IOL Weekly Report: Refrigerant Production and Sales Boost, Fluoropolymer Weakness and Stability Maintenance

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One week market
Refrigerant: The price increase of raw materials is compounded by strong demand for domestic and foreign sales. Short term market production and sales are booming
This week, the prices of refrigerant raw materials have increased, and there is strong demand for domestic and international sales, resulting in a booming market production and sales. Market characteristics: Raw material prices remain stable and are expected to rise, with dichloromethane, liquid chlorine, and methanol experiencing a narrow upward trend due to good production and sales, and refrigerant costs being strongly supported. From the perspective of refrigerant production and sales scale, since the quota management of HFCs this year, the refrigerant production and sales scale has remained weak in January due to export license restrictions and February due to the impact of the Spring Festival holiday. From the cumulative data from January to February, the downstream automotive industry saw a year-on-year growth of over 8%, and the production of household air conditioners increased by 16.9%. Recently, due to the growth in downstream demand, the production and sales scale of refrigerants has shown a significant increase, and prices have continued to rise. The current mainstream refrigerant supply is tight, and factories and air conditioning plants have strengthened their voice in cooperation. The rise in domestic market prices is driving the foreign trade market. It is expected that under the multiple positive effects of cost, supply, and demand, prices will continue to consolidate at high levels in the future.

Fluorinated polymers: overcapacity leads to high supply and demand pressure, while mainstream products are weak and maintain stability
This week, the high supply and demand pressure in the fluoropolymer market has led to weak and stable mainstream products. Although the price increases of basic raw materials such as fluorite, chloroform, liquid chlorine, methanol, sulfuric acid, etc. have strengthened the support for monomer raw material products R22 and R142b from the cost side, the negative impact of overcapacity still needs time to be digested. In the short term, product prices will continue to stabilize at a low level. With the deepening of market competition, the industry pattern is also reshaping. The main market characteristics of current mainstream fluorinated polymers are full competition, loose supply, and bottoming out prices. The slight rebound in cost has little impact on the improvement of the supply-demand contradiction of fluorinated polymers, and product prices will also be accompanied by industry reshuffle and slow recovery in downstream application industries.
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Weekly News
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Solid state battery mass production is imminent, and lithium trifluoromethanesulfonymide (LiTFSI) is facing a replacement opportunity
On April 8th, the Zhiji L6 model, equipped with the industry's first quasi 900V high-voltage ultra fast charging solid-state battery, was officially launched. The market received enthusiastic feedback, and several listed companies saw their stock prices soar due to their involvement in solid-state battery business. Solid state batteries are considered one of the most promising next-generation power battery technologies due to their advantages such as high energy density, high safety, and long cycle life. However, the industrialization of all solid state batteries will take some time due to technological reasons, and semi-solid batteries will be an intermediate solution for the transition from liquid batteries to all solid state batteries. Among the three technological routes for semi-solid batteries, the most promising one is the oxide solid electrolyte route. From the list of raw and auxiliary materials for products already on the market, two key substances have been added: LiTFSI and LLZTO (lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide powder). The production of 1Gwh semi-solid batteries requires 214 tons of LiTFSI and 43 tons of LLZTO. In the field of fluorine materials, enterprises that can produce LiTFSI, such as Ruitai New Materials, Duofuduo, and Xinzhoubang, have been widely concerned. Overall, LiTFSI and LLZTO production enterprises are expected to fully benefit from this battery innovation.
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Announcement of Future Hydrogen Energy and Huaxia Shenzhou New Project of Dongyue Subsidiary
On April 10th, the Ecology and Environment Bureau of Zibo City accepted the environmental impact reports of Shandong Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy Materials Co., Ltd.'s PPVE and Fluorine Green Surfactant Technical Renovation Project, and Shandong Huaxia Shenzhou New Materials Co., Ltd.'s 40 tons/year Fluorine Efficient Flame retardants and 40 tons/year Fluorine Surfactant Project, and made them public. Among them, in the future, hydrogen energy is planned to be constructed with an annual production capacity of 200 tons of perfluorodioxometalate and 200 tons of perfluorodioxometalate; Huaxia Shenzhou plans to build an annual production capacity of 40 tons of potassium perfluorobutylsulfonate, 40 tons of perfluorohexanoic acid, and a by-product of 150 tons of fluorocarbon and 564 tons of hydrofluoric acid. The above projects are expected to be put into operation in June 2024.
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Environmental Impact Assessment Announcement of Ejina Banner Daily Selection 2000t Fluorite Mineral Processing Plant Project
On April 8th, the Ecological Environment Bureau of Alxa League announced the environmental impact assessment of the construction project of the Hongliugou Mine 2000t/d fluorite ore dressing plant of Ejina Banner Wuhua Mining Co., Ltd. Ejina Banner. The project is located in Hongliugou mining area, Yinwula Town, Hariburige, Ejina Banner. The project covers an area of 3.7928 hectares. After the completion of the beneficiation plant, 2000 tons of fluorite will be selected daily and 600000 tons of ore will be selected annually. The construction content includes: raw ore crushing and screening section, beneficiation workshop, office and living areas, and auxiliary production areas. The total investment of this project is 75.5 million yuan, of which 2.18 million yuan is for environmental protection, accounting for 2.9% of the total investment.
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Inner Mongolia Huixin Mining plans to develop a 100000 t/a fluorite mining project
On April 8th, the Ecological Environment Bureau of Alxa League accepted the environmental impact assessment document of Inner Mongolia Huixin Mining Co., Ltd. for the 100000 t/a underground mining and supporting facilities construction project of the fluorite mine in the Xiaohu Shandong mining area of Ejina Banner, and made the acceptance situation public. The total investment estimate for this project is 71.4664 million yuan, with a construction period of 12 months (May 2024~May 2025). The 60000 tons/year fluorite ore in the project's ore products will be transported to Saihantao, Inner Mongolia Huixin Mining Co., Ltd. for processing 60000 tons of fluorite in the coming year. The remaining fluorite ore will be transported to the Hongliugou Mine, Ejina Banner, Ejina Banner Wuhua Mining Co., Ltd. for processing at the 2000t/d fluorite ore processing plant.