Fluorochemical Weekly Briefing: Under the influence of multiple bad news, prices fluctuated downward
1 Market situation
Refrigerant: low cost, weak demand and downward price fluctuation
This week, the negative factors in the refrigerant market dominated, and the price fluctuated downward. Weekly market characteristics: the seller's market of fluorite powder in the raw material market is relatively strong, and the price is temporarily stable; The prices of hydrofluoric acid, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene and sulfuric acid have been reduced by different degrees due to the weak demand in the downstream, and the prices of upstream raw materials and products have fallen more or less, leading to the weakening of the cost support of mainstream refrigerants. From the perspective of demand market, export orders have almost stagnated due to factors such as export code adjustment and demand reduction; The domestic air conditioning market is in the off-season of production and sales, and is close to the Spring Festival holiday. Downstream purchases are reduced, and the market transactions are light. In terms of supply, the enthusiasm of refrigerant plants for production is generally not high. With the inventory rising to a high level, the phenomenon of production reduction and shutdown is widespread. Overall, the current refrigerant market is weak in supply and demand, and the wait-and-see atmosphere is strong. It will take some time for the prices of various products to return to a rational level.
Fluoropolymer: The market is under pressure in the off-season under the influence of multiple negative effects
This week, the fluoropolymer market continued the off-season market at the end of the year. The weak demand led to poor factory shipments. The market characteristics of reduced production and price guarantee were obvious. With the continuous decline of monomer VDF prices, the VDF series products fell significantly in the same direction. Although the TFE series also fell in the near future, the decline was relatively small. From the perspective of products, fluororubber and PVDF decreased significantly, while other products also had shipping pressure, while the price declined relatively narrow. Near the end of the year, fluoropolymer plants have more load reduction and less complete shutdown for maintenance. There are also factories that have annual major overhaul during the Spring Festival. Short-term market is dominated by negative, light and stable, and the basic is concentrated. Common products are mainly pressured and stable.
Fluorine-containing lithium salt: both demand and cost are weak, and market price is fluctuating
This week, the domestic lithium carbonate market continued to sell at low prices, and the price weakened sharply. Downstream electrolyte market shipments were reduced, production scheduling was reduced, cost support was insufficient, and demand was weak, and the lithium fluoride salt market was in weak operation. It is estimated that the tight supply of raw materials will continue, but most of the operators are short of the future market, and there are few transactions on the market, and the short-term price may still have room to reduce. Under the pressure of demand, the starting load of the lithium hexafluorophosphate plant industry has been reduced, but the capacity has been released more recently, and the supply of goods on the site has continued to be loose. In 2023, the impact of the decline of subsidies on the market is still unclear, but the industry has a negative view on the future market, and the production scheduling is reduced. It is expected that the short-term lithium salt industry chain will continue to be weak, but the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate has been close to the cost line, and its downward action will depend more on the cost trend.
2 News of the week
Refrigerant: Zibo Feiyuan plans to produce 5000 tons of trifluoroethanol and 1534 tons of R134a technical transformation project
Fluoropolymer: Kechuang Chemical is planning to produce 1000 tons of FEVE annually; Kangyuan Chemical is planning to produce 1000 tons of PFH and 1000 tons of hexafluoropropylene oligomer annually.
Fluorine-containing lithium salt: the subsidiary of Dofluro received a capital increase of 415 million yuan, and the 10000 tons of LIFSI is expected to be launched in the second half of 2023; The proposed 14000 tons/year lithium hexafluorophosphate project for new fir wood; Tianjin Jinniu new lithium salt and electrolyte production project has entered the trial production stage after completion
cryogen
Zibo Feiyuan plans to produce 5000 tons of trifluoroethanol and 1534 tons of R134a technical transformation project.
Recently, the website of Zibo Ecological Environment Bureau published the approval opinions on the environmental impact report of the 5000t/a trifluoroethanol technical transformation project of Zibo Feiyuan Chemical Co., Ltd.
According to the public notice, Zibo Feiyuan Chemical Co., Ltd. plans to build a 5000t/a trifluoro-ethanol unit and a supporting trifluoro-chloroethane (R133a) unit in the Gaoqing Chemical Industrial Park of Zibo. The R133a unit uses TCE and AHF as raw materials to produce R133a by gas-phase fluorination, with a by-product of R134a. The trifluoroethanol unit uses R133a, acetic acid and potassium hydroxide as raw materials to produce trifluoroethanol, with a by-product of R134a. After the completion of the project, the annual output of trifluoroethanol will be 5000 tons, the by-product of tetrafluoroethane (R134a) will be 1534 tons, 30% hydrofluoric acid 1100 tons, and 31% hydrochloric acid 16712 tons.
