IOL Fluorochemical Weekly Report: High level rise in refrigerant products, continued pressure consolidation of fluorinated polymers

One week market
Refrigerant: Most products maintain stability, while a few products explore price increases
This week, most products in the refrigerant market have balanced supply and demand, with stable prices. A few products have experienced price increases due to factory maintenance and demand recovery. Market characteristics during the week: Products with a relatively high proportion of self use in refrigerant factories on the supply side, such as R125 and R143A, exhibit centralized production characteristics, while other products are produced and sold in an orderly manner based on inventory, quota consumption, and order situation, without any internal competition. Although the domestic market on the demand side has decreased in volume compared to the previous period, the reduction in production by refrigerant factories and the steady increase in demand for foreign trade exports have effectively alleviated the supply-demand contradiction. In summary, due to the decent demand in domestic industries such as air conditioning, automobiles, and heat pumps, as well as the impact of strong prices on direct export demand, the wait-and-see sentiment has weakened, and there has been a significant shift in actual demand. In addition, factories with limited quotas for HFC refrigerants may increase the industry's reluctance to sell, leading to a collective increase in popular products from multiple refrigerant factories.

Fluorinated polymers: cost support strengthened, supply and demand relationship still weak, supply and demand contradiction prominent, cost and demand jointly affect the market
This week, the leading enterprises in the fluoropolymer market have been producing at high loads, with stable quotations but actual implementation discounts, putting pressure on product prices to maintain stability and consolidation. Market characteristics of the week: On the supply side, top enterprises rely on their supply chain advantages, product quality advantages, and scale advantages to have a better production and sales situation than small and medium-sized enterprises with a single product. On the cost side: After the prices of basic raw materials such as fluorite and hydrogen fluoride rose in September, the support for downstream product costs increased, but it was not enough to drive downstream product prices to rebound. Demand side: The trend of diversified demand growth is clear, but the growth of new energy fields such as lithium batteries, photovoltaics, and semiconductors is slow and falls short of expectations; The growth of short-term orders in existing markets is faster than that in emerging markets. Based on the above prediction, the short-term fluoropolymer market will be in a game between cost and demand, and prices are likely to continue to fluctuate at a low level. Recently, the application of PEEK material in robots has received high attention in the industry; Popular products of liquid cooled servers, such as fluorinated liquids, perfluoropolyethers, and hydrofluoroethers, have attracted industry attention and become a possible new direction for industry expansion.

This Week

01Announcement on the Filing Status of Enterprises Using HCFCs as Raw Materials in the Fifth Batch of 2025
According to the relevant provisions of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations on the Management of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and the Notice on Strengthening the Management of Production, Sales, and Use of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (Huan Han [2013] No. 179), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has granted the fifth batch of HCFCs raw material use registration for the year 2025 to four qualified enterprises that use HCFCs as raw materials, namely Gansu Kangbas Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Gansu Jinchuan Jinruilin Chemical Co., Ltd., Shenzhen BYD Automobile Industry Co., Ltd., and Changzhi Huojia Industrial Co., Ltd.

02Environmental Impact Assessment Announcement for Sichuan Wengfu Dazhou Chemical High Purity Anhydrous Hydrogen Fluoride Project
On August 28th, the Ecological Environment Bureau of Dazhou City released an environmental impact assessment announcement for the high-purity anhydrous hydrogen fluoride project of Wengfu Dazhou Chemical Co., Ltd. The project is located in Sanpinshan Community, Binlang Chemical Industrial Park, High tech Zone, Dazhou City, Sichuan Province, with a planned investment of 531.9 million yuan. It will rely on the company's existing wet process phosphoric acid process by-product fluorosilicic acid, and support the construction of 30000 tons/year high-purity anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and 20000 tons/year high-purity hydrofluoric acid production facilities, tank farms, and supporting public engineering facilities (Phase I), to achieve comprehensive utilization of associated fluorine resources in phosphate ore.

03Announcement of Shandong Qifu New Material Molten Fluororesin Phase II and Fluorine containing Heat Exchange Fluid Project
On September 2nd, the Zibo Ecological Environment Bureau accepted the environmental impact assessment report for the second phase of the molten fluororesin and fluorine-containing heat exchange fluid project of Shandong Qifu New Materials Co., Ltd. and made it public. The project is located in Gaoqing Chemical Industry Park, Zibo City, with an investment of 1.03197 billion yuan. It plans to build 3000 tons/year of modified polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), 3000 tons/year of fluororubber, and 6000 tons/year of fluorine-containing heat exchange fluid (2000 tons/year perfluoro-4-methyl-2-pentene, 1000 tons/year hexafluoropropylene trimer, 3000 tons/year perfluorohexane).

04The integration project of 7 billion fluorine materials in Ganquanbao Economic Development Zone is accelerating
Nantong Donggang Chemical Co., Ltd. (Nantong Donggang Chemical) has invested approximately 7 billion yuan to accelerate the construction of the fluorine material integration and downstream extension project in the Ganquanbao Economic and Technological Development Zone (Industrial Zone) (Ganquanbao Economic Development Zone) in Urumqi. The first phase of the fluorine material integration and downstream extension project will utilize the abundant fluorite mineral resources in Xinjiang, using advanced processes such as thermal cracking, dispersion polymerization, and suspension polymerization. The main products include two types: meltable polytetrafluoroethylene (PFA) and perfluoroethylene propylene (FEP). The project is scheduled to officially start construction in October 2025 and be completed and put into operation in April 2027.