IOL Fluorochemical Weekly Report: The refrigerant market continues to remain stable, and the difficulties faced by fluorinated polymers are difficult to overcome

One week market
Refrigerant: Early involution during baseline year, current market is stable and upward
This week, the refrigerant market continued its strong production and sales trend, and product prices remained stable for the time being. Market characteristics during the week: The price of R22 for refrigerant use remains at 40000 yuan/ton, accelerating market inventory digestion. With the industry's crackdown on illegal production increasing, the high market price of R22 for ODS use is expected to continue in the second half of the year. The price of fire extinguishing agent product R227EA has recently accelerated to a new high, and the market demand has grown significantly under the stimulation of price increases. On the demand side, as we enter July, the production scale of the air conditioning industry has decreased by more than 20% compared to the previous month, resulting in a decrease in pre-sales demand for refrigerants R32 and R410A; The automotive industry continues to experience strong structural growth and steady overall growth, with a steady increase in demand for R134A. In summary, due to the intense competition in the refrigerant industry during the extreme years (2020-2022), the current supply-demand balance and orderly competition in the benign market continue to show a steady upward trend.

Fluorinated Polymers: Cost Support and Supply Demand Pressure Coexist, Product Price Bottom Standstill
This week, the fluoropolymer market showed the characteristics of "basic cost bottoming out, strengthened resistance to decline, weak supply and weak demand, difficult to change in the short term", and weak quantity and price in all links of the entire industry chain. Market characteristics of the week: On the supply side, overcapacity has led to a decline in factory operating rates, with most factories reducing production and controlling inventory to maintain prices, resulting in a significant extension of inventory turnover days. On the cost side, the prices of basic raw materials have hit bottom, and downstream production and sales have suffered setbacks, further increasing the supply and demand pressure of upstream basic raw materials. Prices of fluorite, hydrogen fluoride, chloroform, and other materials have fallen to near cost levels. Demand side: Traditional industries have weak growth, and emerging fields are difficult to fill the gap. Specifically in the application industry, traditional application industries such as engineering and construction, machinery manufacturing, and coatings have experienced slow growth, and even negative growth; In emerging application fields such as new energy, semiconductors, and high-end manufacturing, although demand has increased, the growth rate is far behind the supply growth rate, making it difficult to reverse the market supply-demand imbalance. Overall, in the short term, the upward support and downward pressure of fluorinated polymer products are basically balanced, and the mainstream product prices are mainly stuck at the bottom.

This Week

01Announcement of 30000 tons anhydrous hydrogen fluoride AHF project of Wengfu subsidiary
Recently, the high-purity anhydrous hydrogen fluoride project of Wengfu Dazhou Chemical Co., Ltd. was announced on relevant websites. The project is located in Sanpinshan Community, Binlang Chemical Industrial Park, High tech Zone, Dazhou City, Sichuan Province, with a planned investment of 500 million yuan. Based on the by-product fluorosilicic acid from the wet process phosphoric acid unit of Wengfu Dazhou Chemical Co., Ltd., the construction scale is 30000 tons/year of high-purity anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and 20000 tons/year of electronic grade hydrofluoric acid production equipment, tank area and supporting public engineering facilities (Phase I), to achieve comprehensive utilization of associated fluorine resources in phosphate ore.

02Announcement of Zhongke Fluorine Source's Annual Production of 100000 Tons Immersion Coolant Preparation Project
Recently, Zhongke Fuyuan (Ya'an) Technology Development Co., Ltd. announced the annual production of 100000 tons of submerged coolant preparation project. The planned land area for the project is about 200 acres, with 4 sets of 25000 t/a perfluorinated coolant production lines planned, with an annual output of 100000 tons of perfluorinated immersion coolant. The construction of buildings and structures, including factories, covers an area of about 50000 square meters, and is accompanied by outdoor general facilities and public auxiliary engineering. The project construction period is about one year.

03Dongyue Future Materials IPO enters inquiry stage
On July 18th, according to the official website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the IPO of Shandong Dongyue Future Hydrogen Materials Co., Ltd. ("Future Materials") on the Science and Technology Innovation Board has entered the inquiry stage. In this impact listing, Future Materials plans to raise approximately 2.446 billion yuan. After deducting issuance expenses, the company will invest in 3 million m ²/a perfluoroproton membrane and supporting chemical projects, 30 million m ²/a ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) special film projects, 10 million m ²/a microporous membrane projects, 5000t/a meltable polytetrafluoroethylene (PFA) projects, engineering technology research and development center projects, and supplementary working capital.

04Completion acceptance of Dongyangguang PVDF and R142b projects
On July 21st, Ruyuan Dongyangguang Fluororesin Co., Ltd. announced the acceptance of the 10000 ton annual PVDF and 27000 ton annual R142b projects. It is reported that the project is located within the existing project site of Ruyuan Dongyangguang Fluororesin Co., Ltd. in the New Materials Industrial Park of Ruyuan Economic Development Zone, Guangdong. The construction scale is an annual output of 10000 tons of PVDF and 27000 tons of R142b. After the project is put into operation, the total production capacity of Ruyuan Dongyangguang Fluororesin Co., Ltd. will reach 25000 tons/year of PVDF and 45000 tons/year of R142b. The scope of this acceptance includes the main works, auxiliary works, public works, and environmental protection works of the project with an annual output of 10000 tons of PVDF and 27000 tons of R142b.