After the National Day holiday, domestic fluorspar companies have been raising their prices or temporarily suspending quotes. Some enterprises have increased their latest quotes by more than 20% compared to before the holiday, breaking historical records.

The price increase is astonishing and sets a historical record! "Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, fluorspar enterprises typically raise their external quotations by 300-500 RMB/ton easily breaking historical records," said an analyst from Bai Chuan Ying Fu Hydrofluoric Acid. "According to our contact with hydrofluoric acid companies, they describe the fluorspar market as crazy, with prices now exceeding 3,900 RMB/ton. There's no need to even discuss it. Among them, a large fluorine chemical enterprise in Shandong has a fluorspar purchase price of 4,080 RMB/ton."

Data shows that on October 7th, the mainstream ex-works price reference for fluorspar in China is 3,600-4,100 RMB/ton, with high-priced offers appearing frequently, mainly in Shandong and Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and other regions are following suit. On October 8th, the mainstream ex-works price reference for fluorspar in China was 3,600-4,100 RMB/ton. The focus of the spot market prices is trending upward, with tight regional supplies, modest increases in powder factory production rates, and downstream replenishment as the main focus.

A price of 4,000 RMB/ton for fluorspar ore also means that it has broken historical price records. Data shows that in the past decade, fluorspar prices have shown an overall stair-stepping upward trend. Prior to 2017, fluorspar prices remained below 2,000 RMB/ton. In 2018, fluorspar prices surpassed 3,000 RMB/ton, reaching a historical high of 3,675 RMB/ton in November 2018. From 2018 to 2022, fluorspar prices mainly ranged from 2,000 to 3,000 RMB/ton.

"In the past, when there was a shortage of supply, fluorspar market prices would also rise, but only by a small margin of 50-100 RMB/ton as a tentative increase. However, this time, mining companies have made a more determined price adjustment, with increases of several hundred RMB/ton, far exceeding expectations. According to hydrofluoric acid companies, they have never encountered anything like this before," said an analyst from Bai Chuan Ying Fu Hydrofluoric Acid.

Why the Increase?

Fluorspar, also known as fluorite, is mainly used as a raw material in fluorine chemical industry for the production of refrigerants and as a raw material for fluorine-containing polymers in new energy, new materials, national defense, aerospace, and other fields.

Why has the price of fluorspar risen? According to analysts from Bai Chuan Ying Fu Fluorspar Industry, based on feedback from downstream enterprises, the fluorspar market is currently facing a shortage of supply. In recent years, local governments have paid close attention to safety production, and inspections of mining companies have been strict, limiting the operation of fluorspar mining enterprises. "Many small fluorspar mining companies cannot withstand inspections at all, so if one company has an accident, sometimes it can affect all the mining companies in the jurisdiction. According to our understanding, this year, fluorspar enterprises in Jiangxi and Inner Mongolia are not doing well in terms of production."

On September 20th, the largest fluorspar production company in China, Jinshi Resources, stated at its 2023 semi-annual performance briefing that in the first half of 2023, the transaction average price of acid-grade fluorspar powder was 3,066 RMB/ton. Since September, quotations have indeed continued to rise, and currently, high-quality powder quotes have broken through 3,500-3,600 RMB/ton. The company's sales quotes are based on market conditions, and currently, our high-quality product quotes and transaction prices are also in this range, with quotes for slightly lower-quality products ranging from 3,300 to 3,500 RMB/ton."

In addition, during the National Day holiday, a safety incident occurred in a subsidiary of Jinshi Resources, and its Yankuang fluorspar mine was temporarily shut down, which also had a stimulating effect on fluorspar prices."