IOL Fluorochemical Weekly Report: Refrigerant Prices Maintain Stable Operation, Fluorinated Polymer Prices Continue to Weakly Stabilize

ChinaIOL
Refrigerant: Pre holiday trading heats up, market continues to operate at a high level
This week, the refrigerant market continued to operate at a high level, with prices remaining stable. Market characteristics during the week: Supply side: Mainstream HFC refrigerant factories continue to control quantity and maintain prices. Due to the weak demand in the off-season, the industry's operating rate is generally low, and there is an increase in factory production cuts and shutdowns. Cost side: The supply of fluorite and anhydrous hydrofluoric acid is tight, and prices continue to remain high; Other basic raw material products are also affected by tight supply, with prices rising more and falling less. On the demand side: Domestic sales demand is light, and the traditional peak season has suppressed the total volume of R22, R410A, and R32. However, the after-sales service of new energy vehicle air conditioning provides structural increment for R134a, and the expansion of Southeast Asian home appliance production bases drives R32's foreign trade demand. Overseas, due to the disturbance of the US Iran conflict, shipping capacity is still limited, and the pace of replenishment in the Middle East and Southeast Asia lags behind, with exports not yet increasing. It is worth noting that as the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays approach, terminal factories have a demand to stock up in advance and lock in long-term contracts. Channel partners and some blending companies have also begun to replenish inventory before the holiday, and it is expected that there will be a wave of concentrated trading before the holiday, which will stimulate the demand for mainstream refrigerants in a phased manner. Overall, the future market for refrigerants is expected to maintain high volatility and structural differentiation.

ChinaIOL
Fluorinated polymers: traditional applications, loose game, emerging markets urgently need to increase volume and growth
This week, the cost center of the fluorinated polymer market continued to decline, and high supply and demand pressures led to weak and stable prices. On the cost side, the prices of upstream core raw materials such as fluorite powder and hydrofluoric acid remain strong, while intermediate products R22, R152a, and R142b are under pressure from both upstream and downstream, resulting in weak stability and weak support for downstream fluoropolymer costs. On the supply side, the end of parking for top enterprises and the high load production of existing production enterprises have led to significant pressure on supply and demand, as well as inventory pressure. On the demand side, the short-term market is in the off-season of the industry, and traditional applications have weak quantity and price. Terminal enterprises mainly purchase on demand; Lithium battery and automobile manufacturers are using their strong bargaining power to push up prices, intensifying their competition with mining, fluorine, and battery factories. It is worth noting that the high-end sub sectors are showing structural growth, with new energy, advanced semiconductor processes, AI computing power industry, and continuous expansion of demand for high value-added fluorine materials. Short term production and sales of high-end products such as electronic grade hydrofluoric acid, high-purity fluorine containing special gas, semiconductor grade PFA, PTFE, and AI data center liquid cooled fluorine solution are still relatively small. Overall, although there is a surge in demand for celebrity hotspots, the short-term cost support from upstream has weakened and the supply-demand contradiction has become prominent, leading to a continued downward pressure trend for mainstream fluoropolymers.

Weekly news
 

01Announcement of Guangdong Tiangao Mining's Annual Production of 80000 Tons of Fluorite Mine Project
On September 2nd, the People's Government of Yirong Town, Zijin County, Heyuan City conducted a social stability risk assessment on the 1.28 million tons/year renovation and expansion project of Baoshan Iron Mine and Fluorite Mine of Guangdong Tiangao Mining Co., Ltd. and made it public. The total investment of this project is 115.7102 million yuan, and a total of 21.0261 million tons of iron ore and 1.006 million tons of fluorite ore have been extracted within the mining scope. Considering that the preparation period of this project is six months, 600000 tons of iron ore can be extracted in the next six months. The fluorite mine infrastructure project will be launched at the beginning of 2027, with a construction period of 1.25 years. The iron mine will maintain a production scale of 1.2 million tons per year and add 80000 tons per year of fluorite ore. According to the production schedule, the fluorite mine can serve for 13 years.
 

02Ruyuan Dongyangguang Fluorine 16000 tons/year R32 Plant Construction Project Announcement
On September 2nd, the public participation information on the environmental impact assessment of the 16000 tons/year R32 plant construction project of Ruyuan Dongyangguang Fluoride Co., Ltd. was announced. This project belongs to R32 capacity replacement. Currently, Fluorine Co., Ltd. has signed capacity replacement agreements with Zibo Aofan Chemical Co., Ltd. and Huaihua Xingjin Fire New Materials Co., Ltd., respectively transferring the approved 10000 ton/year R32 plant and 6000 ton/year R32 plant to Ruyuan Dongyangguang Fluorine Co., Ltd. It is not an additional new plant or an increase in R32 capacity.
 

03Yichang Shilei 60000 ton lithium hexafluorophosphate project energy conservation approved
On September 4th, the Development and Reform Commission of Hubei Province officially released the "Opinions of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission on the Energy Conservation Review of Yichang Shilei New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.'s Annual Production of 60000 Tons of Lithium Hexafluorophosphate Project", agreeing in principle to the final revised energy-saving report of the project. It is reported that the total investment of the project is 1 billion yuan, and it is located in Yichang, Hubei. The production process adopts the hydrogen fluoride solvent method. After the completion of the project, it can form a production capacity of 60000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate (or equivalent to 200000 tons of electrolyte) per year, with 240000 tons of hydrochloric acid and 20000 tons of hydrofluoric acid produced as by-products. It is expected to be put into operation and reach production in June 2028.
 

04Zhonghao Chengguang Technology Upgrade FEP Production Capacity Halves, High end PFA Expansion Production
Recently, the draft of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the "Fusible Fluororesin Renovation Project" of Zhonghao Chengguang (Zigong) Fluoromaterial Co., Ltd. was officially released to the public, marking the official start of the public participation stage for the fluorine-containing polymer renovation project. The project has an investment of 81.0285 million yuan. While maintaining the same FEP production process, the PFA production capacity has been increased from 500t/a to 3500t/a by reducing FEP production capacity. After the completion of the project, the production capacity of perfluoroethylene propylene (FEP) in the entire plant will decrease from the original 6000 tons/year to 3000 tons/year, while the production capacity of meltable polytetrafluoroethylene (PFA) will increase from the original 500 tons/year to 3500 tons/year, and PFA will achieve product upgrades.