IOL Weekly Report: Downstream Production and Sales Boost, Supporting Refrigerant Stability and Exploring Growth

one
One week market
Refrigerant: The air conditioning industry is in a peak season of production and sales, supporting refrigerant prices to maintain stability and explore price increases
This week, the air conditioning and refrigeration industry continued to maintain a high momentum, supporting the strong operation of the refrigerant market. Hot selling refrigerant products continued to experience tight supply and rising prices. Market characteristics of the week: Raw materials fluctuate, but have already risen to high levels in the early stage, and the cost support for refrigerant products is stable. From a product perspective, currently HFC-32 is affected by strong demand in the downstream household air conditioning industry, resulting in increased procurement leading to tight supply in the industry. In addition, the recent abnormal production in mainstream factories has exacerbated the tight supply situation in the industry, with a price but no market. In addition, due to the increasing demand for after-sales service and limited quotas for the year, the factory has a strong mentality of being reluctant to sell and showing a strong upward trend, and the price continues to rise at a high level. The supply and demand market for other refrigerant products is relatively stable, and prices remain high. Overall, due to the different production and sales situations of downstream application industries, there are obvious differences in the characteristics of various refrigerant products. In the peak season market, multiple factors such as tight supply, strong costs, and strong demand will support the stable and rising operation of the future market.
Fluoropolymers: Downstream application industries require on-demand procurement, maintaining short-term market weakness
This week, the downstream demand for fluorinated polymers in the market has been overall weak, with on-demand procurement being the main focus. Mainstream factories have controlled inventory pressure, and the operating load of equipment has decreased compared to the previous week. During the week, the price of upstream basic raw material fluorite powder experienced a high level of exploration and operation, while the core raw material hydrofluoric acid decreased and increased under the pressure of upstream and downstream. Overall, the cost support for monomer raw material products R22 and R142b increased, and the supply and demand relationship remained the main reason for the pressure and fluctuation of intermediates. TFE series and VDF series products also faced high cost pressure. The market drawbacks caused by production expansion need to be digested over time. Under the combined influence of multiple factors such as sufficient competition, loose supply, price bottoming out, and slow demand recovery, the prices of fluoropolymer products are in a dilemma of rising and falling, and will continue to remain weak and stable.

two
Weekly News
one
Pengfei Mining's East Qiyi Mountain Fluorite Mine Mining Plan Simulation Expansion to 150000 tons/year
Recently, the environmental impact assessment of the 150000 ton/year fluorite expansion and mining project at Dongqiyi Mountain fluorite mine of Ejina Banner Pengfei Mining Co., Ltd. was publicly announced for the first time. As of the end of 2020, the discovered resources of Dongqiyi Mountain fluorite mine were 1.196 million tons of ore and 797000 tons of CaF2 component. According to the "Development and Utilization Plan for Mineral Resources of Dongqiyi Mountain Fluorite Mine of Ejina Banner Pengfei Mining Co., Ltd.", the designed production capacity of the mine is 150000 tons/year, and the designed production period is 23.5 years. The current plan is to expand the mining scale from 50000 tons/year to 150000 tons/year.
two
6 newly discovered ordinary fluorite mineral sites nationwide in 2023
Recently, the Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the "2023 National Non Oil and Gas Geological Exploration Statistical Annual Report". According to the report, the investment in non oil and gas geological exploration in China in 2023 was 20.072 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%, achieving positive growth for three consecutive years. There are a total of 124 newly discovered mineral deposits in China, including 6 ordinary fluorite deposits (5 medium and 1 small); There are a total of 428 mineral deposits that have completed phased exploration nationwide, including 19 ordinary fluorite sites (7 for census, 7 for detailed investigation, and 5 for exploration).
three
Duofuduo and Shengtai Materials establish a joint venture to produce electrolytes and new additives
On May 16th, Duofuduo and Shengtai Materials announced that Duofuduo New Materials Co., Ltd. and Hebei Shengtai Materials Co., Ltd. had signed a joint venture agreement to jointly invest in the establishment of Henan Futai Technology Co., Ltd. The registered address of the joint venture company is No. 301, 3rd Floor, No. 3377, Zhongzhan Section, Xinyuan Road, Zhongzhan District, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province; Registered capital: 20 million yuan (Duofuduo subscribed to 15 million yuan, accounting for 75% of the capital; Shengtai Materials subscribed to 5 million yuan, accounting for 25% of the capital); The main business of the joint venture company is to produce and sell new additives for electrolytes.
four
Environmental Impact Assessment of Zhuhai Liwen 3000 ton Fluoroethylene Carbonate (FEC) Technical Renovation Project
On May 13th, the Zhuhai Ecology and Environment Bureau accepted the environmental impact report of the annual production of 3000 tons of fluoroethylene carbonate and supporting engineering technical renovation project of Zhuhai Liwen New Materials Co., Ltd., and made it public. The total investment of this project is 200 million yuan, and the construction site is in the Petrochemical Zone of Gaolan Port Economic Zone, Jinwan District, Zhuhai City. It is planned to construct a technical renovation project with an annual production of 3000 tons of fluoroethylene carbonate in two phases. The construction scale of the first and second phases is both 1500 tons of fluoroethylene carbonate per year. The expected start date for the first phase is June 2024; The second phase is expected to start production in June 2025.
five
Environmental Impact Assessment Publicity of Henan Jinshan Chemical's 100 Billion Level Fluorosilicon New Material Project
On May 10th, the official website of Henan Jinhai New Materials Co., Ltd. released the first public announcement of the environmental impact assessment of a 100 billion yuan fluorine silicon new material project. The project has a total investment of 30 billion yuan and is located in the Economic Development Zone of Wuyang County, Henan Province. It plans to build three industrial chains including fluorine containing new materials, silicon containing new materials, and chlorine containing new materials, and to construct supporting projects such as ion exchange membrane caustic soda, salt brine mining refining, 150MW cogeneration, research and development center, intelligent management center, environmental treatment facilities, and comprehensive pipe gallery. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in December 2024.
six
Orbia announced expansion of lithium battery materials production in the United States
The Fluorine and Energy Materials Division of Obia Corporation in the United States recently announced that, following the successful testing of customized electrolyte products in 2023, the company will expand its production scale of lithium battery electrolyte materials for non electric vehicle applications. Orbita claims that its customized electrolyte products can be used in consumer electronics, energy storage, and other applications to enhance battery performance, efficiency, and safety.