Annual Sales of China's Booming Fluorochemical Industry Reaches $2.11 Billion

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--China's GDP has been increasing at an annual rate of about 10% for more than two decades, and the country's domestic demand for fluorochemicals has correspondingly grown 12% per year. Statistics show that nearly 1,000 Chinese companies are now working in the booming industry with total annual sales volume reaching about $2.11 billion.

In 2007, China's annual production capacities of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) will reach 800,000 tons, 740,000 tons and 33,000 tons, respectively. PTFE demand increased to 12,000 tons in 2005, behind the United States, the European Union and Japan. China has the ability to produce 3,000 tons per year of fluororubber and is expected to increase the capacity to 7,000 tons in 2010. The current demand is about 5,000 tons.

Although China has made remarkable achievements, its fluorochemical industry still faces various challenges, which have prompted the government to implement regulations in the industry's development.

Experts said that the quality of China's fluorochemicals needs to be upgraded and that more resources will be invested on the research and development of technology. However, lured by the expanding market, many Chinese companies have entered the industry lacking competitive technology and often produce low-value-added chemicals and sell products by cutting prices.

China has abundant reserves of fluorite, the most important raw material for the fluorochemical industry. Statistics show that China contributes to half of the world's total production of the nonrenewable resource and that it is the largest exporter of the goods in the world. The surging demand has led to overexploitation of fluorite because of exports and the increase in domestic production of fluorochemicals. It is reported that Zhejiang Province, which once boasted fluorite reserves, now has to import resources because of overexploitation.

Concerned with the sustainability of the industry, China's government restricted fluorite exports on April 30, 2001. Although exports have decreased since then, experts still call on the government to set more stringent export quotas to strengthen the competitiveness of the country's fluorochemical industry.

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