Lou Jianfeng Leads Team for Inspection: Is BASF Interested in the COC "Little Giant"?

On September 12th, Dr. Jianfeng Lou, Chairman and President of BASF Greater China, and his delegation visited Topene Technology. The two parties conducted in-depth discussions on the innovative development and strategic cooperation of high-end polymer materials.

Tuoxi Technology, as a national-level "little giant" specializing in niche sectors, has overcome key technical challenges such as the synthesis of high-purity cyclic olefin monomers, the construction of metallocene catalyst systems, and the optimization of solution polymerization processes. The company has established production lines for optical medical-grade cyclic olefin copolymers (COC), optical-grade carbonate copolymers (TOPC), and optical-grade methyl methacrylate copolymers (TOPM), with a total production capacity of 51,000 tons. These products have achieved domestic substitution in fields such as optical lenses, biomedical applications, integrated circuits, aerospace, and intelligent driving. Tuoxi Technology has also established partnerships with leading companies such as Geely Automobile Research Institute, Yutong Optics, and Goertek Optics.

Source: AdsaleCPRJ.com

In June of this year, Tuoxin Technology successfully acquired land for the third phase base in Quzhou. The first phase of Tuoxin Technology, with a production of 3,000 tons of special cyclic olefin copolymer (SOOC® Tuomeite®), was successfully put into operation on November 30, 2023, and has now achieved full production and sales, successfully applied to products of over 20 leading companies. The second phase project, with an annual production of 7,000 tons of COC, has been successfully handed over, bringing the total COC production capacity to 10,000 tons per year, with supporting facilities for 6,000 tons of cyclic olefin copolymer monomer per year. With the upcoming delivery of the second phase project, Tuoxin will become the first domestic mass producer of high-end optical materials with an annual output of 41,000 tons. This project includes 1,000 tons of high-end optical TOPC and 40,000 tons of optical-grade TOPM.

Additionally, on June 20, 2024, the Smart Manufacturing City Branch of Quzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment accepted the environmental impact assessment report for Tuoxin Technology's 7,000 tons/year SOOC project.

In the future, Tuoxin Technology plans to continue investing 10 billion yuan to accelerate its global expansion and steadily advance the planning of the third-phase COC project. This includes the phased construction of 60,000 tons per year of copolymerized cycloolefin monomer and 100,000 tons per year of COC materials. Simultaneously, they will plan for new materials products that address key technological bottlenecks in fields such as automotive materials and medical materials. In terms of market expansion, the focus will be on high-growth downstream sectors such as AR/VR and life sciences (including medical, aesthetic medicine, and in vitro diagnostics).

Cyclic olefin copolymers (COC) are emerging high-performance polymer materials that are utilized in various fields due to their outstanding optical properties, low water absorption, high barrier properties, and good processing capabilities. They are applied in the optical field (such as mobile phone lenses, automotive lenses, AR/VR devices, etc.); in the medical field (such as prefilled syringes and pharmaceutical containers, etc.); and can also be used in other areas such as microtiter plates, biochips, and mobile device antennas.

In the global COC market, Japanese companies dominate due to their extensive technical expertise and strong R&D capabilities. Major manufacturers include Zeon Corporation, Polyplastics, Mitsui Chemicals, and Japan Synthetic Rubber (JSR). By the end of 2024, the combined production capacity of COC/COP products is estimated to be around 90,000 to 100,000 tons.

In the domestic market, besides Tuoen Technology, several other companies such as Akoli, Liaoning Luhua Hongjin, Kingfa Sci & Tech, Wanhua Chemical, Yifeng Biochemical, and Gaifeng New Materials are also making arrangements. Among them, Akoli's "20,000-ton per year fatty amine expansion project and 10,000-ton per year new high-transparency material project (Phase II, 5,000 tons per year high-transparency materials)" is set to enter the production phase in June 2025 and has successfully produced qualified products. Liaoning Luhua Hongjin's COC facility was successfully commissioned at the end of January 2024 and smoothly passed the environmental protection acceptance in early September. This project has an annual production capacity of 500 tons of cycloolefin copolymer and 1,000 tons of norbornene (calculated as 100% norbornene). After completing the first phase demonstration project, there are plans for a second phase to construct a 10,000-ton per year cycloolefin polymer production facility.

It is worth mentioning that on the same day, BASF reached a strategic innovation cooperation agreement with the Quzhou Institute of Zhejiang University.