A critical phase for the upcoming operational launch of the Yingkou Jiansheng Shenghai Copper Industry Chain project commenced in mid-March, with the construction of the side-blown furnace, top-blown furnace, and anode furnace refractory lining getting underway. This "super factory" has assembled numerous high-tech and precision equipment. For instance, the sulfuric acid plant's converter, a plain-looking white circular tank, is the largest single-unit sulfuric acid facility in China. The ball mill's cylinder alone weighs 110 tons, capable of grinding minerals to a fineness of -325 mesh, comparable to the diameter of a human hair.
As a major provincial project, the Jiansheng Shenghai project spans a total area of 1.93 million square meters, equivalent to 270 standard soccer fields. The western section is a copper smelting project with a total investment of 10.15 billion yuan, while the eastern section is a phosphorus chemical project with an investment of 5.1 billion yuan. Over 300 workers are currently on-site, with equipment supplied by 42 manufacturers. Liu Yang, Deputy General Manager of Yingkou Jiansheng Shenghai Nonferrous Chemical Co., Ltd., provided these details.
Hu Guangwen, project manager from Anhui Tongling Sitong Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., pointed to the electrolytic tanks, noting their ability to produce high-purity cathode copper with a grade of 99.9935%, despite their unassuming appearance.
The copper smelting project has an annual output of 600,000 tons of cathode copper, alongside by-products including 2.36 million tons of sulfuric acid, 8 tons of gold ingots, and 1,120 tons of silver ingots. The phosphorus chemical project will utilize by-products from copper smelting, such as phosphoric acid and steam, to produce compound fertilizers and water-soluble fertilizers. This comprehensive copper industry chain, with a total investment of 15.25 billion yuan, is expected to achieve an annual output value of approximately 100 billion yuan and create jobs for over 3,000 people upon reaching full capacity.
Since construction began in September 2023, workers have been laboring day and night on the saline-alkali land, now approaching the final stage. Liu Yang stated that the first phase of the copper smelting and phosphorus chemical projects is scheduled for trial production in July. All construction teams are working against a tight schedule, mobilizing key personnel to accelerate progress and ensure timely project completion.
Following the full resumption of work this spring, construction teams quickly returned to the site, with various equipment models arriving successively. The restart rate for the five core areas of the copper smelting project—smelting, electrolysis, acid production, slag selection, and power—has reached 100%.
Parallel to the bustling construction site, efforts to create a closed-loop, full industry chain are underway. To support Jiansheng Shenghai in achieving production closure and ecological enhancement, Liu Dexin, Director of the Liaoning (Yingkou) Coastal Industrial Base Management Committee, led a delegation to Beijing and the Pearl River Delta in early March for investment promotion. They engaged in technical exchanges with institutions like the University of Science and Technology Beijing and the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, focusing on key technologies such as harmless treatment of phosphogypsum and the development of new copper-based materials. New avenues were also explored in areas like high-performance copper alloys, precision copper products, and copper materials for new energy applications.
While "going out" to attract opportunities, significant partners are also being "brought in." On March 11, representatives from the Jiangsu Provincial Iron and Steel Association, along with core members like Coastal Steel Group and Oriental Runcang Group, visited the Jiansheng Shenghai project site. They reached consensus on upstream and downstream industrial chain cooperation, particularly regarding energy-saving and carbon-reduction pathways for cathode copper smelting. Chen Hongbing, President of the Jiangsu Provincial Iron and Steel Association, emphasized that the cooperation goes beyond simple transactions, predicting synergistic effects greater than the sum of its parts through close collaboration in high-end copper strips and precision copper foil.
The combination of "bringing in" and "going out" expands the project's potential beyond its initial focus on metals and fertilizers, opening up broader possibilities.
Broader and higher-level efforts to build the complete industry chain are intensifying. Since its establishment, Yingkou city has not treated Jiansheng Shenghai as a standalone project but designated it as a "chain leader" enterprise for a 100-billion-yuan copper and deep-processing industrial cluster. The company continues to deepen its involvement in high-end copper-based new materials while integrating into the province's development of four trillion-yuan industrial bases and 22 competitive industrial clusters, aiming to connect points into chains and gather chains into clusters, thereby accelerating the formation of industrial clusters with Yingkou characteristics.
The project's location, the Liaoning (Yingkou) Coastal Industrial Base, has implemented a series of coordinated measures. Centered on leading enterprises like Jiansheng Shenghai and Xiangyu Aluminum, the Advanced Nonferrous Metal Materials Industrial Park has been recognized in the province's third batch of characteristic industrial parks due to its clear industrial positioning, significant cluster benefits, and strong innovation capacity. Additionally, leveraging its solid industrial foundation and forward-looking energy layout, the base has been selected as a provincial pilot for zero-carbon park construction, providing fertile ground for Jiansheng Shenghai to build a first-class, environmentally friendly, technologically advanced, and intelligent factory.
Liu Dexin noted that the rapid development of industries such as artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles, and high-speed optical modules presents unprecedented opportunities for copper-based new materials as critical foundational components. The next step involves using Jiansheng Shenghai as a anchor to focus on four key tasks: green transformation, intelligent upgrading, value chain extension, and market expansion. This holistic approach, likened to simultaneously cultivating, watering, and fertilizing, aims to nurture a copper-based materials industrial cluster, evolving from a single "sapling" into a thriving "forest."
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