Fluorochemical Weekly Report: Refrigerant Supply Tightens, Looking Positive in the Future

one

One week market

Refrigerant: Mainstream Manufacturers Produce Abnormalities, Supply Tightens Support, Market Boosts

This week, the production and sales of refrigerants in the market remained stable, while mainstream product prices remained stable and consolidated. Weekly market characteristics: Upstream basic raw material products are affected by weak industry demand, overall production and sales are weak, and prices are mainly subject to narrow fluctuations. Among them, the price fluctuation of methanol and methane chloride is less than 5%, while the prices of other raw materials such as fluorite powder, hydrofluoric acid, and calcium carbide remain stable. The prices have basically bottomed out, and the cost support for refrigerant products is becoming stronger. From a product perspective, HCFC-22 quota consumption is faster than expected, leading to further tightening of supply and a bullish outlook on future prices; HFC-134a factory maintenance and load reduction production have increased, and the phenomenon of suspending orders is common. The short-term supply and demand relationship may reverse or drive prices to rise; The incremental demand for domestic and foreign sales of other refrigerant products is limited, and the contradiction between supply and demand is prominent. In the short term, prices will continue to fluctuate in a narrow range.

Fluoropolymers: Coexistence of Supply and Demand Game and Cost Game in Product Prices

This week, most products in the fluoropolymer market continued to exceed demand, with a few products experiencing a slight rebound in prices due to increased factory maintenance, rebound in raw material prices, and recovery in foreign trade export demand. However, the main reasons for the continued downward trend in the market are the decline in costs and increased supply and demand pressure. From the perspective of the industrial chain, the difference in downstream demand leads to a reduction in production and sales, and poor shipping forces costs to be further compressed. This reflects the collective pressure on upstream and downstream products of the product. Although the supply-demand contradiction between different products is clearly differentiated, the recovery of demand in the application industry is positively related to the recovery of the global economy. Therefore, in a weak market environment, most product prices may be expected to consolidate at a low level.

Fluorinated lithium salts: oversupply continues in the market, with lithium salt prices generally decreasing

This week, the supply of lithium carbonate on the market continued to grow, coupled with a decline in futures prices. As a result, the mentality of the industry was collectively weak, and prices were moving downwards. The overall market of the lithium salt industry chain also followed suit. Under the shipping tone, hexafluoride enterprises control the operating load and strictly control inventory. Downstream electrolyte and positive electrode material factories saw a slight increase in production in July. Driven by a bearish mentality, the market has limited orders for lithium salts and is mainly focused on consuming inventory. Industry Online predicts that the increase in lithium carbonate shipments will limit its cost support for lithium hexafluorophosphate. However, as the new round of procurement cycle approaches the beginning of the month, the price of fluorinated lithium salts may be relatively weak, but the range is limited.

two

Weekly Highlights

Fluorine raw materials and refrigerants

Jiangxi Huikai Chemical proposes a 50000 ton anhydrous hydrogen fluoride phase III project

On July 25th, the website of Huichang County People's Government announced the third phase project of Jiangxi Huikai Chemical Co., Ltd. with an annual production capacity of 50000 tons of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride.

According to the public announcement, the project is located in the Jiangxi Province Fluoride Salt New Material Industry Base in Junmenling Town, Huichang County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province. It uses the fluorination process of fluorite powder and concentrated sulfuric acid to produce anhydrous hydrogen fluoride. After completion, it can add 50000 tons/year of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride production capacity, and all products are used to support the electronic grade hydrogen fluoride project production capacity of our enterprise.

On April 25, 2021, the company's annual production of 50000 tons of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (Phase II of 30000 tons/year) project began trial production and completed safety acceptance on November 15 of the same year. The company currently has a total production capacity of 50000 tons/year of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride.

The 45000 ton refrigerant project in Quzhou has officially started construction and is expected to be put into operation in the second quarter of 2024

On the morning of June 30th, the commencement ceremony of Zhejiang Xueyuan New Materials Co., Ltd.'s annual production of 45000 tons of refrigerant project was officially held. The project is located in Zhizao New City, Quzhou, Zhejiang, covering an area of 50 acres. The planned investment for the project is 150 million yuan, with a construction period of 10 months. The annual design, production, and sales of various environmentally friendly refrigerants such as R143A, R134A, R32, R125, R404A, R507A, R407A, etc. are 45000 tons.

According to public information, the project relies on the strong financial strength of foreign investors, export channels, and the advantages of Juhua's complete refrigerant industry chain. After completion and production, the expected annual sales revenue exceeds 800 million yuan.

Fluoropolymer

Hubei Guanggang plans to build a 120 ton/year high-purity hexafluorobutadiene project

On July 24th, it was learned from the Ecological Environment Bureau of Qianjiang City that the environmental impact assessment of Hubei Guanggang Gas Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. Guanggang Gas Hubei Electronic New Materials Project was publicly announced.

Hubei Guanggang Gas Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. plans to invest 85 million yuan to build a 120 ton/year hexafluorobutadiene plant in the Qianjiang Optoelectronic Information Industrial Park, including 100 tons/year of high-purity hexafluorobutadiene (99.9%) and 20 tons/year of ultra-high purity hexafluorobutadiene (99.99%). The project is planned to commence construction in September 2023 and be completed and put into operation in January 2024.

