Fluorine chemical weekly briefing: the market continues to be weak, and the price shocks downward

1. Market situation

Refrigerant: weak demand and loose cost lead to weak market operation

This week, the refrigerant market continued to fluctuate downward, and the prices of some raw materials continued to fall. Weekly market characteristics: at the cost end, the price of fluorite powder and hydrofluoric acid is high and firm due to tight supply and strong seller's market; In addition, the prices of other basic raw materials, such as methane chloride, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, sulfuric acid and liquid chlorine, have been reduced by varying degrees due to the weak downstream demand. By product, HCFC-22's annual quota has been exhausted and the ODS quota will be significantly reduced in 2023. The overall supply shortage has led to a strong seller's market and a firm short-term price; HFC refrigerant has weak domestic demand and reduced export demand, and the recent continuous decline in the price of raw materials has led to loose costs and weak overall production and sales. In general, the phenomenon of bidding for shipment in the refrigerant market is reduced, but in the situation of weak supply and demand, the refrigerant market will be dominated by narrow consolidation operation.

Fluoropolymers: VDF series costs fall and prices for various uses fluctuate in the same direction

This week, the fluoropolymer market experienced a collective shock and callback. Recently, the cost of VDF series products has become significantly loose. The callback speed of products for different purposes varies greatly according to the technical threshold; TFE cost support is strong, but the weakening of supply and demand leads to downward price shocks. Weekly market characteristics: As the supply and demand of the VDF series with a large increase in the early stage tends to be loose and the cost falls back, the price is expected to accelerate the callback, the price difference between domestic products and imported goods is still large, and foreign enterprises have a strong voice in high-end demand; Since most TFE series products are close to the cost line, the price fluctuation is not large; In view of the fact that the cost of organic fluorine monomer has a great impact on the corresponding fluoropolymer price, under the background of intensifying the price game of raw materials and products, the market has obvious advantages of a factory with a complete industrial chain.

Lithium fluoride salt: the rise and fall of raw materials are stopped, the supply and demand game is fierce, and the price of lithium fluoride salt is mainly short-term shock

This week, domestic lithium raw materials stopped rising and started falling, but the cost pressure was gradually transmitted downward, and the cost of lithium fluoride was still at a high level. However, with the gradual release of new production capacity, the market competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and the production enterprises are more willing to ship and the price fluctuates in a narrow range. During the week, domestic lithium raw material supply was tight, but the downstream receiving intention and capacity were limited, and lithium raw material stopped rising and began to fall. In terms of the lithium fluoride salt market, new players can enter the market one after another, and the competition in the market is becoming increasingly fierce. The manufacturers make profits to stabilize customers, and the prices rise passively under the pressure of costs. It is comprehensively predicted that the tight supply pattern of raw materials will continue, but the demand side will wait and see the price change, and there may be room for downward adjustment in the future. On the supply side, with the gradual release of new capacity, lithium hexafluorophosphate manufacturers are actively shipping, and the supply of goods on the market is loose. On the demand side, the electrolyte shipment increased steadily, but the growth rate was not as fast as that of the supply side. In addition, downstream enterprises were also increasingly resistant to lithium fluoride salt, and short-term orders were mainly needed. Upstream raw materials have stopped rising and started falling, but the cost is still at a high level. The resistance of the downstream of the industrial chain has been significantly strengthened. The supply and demand of lithium ore are still in tight balance, but the impact of the release of new lithium salt capacity on the market has been reflected.

2. News of the week

Refrigerant: R22 production quota of Dongyue Chemical was adjusted to Limin Chemical and Sanmei

Fluoropolymers: Jiangxi Liwen plans to build a high-end fluoropolymer and lithium battery project; Yanyi New Energy plans to expand the 50000 ton/year lithium battery adhesive (ZONE) project

Fluorine containing lithium salt: Shenzhen Xinxing lithium hexafluorophosphate phase III production line is expected to be put into production in November; Yongxing Material Lithium Battery Project was put into operation; Huasheng Lithium Power plans to invest 1.26 billion yuan in the construction of cathode material project

Refrigerant

Dongyue Chemical adjusted the production quota of 3300 tons of R22 to Limin Chemical and Sanmei

On November 2, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued a reply on approving three enterprises including Shandong Dongyue Chemical Co., Ltd. to adjust the production quota of HCFCs in 2022.

According to the letter, Shandong Dongyue Chemical Co., Ltd. adjusted 2500 tons of its own R22 production quota to Linhai Limin Chemical Co., Ltd. and 800 tons to Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Co., Ltd. After the adjustment, Dongyue Chemical, Limin Chemical and Sanmei have 62228 tons, 12658 tons and 12602 tons of R22 production shares respectively.

Fluoropolymers

Jiangxi Liwen Proposed High end Fluoropolymer and Lithium Battery Project

On November 17, the website of Ruichang Municipal People's Government published the EIA document of the new high-end fluoropolymer and lithium battery materials and supporting projects of Jiangxi Liwen Chemical Co., Ltd.

