IOL Fluorine Chemical Weekly Report: Increased Plant Shutdowns at Year-End, Refrigerant Popular Products See Price Hikes
Refrigerant: Increased Plant Downtime in December, with Slight Price Hikes for Popular Products
This week, the refrigerant market faced tight supply, with prices of popular products rising slightly. Key market trends during the week: As the year-end approached, mainstream manufacturers' quotas were nearly exhausted, and domestic trade markets largely halted order-taking, focusing instead on fulfilling pre-ordered shipments. In the foreign trade sector, delays in license approvals and extended shipping schedules led to a near-complete suspension of quotations and order-taking. Upstream basic raw materials saw improved demand, resulting in overall better production and sales performance, with more price increases than decreases. Notably, refrigerant quotas for the year were nearly depleted, prompting flexible production adjustments across factories, including reduced output and temporary shutdowns. On the demand side, vehicle production and sales from January to November grew by over 11% year-on-year, while new energy vehicle production and sales increased by approximately 31%, strongly supporting the high refrigerant market. In summary, refrigerant prices remain at elevated levels, with downstream buyers showing low inventory intentions. However, since mainstream refrigerant quotas for the new year are unlikely to change significantly and demand from the automotive and air conditioning industries remains stable, the supply shortage is expected to persist. The market outlook is bullish, with factories cautiously accepting orders while maintaining a wait-and-see stance.
Fluorinated polymers: Market segmentation by different applications, significant price volatility, and increasing upward trends
This week, the fluoropolymer market saw a weakly balanced supply-demand relationship for most products, with prices stabilizing at low levels and minor upward trends. Weekly market characteristics: The overall market remained slack, with notable differentiation across end-use segments. Product price fluctuations were primarily driven by the production activities of leading firms in niche markets, leading to a clear short-term rebound in prices. On the supply side, Sanafu in Inner Mongolia recently halted operations for maintenance, while coating-grade PVDF prices remained stable with slight upward movements, driven by both cost and supply-demand factors. On the demand side, traditional applications maintained steady demand, while emerging industries such as semiconductors, new energy, electronic information, and high-end manufacturing showed limited growth, keeping overall demand sluggish. Product-specific analysis revealed that the shutdown of leading cost-driven firms had a direct impact on the entire industry chain. The R152A→R142B→VDF→PVDF production chain exhibited short-term resonance, with plants relying on purchased R152A, R142B, and VDF experiencing immediate effects and rising cost pressures. In summary, the fluoropolymer market benefited from low prices and improved supply-demand dynamics, with prices stabilizing and showing slight upward trends across various applications.
Weekly news
01The Ministry of Ecology and Environment issues quotas for the production of HCFCs and HFCs refrigerants in 2026
On December 9th, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced the notice on issuing the total quota setting and allocation plan for ozone depleting substances and hydrofluorocarbons in 2026. Among them, the total production quota for HFCs is 797845 tons, an increase of 5963 tons compared to the production quota of 791882 tons in 2025. The increase mainly includes: 3242 tons of HFC-134a, 2918 tons of HFC-245fa, 1171 tons of HFC-32, etc; Reduce quotas by 1255 tons of HFC-143a, 517 tons of HFC-227ea, and 63 tons of HFC-152a; The total production quota for HCFCs is 151411 tons, which is a reduction of 12162 tons compared to the production quota of 163573 tons in 2025, including a reduction of 3005 tons of HCFC-22; 9157 tons of formaldehyde; The quota for HCFC-141b1 has been reduced to 0.
02Announcement of Acceptance for 120000 Tons of Fluorite Raw Ore Flotation Project in Qingliu County
On December 10th, the Ecological Environment Bureau of Sanming City accepted the renovation and expansion project of Hongzhi Mining Co., Ltd.'s fluorite powder beneficiation plant in Qingliu County and made it public. The project has added an investment of 56 million yuan and is located in Mayouzhai, Lingguan Village, Linshe Town, Qingliu County, Sanming City, Fujian Province. It is planned to construct a flotation production line that can process 120000 tons of fluorite ore annually and eliminate the existing 60000 tons of fluorite ore flotation production line.
03Haohua Technology plans to terminate the construction of a new 20000 ton PVDF project
On the evening of December 10th, Haohua Technology (600378) announced that the company intends to terminate the implementation of a new 20000 ton/year PVDF material construction project. The original project was planned to reach the intended usable state by July 2026, but as of the date of issuance of this verification opinion, the project has not yet started substantial construction. The company disclosed the reason for the slowdown in progress in the "Special Report on the Storage and Actual Use of Raised Funds in the Half Year of 2025", which is due to "the continuous increase in PVDF production and sales volume of the company, coupled with the need for new product technology iteration and improvement due to the company's adoption of differentiated competitive strategies, resulting in a slowdown in the progress of the new 20000 tons/year PVDF project".
04Wanhua Chemical PVDF Project Enters Substantive Stage
On December 2, the process package and design kick-off meeting of Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) PVDF project (lotion method) was successfully held in Huizhi Technology's Qingdao headquarters. It is reported that the project is expected to have a total investment of about 1.3 billion yuan and is located in Meishan High tech Industrial Park (West Zone) Meishan High tech Chemical Industrial Park. It will lease land from Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) Co., Ltd. and rely on some of the company's public and auxiliary facilities to construct 20000 tons/year PVDF plant, 30000 tons/year R152a plant, 40000 tons/year R142b plant, and other supporting public and auxiliary facilities. The project will be constructed in two phases, with the first phase producing 10000 tons/year of PVDF products and the second phase producing 10000 tons/year of PVDF products.