Proposed 4000 ton fluorine containing intermediate fine chemicals project in Fumeng County, Liaoning Province

On July 28th, the website of the Fumeng County People's Government announced the annual production of 4000 tons of fluorinated intermediate fine chemicals by Fuxin Tianli Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.

According to the public announcement, the total investment of the project is 126 million yuan, covering an area of approximately 121 acres and a building area of 23316 square meters. The main construction includes six production workshops, three Class A warehouses, one Class B warehouse, a water treatment station, a tank farm, a comprehensive building, a power workshop, and related ancillary facilities; We mainly purchase 660 sets of production, auxiliary, testing and other equipment. After completion, it can achieve an annual production capacity of 4000 tons of fluorinated intermediate fine chemicals.

According to public information, the products of this project mainly include 2-fluoro-4-bromobenzoic acid, 2-fluoro-4-chlorobenzoic acid, fluorobenzene series products, etc.

Fluorinated lithium salt

Longpan Technology's lithium iron phosphate and ternary precursor project has been put into operation

On the morning of July 28th, the completion ceremony and new product launch ceremony for the first phase of the high nickel ternary precursor lithium battery material project of Jiangsu Sanjin Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd. were successfully held in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu.

According to public information, Jiangsu Sanjin Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd. is located in the Yangtze River International Chemical Industry Park and focuses on the research and development, production, and sales of high nickel ternary precursors. The company has now planned an annual production of 50000 tons of high nickel ternary precursor project, with a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan and a planned area of 186.3 acres. The project will be constructed in two phases, and the first phase of the project has been successfully completed and put into operation.

Longpan Technology stated that high nickel ternary materials have become the future development trend of ternary power batteries due to their advantages such as high energy density, lightweight, and low-temperature performance.

On July 26th, Shandong Lithium Source, invested and constructed by Longpan Technology, announced that the 62500 ton lithium iron phosphate and 100000 ton iron phosphate projects in Heze, Shandong were fully put into operation. At the same time, it also released a new product of "Regenerated No.1" lithium iron phosphate cathode material.

The second phase of the Honeycomb Energy Shangrao Base project has been put into operation, adding 20GWh of production capacity

On July 26th, 53 projects including the second phase of Honeycomb Energy in the Economic and Technological Development Zone of Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province were jointly launched and completed (put into operation) at the Honeycomb Energy Shangrao Base. Among them, the Honeycomb Energy Shangrao Phase II project was successfully put into operation.

The Shangrao Base of Honeycomb Energy is divided into two phases of construction. The first phase of the project has a construction capacity of 4GWh and has been fully mass-produced in December 2022; The second phase of the project covers an area of 566 acres, with a planned production capacity of 20GWh. Eight new 16PPM battery cell production lines will be built, using the flying stack technology independently developed by Honeycomb Energy. The main production will be multiple models of short knife series battery cells, mainly equipped with mainstream domestic independent brands such as Great Wall Motors and Geely Motors.

The 240000 ton Phase I project of Kunlun New Materials Yibin was put into operation

On July 25th, Kunlun New Materials successfully held the production ceremony of the Yibin Kunlun 240000 ton electrolyte project (Phase I) in Yibin, Lidu. At the ceremony, Guo Yingjun, Chairman of Kunlun New Materials, stated that the production of Yibin Kunlun New Energy will serve downstream lithium battery enterprises in the vicinity and radiate to customers in other regions of southwest China and central China, shorten the logistics distance for product delivery to customers, improve market response speed and service efficiency.

It is reported that the Kunlun Yibin production base has advantages such as high land use efficiency, low-carbon environmental protection, and efficient and intelligent production. The factory covers an area of only 172 acres, but the total construction capacity of the first and second phases of the project is as high as 240000 tons. The production line put into operation in Yibin Kunlun Phase I adopts a parallel production mode, which greatly shortens the mixing time of the main production process and improves production efficiency. At the same time, the production process is controlled by MES+DCS system to ensure the accuracy of feeding and the safety of the production process.

In the future, the production base will also fully utilize the local hydropower advantages in Yibin for production, actively utilize "green electricity" to reduce "carbon emissions" in the electrolyte production process, and move towards the "zero carbon factory" standard.

Haohua Zhonghua Blue Sky's Annual Production of 200000 tons of Electrolyte Project Commences

Recently, the Haohua Zhonghua Blue Sky Electrolyte Project, a subsidiary of China National Chemical Corporation, has officially started construction in the South Sichuan New Materials Chemical Park in Zigong, Sichuan.

It is reported that Haohua Zhonghua Lantian's annual production of 200000 tons of electrolyte project is located in Sichuan Zigong Chuannan New Materials Chemical Park, with a total investment of 1.1 billion yuan and an area of 300 acres. It is expected to be completed in May 2024. The project is constructed in accordance with the "14th Five Year Plan" of China Haohua Fluorine Chemical Industry, guided by the "Electrolyte+" strategy of Sinochem Blue Sky, relying on its own technology to continuously promote the cleanliness of production methods, improve the level of intrinsic safety, and create an advanced electrolyte manufacturing factory that integrates "green, zero emissions, refinement, and intelligence".