Fluorochemical Weekly Report: Mismatch of Domestic and Foreign Sales Quota for HFC Products, Strong Expectations, Continued Price Rise

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One week market

Refrigerant: Mismatch of domestic and foreign sales quotas for HFC products. Strong expectations for continued price increase

This week, there has been a slight increase in the supply of refrigerants in the industry, but factories have maintained a mentality of being reluctant to sell and rising. The tight supply of goods has supported mainstream refrigerant prices to rise by varying degrees. Weekly market characteristics: weak supply and demand of upstream raw material products, weak and volatile prices, with more declines and less increases. After the end of the Spring Festival holiday, although refrigerant factories have gradually resumed operation, the industry's operating rate remains around 50%, and the overall supply is tight. From the perspective of domestic and foreign markets, there is a strong expectation of mismatched quotas for mainstream refrigerants, resulting in tight domestic supply and continuous price increases; But the phenomenon of loose foreign trade supply and slower price increases. Based on the supply and demand relationship and the prediction of practitioners, the decreasing order of scarcity of existing HFC products is as follows: HFC-143a>HFC-125>HFC-134a>HFC-32>HFC-152a>others. It is expected that the price of HFC refrigerants will remain strong and rise in 2024.

Fluoropolymers: The main demand in the post holiday market is procurement, and the trading volume is flat

This week, the market characteristics of fluorinated polymers after the holiday were obvious, with the domestic market slowly recovering and the export market continuing to be flat and stable. Overall, on-demand procurement was carried out, and mainstream product prices remained stagnant and stable. From the perspective of the industrial chain, the prices of upstream basic raw materials are limited by downstream weak production and sales, continuing to maintain a stable trend under pressure. The core monomer raw material products R22 and R142b on the cost side remain strong at low levels, providing stable support for the TFE and VDF series fluoropolymers. The weak prices of mainstream fluoropolymers are mainly due to rapid supply growth and insufficient short-term demand. In terms of shipping prices, different factories and products are involved, The significant difference in cost and quality leads to a significant price drop, and the short-term fluoropolymer market will continue to play upstream and downstream games, with stability and consolidation being the main focus.

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Weekly News

Fluorine raw materials&refrigerants

The proposed 20000 t/a fluorite ore technical transformation project in Mount Huangshan, Anhui

On February 21, the website of She County Ecological Environment Branch of Mount Huangshan City announced the 20000 t/a mining exploration integration and technical transformation project of She County Xiaochuan Lingshan Fluorite Mine.

The publicity shows that the project is located in Lingshan Village, Xiaochuan Township, She County, Mount Huangshan City, with a total investment of 15.1954 million yuan. After the completion of the technical renovation project, the construction production scale is 20000 tons/year, and the service life of the mine where the project is located is 5.58 years, including a infrastructure period of 0.5 years.

The Hunan 10000 ton PVDF and lithium battery material industry chain project has officially started construction

According to Hunan Daily, on February 19, 2024, the first batch of major projects in Yueyang City began construction at a concentrated ceremony.

On top of that, the Hunan Fuhydrogen Fluorine New Materials Project, which has settled in Linxiang, has a total investment of 5 billion yuan. It will use local fluorite and ethylene as raw materials, adopt world advanced polymerization processes, develop new energy and new material products, and is expected to fill the gap in high-end new energy materials in China.

According to public information, the project will be constructed in two phases:

The first phase mainly invests in the construction of facilities with an annual output of 20000 tons of difluorochloromethane (R22), 10000 tons of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), 10000 tons of tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, and supporting public and auxiliary projects.

The second phase will construct an annual production capacity of 10000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) unit, 10000 tons of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) unit, and 10000 tons of lithium difluorosulfonate (LiFSI) unit.

The first phase is expected to achieve an annual output value of 2 billion yuan and generate approximately 200 million yuan in tax revenue after reaching full production.

The project entity Hunan Fuhydrogen Hydrogen New Materials Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suzhou Fuhydrogen Hydrogen Technology Co., Ltd., which focuses on the research and production of proton exchange membrane related products.

Fujian Qingliu plans to build a photovoltaic grade hydrofluoric acid and sodium electrical material project

On February 5th, the Qingliu Ecological Environment Bureau announced the construction project of Fujian Zhongxin Fluorine Material Gaobao Technology Co., Ltd. with an annual production capacity of 30000 tons of electronic grade (photovoltaic grade) hydrofluoric acid and Zhongxin Gaobao new electrolyte materials.

According to the public announcement, Zhongxin Fluorine Materials plans to invest 502 million yuan to build an annual production of 30000 tons of electronic grade (photovoltaic grade) hydrofluoric acid in the fluorine new material industrial park in Qingliu County, Fujian Province; The project aims to produce 6000 tons of sodium fluoride and 10000 tons of sodium hexafluorophosphate annually. The project is planned to be implemented in two phases:

The first phase has a scale of 30000 tons of electronic grade (photovoltaic grade) hydrofluoric acid, 6000t/a sodium fluoride, and 5000t/a sodium hexafluorophosphate;

The second phase has a scale of 5000t/a sodium hexafluorophosphate.

Environmental Impact Assessment Publicity for Hua'an 10kt/a Low GWP Fluoroalkene Technical Renovation Project

According to the official website of Shandong Hua'an New Materials Co., Ltd., the company plans to complete a 10000 ton/year low GWP fluorinated olefin technology renovation project at No. 979 Hengtong Road (Xinhua Avenue) in Zhoucun District, Zibo City, within the west factory area of Shandong Hua'an New Materials Co., Ltd.

Main construction content: Renovation will be carried out on the existing 60000 ton/year pentafluoroethane (R125) co production of tetrafluoroethane (R134a) plant, which has been completed and put into operation. The renovation will partially utilize the original plant framework and equipment, add about 70 liquid phase reactors, tower equipment, coolers, buffer tanks, pumps, and replace about 30 gas-phase reactors, some tower equipment, storage tanks, electric heaters, and other equipment. After the renovation, the production line of pentafluoroethane (R125) remains unchanged, with a production capacity of 30000 tons/year and a by-product of 1500 tons/year of tetrafluoroethane; The production line of tetrafluoroethane has been changed to a production line of 2,3,3-tetrafluoropropylene, with a production capacity of 10000 tons/year; At the same time, the DCS control system, safety instrument system, distribution room, and control room will be renovated for the proposed project.

Product plan: The original pentafluoroethane production line remains unchanged, with a production capacity of 30000 tons/year remaining unchanged, and a by-product of 1500 tons/year of tetrafluoroethane; The production line of tetrafluoroethane has been changed to a production line of 2,3,3-tetrafluoropropylene, with a production capacity of 10000 tons/year; The total production capacity of the device is 41500 tons, a decrease of 18500 tons compared to the original device.