Fluorochemical Weekly Briefing: Demand is slowly recovering, and products are up and down
market conditions
Refrigerant: domestic and foreign demand slowly recovers, and the market just needs orders
This week, the volume of refrigerant market was light, and the price was volatile and stable. Weekly market characteristics: the production and sales of fluorite powder and hydrofluoric acid in the raw material market are weak, and the price is temporarily stable; The supply of trichloroethylene was in short supply, and the price rose sharply; The supply of sulfuric acid market contracted, the demand increased to a certain extent, and the acid price increased in a narrow range; The supply of methane chloride is tight and the price is rising; The prices of other raw materials and products have been reduced by different degrees due to the weak demand from downstream; The price of upstream raw materials rose and fell slightly, and the fluctuation of refrigerant cost was limited. From the perspective of products, HCFC-22 refrigerant still has a large demand scale in the aftermarket, which is limited by ODS quota control, and the overall market supply is tight, resulting in the factory's reluctance to sell and a strong attitude of rising, and there is still a prospect of rising in the future. At present, the refrigerant market is in the off-season, and HFC refrigerant is characterized by overcapacity and weak downstream demand. With the end of the quota competition period, the refrigerant factory will restore the market balance as soon as possible by reducing the burden and producing on demand. In the short term, it is difficult for HFC refrigerant prices to jump significantly, but in the long term, the easing of supply and demand contradiction and the recovery of domestic and foreign demand will drive the industry boom and make refrigerant prices return to a rational level.
Fluoropolymer: the market recovery is expected to improve in the application industry
This week, the overall demand of fluoropolymer market was weak. Under the influence of oversupply and short supply, product prices fell more or less, maintaining stability and consolidation. The main characteristics of the current market are the reduction of production and price guarantee of the factory and the urgent recovery of downstream domestic and export demand. The scale of the new fire extinguishing agent perfluorohexanone (FK5112), fluorinated coolant, fluorinated medicine, fluorinated pesticides, new fluorinated materials and fluorinated fine chemicals is still the focus of the future industry layout. The short-term market VDF series, HFP and TFE series are all under pressure and consolidation. The monomer cost falls and the downstream demand is weak. The fluoropolymer market will also maintain stable operation.
Fluorine-containing lithium salt: the cost has plunged sharply, there are few deals in the market, and the industry has lost money.
This week, the price of lithium fluoride salt products was generally reduced, the cost of lithium hexafluorophosphate was inverted, the high price inventory was high, and there were few new orders in the market. For raw materials, domestic lithium carbonate prices plunged, and some small factories and traders panicked. The terminal products are in the off-season, and the downstream electrolyte and battery plants have low production scheduling, and they mainly consume their own raw material inventory, and there are few ordered lithium salt products. Lithium hexafluorophosphate production capacity is relatively abundant, production enterprises are slow to ship, and inventory pressure is high. In order to eliminate the cost inversion phenomenon, the price of lithium fluoride salt series products is under pressure. It is estimated that the raw material end supplies all the volume, but there are few transactions in the market. In the mood of selling, the price may still have room to fall, and the price may have a large room to rise in the whole quarter. In terms of fluorine-containing lithium salt, downstream demand continues to be weak, most enterprises ship at or below the cost line, and the industry begins to reshuffle. It is difficult to have a significant increase in the future price, so we can pay attention to the production and sales of new energy vehicles in February.
News of the week
cryogen
Xingfu Zhonglan R240 and other projects are expected to be put into trial production in July this year
Shandong new refrigerant material project with an annual output of 240000 tons started
Fluoropolymer
Zhongxin Fluorine DFBP Project will start trial production preparation in April
Shandong Feiyuan 200t/a hexafluorobutadiene gas project started
Ningxia Huameng New Materials 80000 tons of fluorine-containing fine chemicals construction project started
Lithium fluoride salt
Shenghua New Material: 300000 t/a electrolyte device enters the trial production stage
Hubei 100000 ton lithium ion battery electrolyte phase I project started
Ruitai New Material: At present, the company's existing and planned capacity of lithium ion battery electrolyte has exceeded 1.5 million tons
Yongtai Technology: The project with an annual output of 150000 tons of electrolyte is currently in the stage of capacity climbing
cryogen
Xingfu Zhonglan R240 and other projects are expected to be put into trial production in July this year
On January 25, according to the "Southeast Coast News Communication", the R236 project of Jiangxi Xingfu Zhonglan New Material Co., Ltd. was put into operation in July last year, with an output value of 100 million yuan in 2022. At present, the company has started the construction of the other two units in Phase I, and it is expected that all of them will be put into trial production in July this year.
