IOL Fluorine Chemical Weekly: Most HFC Refrigerants Will Be Sold at the Same Price in Both Domestic and International Markets in 2026

Refrigerants: Most HFC refrigerants will be priced equally for domestic and international trade by 2026
This week, the refrigerant market operated steadily, with no price adjustments. Weekly market characteristics: At the beginning of 2026, the refrigerant market exhibited a "stable start with strong观望 (hesitation)" trend. Currently, domestic and international market quotations are roughly balanced. As the new year's quotas take effect, factories have resumed production and operations in an orderly manner, but overall production rates have not yet reached full capacity. The overall transaction atmosphere remains subdued, with procurement primarily driven by rigid demand. In the upstream raw material sector, supply and demand dynamics led to mixed price movements. On the demand side, China's automotive production and sales in 2025 grew by approximately 10% year-on-year, while the penetration rate of the new energy vehicle market reached 48%, up 7 percentage points from the same period last year. The air conditioning industry is entering an equipment renewal cycle, with overseas capacity expansion and domestic repair and replacement demand providing stable support. Overall, the market's cautious sentiment at the beginning of the year, coupled with supply quota constraints and clear demand benefits, suggests that the refrigerant market will continue to perform steadily and positively in the future.

Fluorinated polymers: Mainstream market oversupplied, with bright spots in niche applications
This week, the fluoropolymer market experienced an oversupply of mainstream products, with supply-demand pressure driving prices down near the cost line. However, certain specialized applications showed positive performance. Key market characteristics during the week: Upstream raw materials and monomer products maintained stable operations under pressure, providing robust cost support for the full range of PVDF, PTFE, FEP, and other products. Yet, insufficient cost fluctuations failed to spur price rebounds. On the supply side, increased plant maintenance and reduced production loads helped alleviate short-term market supply-demand pressures. On the demand side, traditional sectors like chemical corrosion protection, automotive and transportation, machinery and industrial manufacturing, and defense industries maintained steady demand, while emerging sectors such as new energy, semiconductors, healthcare, aerospace, environmental engineering, AI, and data centers are expected to see explosive growth. Product-wise, leading manufacturers showed strong intentions to raise prices, but low terminal acceptance and the impact of the demand off-season will keep fluoropolymer trends stable near the bottom in the short term.

Weekly news

01Yonghe Shares: Net profit expected to increase by 110.87% -150.66% year-on-year in 2025
On the evening of January 14th, Yonghe Group announced that it expects the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company for the whole year of 2025 to be 530 million yuan to 630 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 110.87% -150.66%. The report points out that the main reason for the expected increase in performance is the continued high prosperity of the refrigerant industry throughout the year, with rising prices driving profit growth; The company's full industry chain synergy and technological accumulation advantages continue to be released, forming a multi-point support profit pattern.

02Wengfu Group's 20000 tons/year high-purity anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and other projects are publicly announced
On January 7th, the environmental impact assessment of the 20000 tons/year high-purity anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and 20000 tons/year high-purity hydrofluoric acid projects of Hubei Wengfu Haiyu Fluorosilicon Technology Co., Ltd. was publicly announced for the first time. The project uses fluorosilicic acid, a by-product of wet process phosphoric acid, as raw material to construct a 20000 ton/year high-purity anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and 20000 ton/year high-purity hydrofluoric acid production plant, as well as supporting facilities such as raw material storage tanks, product storage tanks, refrigeration stations, air compression stations, circulating water stations, substations, and comprehensive control buildings.

03Starting from April 1, 2026, export tax rebates for products such as lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) will be cancelled
On January 9th, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued a notice on adjusting the export tax rebate policy for photovoltaic and other products. Announcement: Starting from April 1, 2026, the value-added tax export rebate for photovoltaic and other products will be cancelled; From April 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026, the value-added tax export rebate rate for battery products will be reduced from 9% to 6%; Starting from January 1, 2027, the export tax rebate for value-added tax on battery products will be cancelled; For the products subject to consumption tax among the above-mentioned products, the export consumption tax policy will not be adjusted, and the consumption tax refund (exemption) policy will continue to apply; The export tax rebate rate applicable to the products listed in the announcement is defined by the export date indicated on the export goods declaration form. The list of photovoltaic products includes fluorine chemical industry chain products such as lithium hexafluorophosphate and trichloroethylene.

04Announcement of the annual production of 3500 tons of fluorine-containing fine chemicals project by Kolebo
On January 13th, the Ecological Environment Bureau of Suqian City plans to approve and publicize the construction project of fluorinated fine chemicals by Kolaibo (Jiangsu) Technology Co., Ltd. The project plans to invest 100 million yuan and achieve an annual production capacity of 4300 tons of fine chemicals (including 1500 tons/year of 2,4 '- difluorobenzophenone, 1500 tons/year of 4,4' - difluorobenzophenone, 500 tons/year of 3-difluoromethyl-1-methylpyrazole-4-carboxylic acid, etc.) and 2700 tons of reagent grade sodium fluoride through technological transformation.