It is understood that the approved capacity of the original R134a unit of Feiyuan Chemical is 30000 t/a, and the existing 5000 t/a R113a unit uses about 3163 t/a of R133a, resulting in a reduction of about 2723 t/a of R134a unit's production. At present, the actual capacity of R134a unit is about 27277 t/a. The current 4000t/a trifluoroacetic acid project utilizes about 4181.32t/a of R133a, resulting in a reduction of about 3585t/a of R134a unit. After the completion of the current 4000t/a trifluoroacetic acid project, the capacity of the existing R134a unit will be reduced to 23692t/a. After the completion of the project under construction and the current project, the annual capacity of R134a will reach 25226 tons.
Fluoropolymer
Kechuang Chemical is planning to produce 1000 tons of FEVE project
On November 15, 2022, the website of Quzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment announced the annual production of 1000 tons of fluorine-containing new materials project of Kechuang (Quzhou) Chemical Technology Development Co., Ltd.
According to the publicity, the total investment of the project is 56.2226 million yuan, which is located in the production plant of the company in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It uses chlorofluoroethylene, xylene, vinyl monomer and other raw materials to produce FEVE resin. After the completion of the project, a production capacity of 1000t/a of FEVE resin will be formed, including 600t/a of FEVE ether resin and 400t/a of FEVE ester resin.
Kangyuan Chemical is planning to produce 1000 tons of PFH and 1000 tons of hexafluoropropylene oligomer annually.
On November 25, 2022, the website of Quzhou Ecological Environment Bureau announced the project of Zhejiang Kangyuan Chemical Co., Ltd. with an annual output of 1000 tons of perfluorohexanone (FK5112), 400 tons of hexafluoropropylene dimer and 600 tons of hexafluoropropylene trimer.
According to the announcement, the project is planned to invest 18.02 million yuan and is located in Zhizao New Town, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is expected to be completed in June 2023. The project plans to dismantle the existing raw material tank farm in the plant area and build Class A workshop II on the original site. After completion, the annual production capacity of 1000 tons of perfluorohexanone (FK5112), 400 tons of hexafluoropropylene dimer and 600 tons of hexafluoropropylene trimer will be formed, and the simultaneous production capacity of 500 t/a of sodium chloride will be formed.
Lithium fluoride salt
Dofluro subsidiary received 415 million capital increase, and 10000 tons of LIFSI is expected to be launched in the second half of 2023
In the evening of December 27, 2022, Dofluoro (002407) announced that Guangxi Ningfu New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., the holding subsidiary of the company, had increased its registered capital by 415 million yuan and changed its registered capital from 600 million yuan to 1015 million yuan.
In addition, in terms of new material business, the production capacity of 10 thousand tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate (LFP) added in October 2022 has reached the production capacity, and the annual shipment is planned to be about 30-32 thousand tons. At present, LIFSI has a production capacity of 1600 tons/year, with stable monthly shipments. The company has planned to build a 10000t/a production line, which will adopt more advanced technology and equipment to ensure the strong competitiveness of product cost and performance, and will have some capacity in the second half of 2023.
Shanshan Co., Ltd. plans to produce 14000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate annually
On November 16, 2022, the website of Quzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecological Environment announced the new 14000 tons/year lithium battery material project of Shanshan New Materials (Quzhou) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shanshan Stock Holdings.
According to the public announcement, the project is planned to invest 634.4568 million yuan to build facilities such as the power center II in the eastern district, the transformation and distribution power station in the eastern district, the lithium hexafluorophosphate workshop IV, the lithium hexafluorophosphate workshop V, the HF/HCL tank farm and the centralized tail gas treatment unit in the Zhizao New Town, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, to form an annual production capacity of 14000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate workshop and a by-product of 58880 tons of mixed acid.
After the completion of the project, the plant will have an annual production capacity of 20000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate, 50000 tons of lithium battery electrolyte, and 58900 tons of mixed acid (30% HCl, 7.5% HF).
Tianjin Jinniu new lithium salt and electrolyte production project has entered the trial production stage after completion.
Recently, the new lithium salt and electrolyte production project of Tianjin Jinniu New Material Co., Ltd., located in Nangang Industrial Zone, Tianjin Economic Development Zone, was officially completed and entered the trial production stage. The project covers an area of about 78300 square meters, with a total investment of 270 million yuan. It is estimated that after the project is officially put into operation, it can produce 1200 tons of lithium salt and 15000 tons of electrolyte annually.
According to public information, Tianjin Jinniu New Material Co., Ltd. was registered in Tianjin Economic Development Zone in 2019 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tianjin Jinniu Power Material Co., Ltd. Taurus is one of the first high-tech enterprises engaged in the development and industrialization of lithium hexafluorophosphate and electrolyte in China. Its main products include electrolyte and lithium salt (lithium hexafluorophosphate, lithium tetrafluoroborate, lithium difluorophosphate).