It is understood that the investment of this phase I project is 1.5 billion yuan, and it is planned to build 1000 tons/year of hexafluoropropane (R236fa), 50000 tons/year of electronic grade hydrofluoric acid, 25000 tons/year of difluoroethane (R152), 25000 tons/year of trifluoroethane (R143a), 30000 tons/year of difluoromethane (R32), 2000 tons/year of pentachloropropane (R240), and 1 ton/year of PDD.
Shandong new refrigerant material project with an annual output of 240000 tons started
On February 21, the "Dazhong Daily" news reprinted on the website of the People's Government of Shandong Province showed that the new material project with an annual output of 240000 tons and a construction investment of 1.05 billion yuan by Shandong Junshu New Material was officially started. The project covers an area of 210 mu, with a building area of 126000 square meters. The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of this year, and will be started and put into operation in the same year. The annual sales revenue will be 3 billion yuan, and the profits and taxes will be 300 million yuan.
The project is characterized by high technology content, broad market prospects and "supply adjacent to the wall". The new environment-friendly refrigerant products produced by the project are leading in China, and have been identified as the fixed supplier of Haier, Gree, Aux and other large enterprises. In addition, the project is also a fine chemical industry chain extension and replenishment project, and the by-products can be transformed locally, and the upstream and downstream of each other with the surrounding enterprises.
In addition, according to the official website of Shandong Junshu New Material Technology Co., Ltd., the company is mainly engaged in isobutane (R600a), propane (R290), n-butane (R600), cyclopentane, n-pentane (R601), isopentane (R601a), isoprene, cyclopentadiene, isoprene and isoprene refrigerants. The company said that it is a new type of energy-saving and environment-friendly company that uses advanced process technology and has no waste water, waste gas and waste residue in the production process. Its products meet the relevant requirements of the Montreal Protocol on the Control of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer of the United Nations.
Fluoropolymer
Zhongxin Fluorine DFBP Project will start trial production preparation in April
On February 1, Zhongxin Fluorocarbon said on the investor interaction platform that the company's DFBP would start equipment installation in October 2022. However, due to the impact of the peak infection period of the COVID-19 at the end of the year, the staff infected with COVID-19 could not normally carry out the project construction as planned, resulting in a delay in the completion of equipment installation of the project. The project is expected to start trial production preparation in April 2023.
According to the data, in August 2021, Zhongxin Fluorine Materials raised 433 million yuan in the form of non-public offering for the 5000-ton DFBP project and the expansion project of Gaobao Technology Fluorine Fine Chemicals series. Specifically, the total investment of the expansion project of Fluorine Fine Chemicals series was 300 million yuan, including fluorobenzene, 4-fluorobenzoyl chloride, potassium fluoride, sodium fluoride, anhydrous hydrofluoric acid, further filling the gap in the company's industrial chain.
Shandong Feiyuan 200t/a hexafluorobutadiene gas project started
According to Zibo Daily, on February 14, at the construction site of a major project in Gaoqing County, the 200 tons/year hexafluorobutadiene project of Shandong Feiyuan Gas Co., Ltd. was under construction. According to the data, the project is located in Gaoqing Chemical Industrial Park, with a new independent plant area, a total investment of 500 million yuan, an annual output of 200 tons of hexafluorobutadiene, a land area of 38 mu, an annual output of 30 tons of hexafluorobutadiene, and a set of production equipment and supporting facilities.
The person in charge of the project said: "The hexafluorobutadiene we produce is mainly used in the advanced process technology of high-end chips (below 100nm) The processing and etching of 3D storage and logic chips is the only environmentally friendly etching gas that can meet the etching requirements among all etching gases at present. Compared with the traditional dry etching gas, it has significant competitive advantages in the production of electronic materials in terms of etching rate, etching uniformity, etching selection ratio, etc., and has a promising development prospect. “
Ningxia Huameng New Materials 80000 tons of fluorine-containing fine chemicals construction project started
On February 18, the commencement ceremony of the major projects of Qingtongxia City in the first quarter of 2023 and the 80000-ton fine chemicals project of Huameng New Materials Co., Ltd. was held in Qingtongxia Industrial Park.
