Core Viewpoint - The Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange has announced the launch of propylene futures and options contracts, along with detailed rules for trading, aiming to enhance traders' understanding of the propylene spot market and related futures regulations [1] Group 1: Definition of Propylene - Propylene (C3H6) is a crucial raw material in petrochemicals, characterized as a colorless gas with a hydrocarbon odor, a molecular weight of 42.08 g/mol, and a liquid density of 513.9 kg/m³ [1] - It is classified as a hazardous material, being flammable and explosive, with an explosion limit of 2% to 11% by volume [1] Group 2: Uses of Propylene - Propylene is primarily used to produce various important organic chemical raw materials, with polypropylene being the main product, along with others like epoxy propylene, butanol, octanol, acrylonitrile, acrylic acid, phenol, and acetone [2] - Polypropylene is one of the five general-purpose plastics, widely used in textiles, construction, home appliances, automotive, and packaging, with demand being relatively inelastic and closely tied to the pace of new capacity production [2] - Epoxy propylene has numerous downstream products, with polyether polyols being the largest, accounting for 75% of its applications, mainly in furniture, home appliances, and automotive sectors [2] - Acrylonitrile is primarily used to produce ABS resin, acrylic fiber, nitrile rubber, and polyacrylamide, with ABS resin being the largest downstream product, representing about 40% of acrylonitrile usage [2] Group 3: Production Processes of Propylene - The main production processes for propylene include steam cracking, catalytic cracking, coal/methanol to olefins, and propane dehydrogenation [3] - Steam cracking typically yields propylene at a rate of 14% to 18%, while catalytic cracking yields between 3% to 8% depending on the process and raw materials used [3] - Methanol to olefins (MTO) process generally achieves a propylene yield of 15% to 20%, with methanol to propylene (MTP) achieving around 30% [3] - Propane dehydrogenation (PDH) is a rapidly developing process with a propylene yield of 85% to 90%, making it the highest yield process currently in industrial application [3]