IOL Fluorochemical Weekly Report: Short term air conditioning and automobile production and sales are booming, and refrigerants benefit from high-level operation

One week market
Refrigerant: Short term air conditioning and automobile production and sales are booming, and refrigerants benefit from high-level operation
This week, refrigerants are still in the peak demand season, and prices continue to show a trend of stable but rising. Market characteristics of the week: upstream basic raw materials such as fluorite powder and hydrofluoric acid are abundant in supply, while downstream essential procurement is the main focus, maintaining monthly prices; Under the game of supply and demand for other raw material products, prices fluctuate. Affected by different supply and demand patterns, refrigerant products operate differently. Popular refrigerant products such as R32 and R134a are mostly produced at full capacity in factories. The tight supply of goods leads to a common phenomenon of having a price but no market, and the prices quoted by traders are generally 1000 yuan/ton higher than those quoted by factories; Driven by the high temperature weather, the demand for R22 after-sales service has been released, and the factory's shipment volume has significantly increased; The supply side of other products is constrained by quotas, and factories have a strong reluctance to sell, mainly producing on demand. As the 618 promotion approaches, various air conditioning factories are actively stocking up and increasing their purchases of refrigerants, further exacerbating the tight supply situation. In addition, according to the latest meteorological reports, although some southern regions are still in the rainy season, northern regions will soon experience high temperatures of 35-37 ° C, with some areas reaching up to 39 ° C. The demand for refrigerants will accelerate under high temperatures, and it is expected that refrigerant prices will continue to rise at a high level.

Fluorinated polymers: weakened cost support, imbalanced supply and demand growth, price pressure maintained
This week, the production capacity of the fluorinated polymer market has grown too fast, and the insufficient growth of the demand industry has led to fierce market competition. The prices of mainstream products have been weak and fluctuating, and the industry concentration has been increasing year by year. With the comprehensive and in-depth competition in cost, quality, price, and industrial chain, domestic fluoropolymer enterprises are resolving overcapacity through technological upgrades and innovative application scenarios in segmented tracks. The cost side is limited by the decrease in production and sales of fluoropolymers, and the prices of core raw materials such as hydrofluoric acid and chloroform are under pressure. Although the cost of TFE series and HFP series products is slightly lagging behind, they are also declining. On the demand side, traditional engineering and construction, mechanical manufacturing, petrochemicals, aerospace, coatings, and other industries have insufficient growth rates, while new application areas such as new energy, semiconductors, high-end manufacturing, environmental protection, and healthcare have significant differences in industry growth rates. In summary, against the backdrop of slow global economic growth, there is a supply-demand growth contradiction between the supply growth of mainstream fluoropolymers and the demand growth of downstream application industries. The fluorine material market will continue to have a surplus of general materials, price pressures, and slightly better high-end products.

This Week

01Sinochem Blue Sky's HFC-23 resource conversion technology has been recognized as reaching the "international leading" level
On May 30th, the "Key Technologies and Demonstration Applications for Resource Conversion of Controlled Strong Greenhouse Gas Trifluoromethane under the Convention" project led by China National Chemical Corporation Blue Sky successfully passed the scientific and technological achievement appraisal of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, and the achievement level was recognized as "internationally leading". Since 2015, Sinochem Blue Sky has been conducting research on the conversion technology of HFC-23. Through early accumulation and continuous research and development, the HFC-23 conversion technology coupled with the HCFC-22 unit has been successfully developed over a period of five years. The unit was completed and operated smoothly in December 2023. This technology not only achieves a significant upgrade of HFC-23 from paid disposal to resource utilization, but also has multiple advantages such as low investment cost and safe and reliable process, which can provide technical solutions for the sustainable emission reduction of HFC-23 in fluorine chemical enterprises.

02Environmental Impact Assessment Announcement for Gansu Juhua High Performance Fluorochlorine New Material Integration Improvement Project
On May 29th, the first public announcement of the environmental impact assessment for the integrated improvement project of high-performance fluorine chlorine new materials by Gansu Juhua New Materials Co., Ltd. was made. The project is located in the Chemical Industry Park of the old city area of Yumen Economic Development Zone. It plans to build a new plant with an annual output of 21000 tons of hexafluoropropene (HFP), 20000 tons of 2,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (H-R1234yf), 100000 tons of monochloromethane, and 15000 tons of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (T-R1234yf); Supporting construction of TANK yard and upstream and downstream auxiliary facilities.

03Sissoko launches the market's first perfluororubber FFKM without fluorinated surfactants
Recently, Soko announced the launch of a new series of high-performance perfluororubber products. Tecnoflon ®  The FFKM NFS series products adopt the company's unique fluorine free surfactant (NFS) technology, designed specifically for semiconductor manufacturing and other demanding application markets, further expanding the industry's renowned perfluorinated rubber (FFKM) product portfolio. The first two products launched this time include Tecnoflon for semiconductor dry process or high-temperature industrial applications ®  PFR 6055B， And Tecnoflon for direct plasma applications ®  PFR 6265B。 These two new grades of perfluororubber (FFKM) are produced in Spinetta, Italy and will be launched on the market in April 2025.

04Gansu Zhanding High end Fluorinated Electronic Chemicals Project with an Annual Production of 870 Tons Announced
On May 19th, the Ecological Environment Bureau of Jiuquan City accepted and published the "Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Gansu Zhanding New Materials Co., Ltd.'s Annual Production of 870 Tons of High end Specialty Chemicals Construction Project". The project has an investment of 280 million yuan and mainly includes an annual production of 870 tons of high-end specialty chemicals, including 90 tons of perfluorobutyl methyl ether, 150 tons of perfluorobutyl ether, 550 tons of perfluoroheptyl ether, and 80 tons of perfluoroisobutyronitrile.