Ningxia Huameng New Material Co., Ltd. has an annual output of 80000 tons of fluorine-containing fine chemicals construction project with a total investment of 800 million yuan, which is planned to be constructed in two phases, of which 490 million yuan is planned to be invested in the first phase. The products involve fluorine-containing polymer new materials, fluorine-containing fine chemicals, fluorine-containing surfactants and supporting basic raw materials, which are in line with the development orientation of the new materials industry in the park. Some products provide supporting basic raw materials for the new energy materials project of Tianlin New Materials Company, forming an upstream and downstream industrial chain.
Zhang Haipeng, deputy general manager of Ningxia Huameng New Material Co., Ltd., said: "The project is planned to be completed and put into operation in March 2024. After the project is put into operation, the annual sales revenue will be 2.5 billion yuan, the profits and taxes will be more than 400 million yuan, and about 500 jobs will be provided“
Lithium fluoride salt
Shenghua New Material: 300000 t/a electrolyte device enters the trial production stage
On the evening of February 15, Shenghua New Materials announced that the 300000 t/a electrolyte device invested and constructed by Shenghua New Energy Technology (Dongying) Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, had been installed and passed the completion acceptance, and entered the trial production stage.
In addition, Shenghua Xincai also said that the company has not conducted the production of electrolyte products at present. In the process of trial production of new equipment, the company needs to conduct necessary commissioning of equipment, process parameters and other elements. During the trial production, there is still uncertainty about whether the design capacity and quality can reach the design quality, and there is uncertainty about the time of reaching production.
Hubei 100000 ton lithium ion battery electrolyte phase I project started
On February 14, Hubei Huamao New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. held a groundbreaking ceremony for the first phase of the 50000 tons/year lithium-ion electrolyte project.
According to public information, Hubei Huamao plans to invest 510 million yuan in Laohekou City, Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, to build a production line of 100000 tons of lithium ion battery electrolyte project in two phases. The total investment of the first phase of the project started this time is 300 million yuan, and the investment in fixed assets investment is 150 million yuan. After the project is completed and put into operation, the annual sales revenue can reach more than 500 million yuan, and the annual tax payment is 20 million yuan. The planned investment for the second phase project is 210 million yuan, and the fixed assets investment is 150 million yuan.
Ruitai New Material: At present, the company's existing and planned capacity of lithium ion battery electrolyte has exceeded 1.5 million tons
Recently, Ruitai Xincai said on the investor interaction platform that the company's current and planned lithium ion battery electrolyte capacity has exceeded 1.5 million tons, and its production bases include Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, Quzhou, Zhejiang, Ningde, Fujian, Zigong, Sichuan and Poland. Among them, the newly-built Prussice project with an annual output of 40000 tons/year lithium ion power battery electrolyte in Huarong, Poland, has been completed and put into use; Poland Huarong lithium ion battery electrolyte project with an annual output of 260000 tons has not yet been formally constructed.
Ruitai Xincai also introduced that with the development of the industry and the iteration of technology, new technology paths such as hydrogen fuel cells, solid-state lithium-ion batteries and other new batteries may have an impact on the existing liquid lithium-ion batteries. However, the industrialization of any new technology needs to be constantly verified by the market. It is expected that battery products of various technical routes will coexist in the market for a long time. Most of the technical routes will still use the main products of the company such as electrolyte and additives. Lithium sulfur battery, sodium ion battery and semi-solid battery still have demand for electrolyte, and solid battery still has demand for additives/lithium salt.
Yongtai Technology: The project with an annual output of 150000 tons of electrolyte is currently in the stage of capacity climbing
On February 14, Yongtai Technology disclosed in the record of investor relations activities that the 150000 tons/year electrolyte project that the company entered into trial production at the end of 2022 is currently in the stage of capacity ramp up. The time of capacity ramp up is affected by the operation of the production line, downstream order demand and other factors, and the company will actively promote the release of new capacity.
In addition, data shows that in the lithium battery material sector, Yongtai Technology has put into production 8000 tons/year of lithium hexafluorophosphate and 900 tons/year of lithium difluorosulfonate; 5000 tons/year for VC products and 3000 tons/year for FEC products.
