High Oil Prices Deliver a Windfall for China’s Coal-to-Chemicals Industry

China’s biggest coal-to-chemicals producer reported record profits for the first half, raking in the equivalent of $1.4 billion as crude oil prices soared internationally, strengthening the business case for converting coal to chemicals. Bloomberg reported today that Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co., which accounts for about a third of China’s coal-to-chemicals output, had an especially strong second quarter when oil prices spiked amid the Strait of Hormuz oil flows disruption. The first-half figure was an almost twofold increase on…