IOL Fluorochemical Weekly Report: Refrigerant Demand Peaks in High Season, Sustaining High Market Prospects

Refrigerant: High demand during peak season supports sustained high market activity
This week, the refrigerant market maintained a tight balance, with prices remaining at high levels. Key market characteristics during the week:  **Supply Side:**  Major refrigerant manufacturers operated at full capacity, and industry inventory stood at historically low levels, leading to tight market supply.  **Cost Side:**  Driven by rising costs and improved trading activity, upstream raw material prices saw narrow but steady increases. Additionally, international conflicts continued to impact energy products, resulting in supply shortages and price hikes that still affected chemical raw materials.  **Demand Side:**  While current market demand was primarily driven by essential purchases, as temperatures rose significantly in May, after-sales demand improved. Moreover, the air conditioning, automotive, and refrigeration industries are set to enter peak production and sales seasons, fostering positive market sentiment.  **Overall Outlook:**  High costs combined with seasonal demand surges will support sustained high-visibility refrigerant market conditions.

Fluorine-containing polymers: Cost support coexists with supply-demand imbalance, prices remain stable with a wait-and-see attitude
This week, the fluoropolymer market experienced a coexistence of supply-demand imbalances and cost support, with product prices remaining stable and in a wait-and-see mode. On the cost side, upstream raw material prices stabilized after an initial rise, providing strong support for downstream product costs. On the supply side, driven by price increases, factory production loads rose, leading to higher market supply and intensified supply-demand imbalances. Factories showed strong resistance to price reductions, creating a stark contrast with downstream demand-side price-cutting demands. On the demand side, the fluoromaterial industry is undergoing significant structural differentiation: high-end segments benefit from robust demand in sectors like semiconductors and new energy, resulting in supply shortages; while the low-end market is trapped in a "zero-sum" price war. This structural supply imbalance is the primary reason why the industry's growth appears impressive but lacks quality. In recent years, domestic fluoromaterial companies have actively pursued upstream integration, achieving integrated layouts across the board, while focusing on the development of high-value-added products. Significant progress has been made in products such as semiconductor-grade PFA and lithium battery-grade PVDF. Additionally, the domestic substitution process in emerging fields like 5G communications, AI hardware, hydrogen energy, and medical devices is accelerating

Weekly news

01Jinshi Resources: Net profit growth of 26.74% year-on-year in 2025
On April 23rd, Jinshi Resources disclosed its 2025 annual report. The announcement states that in 2025, the company will achieve a total operating revenue of 3.888 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.25%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 326 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.74%. During the reporting period, the company's single fluorite mine produced a total of 416400 tons of fluorite concentrate products and sold 417000 tons of fluorite concentrate products throughout the year; Mongolia project: Mine stripping and raw ore reserves are progressing according to plan, with 75600 tons of pre processed mineral products with a grade of about 45% calcium fluoride produced. About 54200 tons are sent back to China for further processing, and about 11300 tons are sold externally; Baosteel Jinshi Mineral Processing Project: Produced a total of 801100 tons of fluorite powder and sold 822900 tons, of which 818100 tons were sold to Jin'ebo Fluorine Chemical (Jin'ebo Fluorine Chemical sold 192900 tons externally); Jin'ebo Fluorine Chemical: produces 224900 tons of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, 20300 tons of anhydrous aluminum fluoride, and 48000 tons of sulfuric acid.

02Juhua Corporation: Net profit of 1.173 billion yuan in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 45.93%
On April 28th, Juhua Corporation announced that the company achieved a revenue of 6.018 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 3.75%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 1.173 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 45.93%. During the reporting period, the average price of the company's main products, except for fluorinated fine chemicals, basic chemical products, and other products, decreased year-on-year. The average price of other products increased by varying degrees year-on-year, with the average price of refrigerant products continuing to recover. Benefiting from the increase in product prices and sales of fluorinated polymer materials and fluorinated fine chemicals, the company's operating revenue achieved a slight increase.

03Completion and acceptance of the technical renovation project for the Haisifu perfluoropolyether production line
On April 29th, the environmental protection acceptance information of the technical renovation project of the perfluoropolyether production line of Haisifu Chemical Co., Ltd. in Sanming City was announced. The project is located in the existing second factory area of Mingxi County Industrial Concentration Zone. The existing perfluoropolyether production line in workshop eight will be renovated to optimize the production process. The existing 1000t/a perfluoropolyether production capacity will be upgraded to 500t/a perfluoropolyether and 500t/a perfluoropolyether carboxylic acid, and other production lines will not be changed. The scope of this acceptance is the perfluoropolyether production line and its related auxiliary engineering and environmental protection engineering.

04New progress in Haisifu's annual production of 30000 tons of high-end fluorine fine chemicals project

On April 29th, according to the Fujian Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, the energy-saving report for the annual production of 30000 tons of high-end fluorine fine chemicals project of Sanming Haisifu Chemical Co., Ltd. has been reviewed and approved, and the project construction has obtained key energy-saving approvals, laying an important foundation for subsequent construction. The total investment of this project is 1.2 billion yuan, expanding 19 high-end fluorine fine chemical production lines, adding main production equipment and supporting public works such as reaction vessels, electrolytic gas production units, and refrigerators, to produce high-end fluorine fine chemicals such as hexafluoroepichlorohydrin, hexafluoroisopropanol, hexafluoroisopropylmethyl ether, perfluoroheptanone, perfluoropentanone, hydrofluoroether series, and perfluoropolyether coolant. The proposed production date for the project is October 2027.