The EIA shows that the project is located in Jiangxi Ruichang Economic Development Zone, with a total investment of about 3270 million yuan, and will be constructed in three phases. Among them, the investment in the first phase of the project is 1434.4 million yuan, including 25000 tons/year of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, 5000 tons/year of electronic hydrofluoric acid, R152a136000 tons/year, R142b18150 tons/year, VDF11000 tons/year, and 10000 tons/year of PVDF; The investment in the second phase of the project is 847 million yuan, including R152a13600 t/a, R142b18150 t/a, VDF11000 t/a and PVDF 10000 t/a; The investment of the third phase project is 988.6 million yuan, and the construction of lithium hexafluorophosphate 2000 × 5 tons/year, 25000 tons/year of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, 5000 tons/year of electronic grade hydrofluoric acid.

After the completion of the project, the annual production capacity of 50000 tons of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, 10000 tons of electronic hydrofluoric acid, 27200 tons of R152a, 36300 tons of R142b, 2000 tons of VDF, 20000 tons of PVDF and 10000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate will be formed.

Yanyi New Energy plans to expand the 50000 ton/year lithium battery adhesive (ZONE) project

On November 16, Quzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment publicized the proposed approval opinions on the environmental impact report of the 50000 t/a lithium battery binder (ZONE) project of Zhejiang Yanyi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

The publicity shows that the project is located in Jiangdong Chemical Industry Park, Jiangshan Economic Development Zone. The total investment of the project is 140 million yuan. 21.22 mu of land is acquired in Jiangshan Economic Development Zone. Reaction kettles, condensers, transfer pumps and other equipment are purchased. A 50000 ton/year production line of binder (ZONE) for lithium batteries is built. After reaching the production capacity, the sales revenue will be about 1 million yuan.

According to the public information, in the last ten days of July before that, the positive electrode side adhesive ZONE12S and positive electrode adhesive ZONE80 in the new energy ZONE series products have been mass produced and delivered in batches, which are highly recognized by the downstream domestic and foreign leading lithium battery enterprises.

Lithium fluoride salt

Shenzhen Nova: Phase III production line of lithium hexafluorophosphate is expected to be put into production in November

On November 9, Shenzhen Nova said on the investor interaction platform that the third phase of the production line is expected to be put into production and sold in November 2022. Public information shows that the first phase of the project will be put into operation in November 2021, and the second phase will be put into operation in August 2022. At present, the production and sales are stable.

One year ago, on November 5, 2021, Shenzhen Xinxing announced that, due to the needs of strategic development, the company's wholly-owned subsidiary Songyan Metallurgical Materials (Quannan) Co., Ltd. planned to invest 700 million yuan to build a 15000 ton annual lithium hexafluorophosphate project in Songyan Industrial Park, Quannan County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, using existing plants. The construction period of the project is 1.5 years, and it is planned to be constructed in four phases. Among them, the annual capacity of the first phase is 800 tons, the second phase is 3000 tons, the third phase is 5000 tons, and the fourth phase is 6000 tons.

Yongxing Material Lithium Battery Project was put into production

On the evening of November 16, Yongxing Materials released an announcement that recently, the company's holding subsidiary, Huzhou Yongxing Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd., put into full operation the ultra wide temperature zone ultra long life lithium ion battery project, and will participate in the construction of the 50MW/100MWh independent energy storage power station project of Ningbo Langchen New Energy Co., Ltd.

According to the data, Yongxing Materials has built a new energy industry chain covering mining, beneficiation and lithium carbonate processing. It uses lithium porcelain stone from its own mines as the main raw material to produce battery grade lithium carbonate through the integrated process of mining, beneficiation and metallurgy. Yongxing Materials previously said that after the ultra wide temperature zone ultra long life lithium-ion battery project is completed and put into operation, the company's lithium battery new energy business will step into the core field of downstream lithium-ion battery manufacturing from the preparation of upstream raw materials, greatly extending the industrial chain of the new energy field, and achieving new leapfrog development.

Huasheng Lithium Power plans to invest 1.26 billion yuan in the construction of cathode material project

On November 15, Huasheng Lithium released an announcement on its planned foreign investment. The announcement shows that, in order to further improve the company's layout in the new energy industry chain and improve its core competitiveness, the company signed the Investment Framework Agreement with the Management Committee of Jiangyin High tech Zone. The company plans to establish a subsidiary Huasheng Lianying with its holding subsidiary Huaying New Energy, and invest in the "200000 ton/year low energy consumption and high performance lithium battery cathode material project" in Jiangyin High tech Zone with Huasheng Lianying as the main project body.

It is estimated that the total investment of the project is about 1.26 billion yuan, including 1.02 billion yuan of construction investment and 240 million yuan of working capital. The source of funds is the company's own or self raised funds. The company will invest in batches according to the project construction progress, and the construction period is 2 years.