IOL Weekly Report: Good Demand for Domestic and Foreign Sales Refrigerant Maintenance and Consolidation

One week market
Refrigerant: The pre-sales market enters the off-season and the after-sales market enters the peak season. Mainstream products are under pressure and maintain stable operation
This week, there is good demand for domestic and foreign sales, and the refrigerant market is maintaining stability and consolidation. Characteristics of the weekly market: The demand side mainly focuses on rigid procurement, while the upstream raw material market has average transactions, with prices falling more and rising less, maintaining a weak operation. Currently, mainstream refrigerant factories maintain normal production, but due to strong demand, R32 and R22 maintain a tight supply situation, and the pricing of air conditioning plants in the third quarter is synchronized with the current prices. However, recently, due to continuous rainy and cloudy weather in many parts of the country, downstream home appliance market sales have fallen short of expectations, and the production scale in the third quarter has been reduced. However, the after-sales market is about to enter the peak season, and overall demand support is stable. In addition, according to the latest customs data, in May 2024, the export volume of R32, R125, and R134a in China increased by 8.7%, 52.4%, and 13.2% month on month, respectively, indicating a steady growth in the overall export market. Overall, on the supply side, the quota is limited within the year and factories have a strong mentality of reducing production and maintaining prices; On the demand side, the after-sales market has entered the peak season and the export demand is stable. It is expected that the refrigerant will continue to operate steadily and steadily in the future.

Fluorinated polymers: supply and demand continue to be weak, and prices will continue to remain low in the game of consolidation
This week, factories on the supply side of the fluorinated polymer market took orders, scheduled production, and controlled inventory. Both domestic and international sales on the demand side remained weak, with only strong support on the cost side. However, mainstream products showed weak growth and weak stability. From the perspective of the industrial chain, the prices of upstream basic products such as fluorite powder and hydrofluoric acid have slightly fallen, while the cost pressure of intermediate products has slightly eased; The midstream individual products R22 and R142b continue to have strong cost support, and the market for controlled use and raw material use continues to be hot and cold. The market for controlled use is strong and rising, and the raw material use is facing continued weak operation near the cost line; The growth rate of downstream application industries has generally slowed down, reflecting that the end market is dominated by on-demand procurement by product processing enterprises, with relatively weak demand. Overall, the current fluorinated polymer market is characterized by significant factory production reduction and price protection. TFE series and VDF series products have entered a deep consolidation stage, and prices will continue to be adjusted in a low-level game. 

Weekly News
01The import and export situation of fluorite in China from January to May 2024
According to Chinese customs data, in May 2024, China imported 97836 tons of fluorite with a calcium fluoride content of ≤ 97% by weight, a month on month increase of+7.0%; The export volume was 14797 tons, a month on month increase of 27.2%. From January to May, China imported a total of 453607 tons of fluorite with a calcium fluoride content of ≤ 97% by weight, a year-on-year increase of 59.5%, and exported a total of 79069 tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%. In May, the import volume of fluorite with a calcium fluoride content greater than 97% by weight in China was 736 tons, a month on month increase of -68.2%; The export volume was 11634 tons, a month on month increase of 676.9%. From January to May, China imported a total of 6362 tons of fluorite with a calcium fluoride content greater than 97% by weight, an increase of 2096.1% year-on-year; The total export volume was 24753 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 71.8%.

02Juhua New Company - Zhejiang Juleng Technology Co., Ltd. officially unveiled
On the morning of June 25th, Zhejiang Juleng Technology Co., Ltd. was officially unveiled and established. The company was jointly funded and established by Juhua Group, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, and Yinmosen Wangneng. In 2021, it jointly launched the "Research and Application of Data Center Liquid Cold and Hot Management Materials" project. In the future, the company stated that it will rely on dedicated coolant, self-developed liquid cooling servers, and professional liquid cooling data center design capabilities to create a series of submerged coolant and submerged liquid cooling products.

03Environmental Impact Assessment of Dongyue Polymer Annual Production of 300000 square meters Chlor-alkali Ionic Membrane Renovation and Expansion Project
On June 19th, the Huantai Branch of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Zibo City proposed to provide approval opinions on the environmental impact assessment documents of Shandong Dongyue Polymer Materials Co., Ltd.'s annual production of 300000 square meters of chlor alkali ion membrane project. It is reported that the project is located in Dongyue Economic Development Zone, Tangshan Town, Huantai County, Zibo City. It is a renovation and expansion of the existing "100000 square meters per year perfluorinated ion membrane project for chlor alkali industry", with a total investment of 50 million yuan and a construction period of 3 months. After completion, it can achieve an annual production of 300000 square meters of chlor alkali ion membrane.

04Hubei Xingchi Chemical's new construction project involves fluoroboric acid and fluorine-containing fine chemicals
On June 20th, the Ecological Environment Bureau of Qianjiang City accepted and publicly announced the environmental impact assessment of Hubei Xingchi Chemical Co., Ltd.'s annual production of 9090 tons of electronic fine chemicals, 13840 tons of pharmaceutical intermediates, 40000 tons of industrial calcium chloride, and 25000 tons of hydrochloric acid. This project involves 1440 tons/a of fluorinated fine chemicals and 20 tons/a of fluorinated pharmaceutical intermediates. The specific products are: fine chemicals fluoroboric acid 1000 tons/a, stannous fluoroborate 200 tons/a, perfluorobutylsulfonyl fluoride 80 tons/a, perfluorohexanesulfonic acid 120 tons/a, perfluorohexanesulfonic acid quaternary ammonium salt iodide 20 tons/a; Medical intermediate perfluorotribulamine 20t/a.

05Environmental Impact Assessment of 760 Tons Fluorinated New Energy Materials Project for Hunan Fuhydrogen Hydrogen Energy
On June 24th, the People's Government of Linxiang City issued a pre approval notice for the environmental impact assessment of Hunan Fuhydrogen Hydrogen Energy New Materials Co., Ltd.'s annual production of 4760 tons of new energy materials project. The total investment of the project is 496.76 million yuan, which will be constructed in two phases. The first phase mainly includes a 500 ton/year fluorine containing special resin device, a 40 ton/year fluorine gas device, a 70 ton/year iodine pentafluoride device, a 150 ton/year perfluoroalkane device, and supporting facilities; The main construction content of Phase II includes a 2000 ton/year fusible polytetrafluoroethylene (PFA) plant, a 2000 ton/year ethylene tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (ETEE) plant, and supporting facilities. This environmental impact assessment only applies to the first phase of the project, with a construction period of approximately 18 months.