ZPC and Hengli PC will start up their new craker and petrochemical complex in 1Q19. Although several new refineries with massive paraxylene (PX) capacities are expected to start up in China over the next few years and potentially hurt China's PX import demand, there are also several new downstream purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants expected to start over the same period, which could support the import market, sources pointed out in 4Q18. Nonetheless, traders and PX producers worry about the impact these new production capacities may eventually have on China's PX imports. China imported more than 14 million mt of PX in 2017, and that is estimated to rise to more than 16 million mt in 2018. However, trying to estimate imports for 2019 is more difficult. Assuming Fuhaichuang, Zhejiang PC, Hengli, Sinopec Hainan - they all start up as they have announced, by 2019, I think China's imports will be reduced to 13 million mt next year. The 15 mta of new PX production capacity could potentially start up before 4Q19 in Asia and the bulk of that in China. However, other estimates are lower, and many sources are doubtful whether so much capacity can be brought on stream within the previously announced timelines as there can be delays affecting new plants. Meanwhile, two PTA plants are scheduled to start up in 2019, namely Hengli's 2.5 mta No. 4 plant at Dalian and Xinfengming's 2.2 mta plant. Both are expected to start towards the end of next year, and therefore, unlikely to have much impact on the market in that year. Two PTA plants, Ningxia Baota Chemical Fiber’s 1.2 mta line and Sichuan Chengda's 1.2 mta line, have completed construction, but are pending commission due to problems related to feedstock sourcing. Earlier this year, new PX plants have started up in Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, adding 2 mta of PX capacity to the market, while Indonesia's Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indorama, or TPPI, started up its aromatics plant in October. The plant can produce up to 550 kta of PX and 350 kta of benzene. China's Fuhaichuang may also restart its 1.6 mta of PX capacity at Xiamen within this year. Once restarted, the company is expected to channel all of the PX produced into its own captive PTA production, which has been running since the start of this year. Additional demand for PX is also expected to arrive from ex-China PTA units that have recently started up or have plans to start up next year.