all built, their total output would be 20 million tonnes annually – equivalent to 48% of current global production, and more than any other country. This is according to data provided by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a non-profit focused on clean energy.
 

vincent

Grumpy Old Man
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Yes, but Tphuang also said that there aren't many projects actually progressing at present.

This war and oil price will undoubtedly spur them on, but it will still take some time.
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远景正加快推进全球最大152万吨绿色氢氨项目建设,首期32万吨工程已投产并实现稳定出口。

One of the projects, 320,000 tons of green ammonia in production, planning to build a another one with 1,520,000 tons capacity.
 

AndrewS

Brigadier
Registered Member
Yes, but Tphuang also said that there aren't many projects actually progressing at present.

This war and oil price will undoubtedly spur them on, but it will still take some time.

Yep. Looks like 2 years for a new Green Ammonia plant to be built.
 

AndrewS

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One of the projects, 320,000 tons of green ammonia in production, planning to build a another one with 1,520,000 tons capacity.

The economics aren't quite there yet for Green Ammonia to compete with Chinese coal-based Ammonia although it will get there. Looks like $500 / tonne currently at Chifeng, but dropping to below $400 / tonne by 2028.


---

If we analyse the 320,000 tonne Envision Phase 1 project, it's going to consume ~3 Billion kWh
If the electricity cost is a very low 2.5c/kWh, that is $75Million

Then the plant costs $1.5 Billion. If we assume financing at 3% for 25 years, that is another $85 Million annually.

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So overall, green Ammonia comes to:

Overall Cost = $499 / tonne
-Capital costs = $265/ tonne
-Electricity costs = $234 / tonne

That is significantly more expensive than Ammonia based on Chinese coal ($300-$350).

But it is less expensive the recent price spikes to $500-$600 that we currently see in Europe, the Middle East and North America. But still more expensive than usual Ammonia prices elsewhere. Plus we have transport costs.
 

tphuang

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Yes, but Tphuang also said that there aren't many projects actually progressing at present.

This war and oil price will undoubtedly spur them on, but it will still take some time.
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One of the projects, 320,000 tons of green ammonia in production, planning to build a another one with 1,520,000 tons capacity.
keep in mind that all these projects are still in the trial phase. The eventual capacity will be huge, but it is impossible for even the current official capacity to be reached. You cannot possibly reach that point without a lot of trial and learning. This is a new industry and people involved are still learning and the electrolysis themselves still need time to mature. This was the lesson of the Kuqa project by Sinopec in its early days. We will get there but it will take time.

For the immediate time period, China is going to have to rely on more coal to liquid and higher input prices.
 

sunnymaxi

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In the first two months of 2026, a total of 8,631 new foreign-invested firms were established across China, up 14% YoY; actual use of FDI in the Chinese mainland totaled 161.45 billion yuan, down 5.7% YoY, but high-tech industries attracting 63.21 billion yuan in FDI, up 20.4% YoY and accounting for 39.2% of the total.

investment in China from Canada and Switzerland surged 210% and 41.3% year on year, respectively. Ministry of commerce announced on Monday.

Image
 

tphuang

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Wrought

Captain
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Paper on the ripple effects of subsidies on downstream supply chains.

Industrial policy has re-entered the global policy mainstream. As countries expand subsidies to secure supply chains and technological leadership, understanding how such policies operate through production networks is essential. Evidence from China suggests that industrial subsidies can propagate along domestic value chains, boosting export performance and supporting quality upgrading. Whether other economies can replicate these effects - and at what cost – remains an open question. What is clear is that industrial policy cannot be analysed on a firm-by-firm basis alone. In an interconnected economy, subsidies travel through supply chains.

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