Over 60,000 Yuan Per Ton! Guangzhou Company Purchases 500 Tons of PCL Degradable Plastic in One Year

According to the Bioplastic Research Institute, recently, Guangzhou Colaird Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. (stock abbreviation: Colaird, stock code: 873414) is transitioning from the New Third Board to the Beijing Stock Exchange, embarking on a new journey of listing.

The company, which focuses on medical devices related to tumor radiotherapy and rehabilitation therapy, relies on a key raw material for the production of its core products—polycaprolactone (PCL). The procurement price of this material is approximately over 60,000 yuan per ton.

Colaide's main business involves the research and development, production, and sales of radiotherapy positioning devices in tumor radiotherapy and rehabilitation aids in rehabilitation treatment. Among its many products, the radiotherapy positioning film is a core product in the radiotherapy field, and polycaprolactone film is one of the important types of radiotherapy positioning films. Made primarily from polycaprolactone, this film can fix the patient's position during tumor radiotherapy, reducing body movement and ensuring the precision of radiation exposure. It is a critical auxiliary device in the radiotherapy positioning process and is currently the most commonly used type of radiotherapy positioning film in clinical settings.

Polycaprolactone, as a semi-crystalline biodegradable polymer material, is prepared by the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone monomers. It exhibits excellent low-temperature thermoplasticity (with a melting temperature of approximately 60°C), biocompatibility, and controllable degradability (with a complete degradation cycle typically ranging from 2 to 4 years). In the medical field, it is commonly used as a drug delivery carrier, resorbable orthopedic fixation material, and tissue engineering scaffold. This makes it an ideal raw material for products such as radiotherapy positioning membranes produced by Collerette.

From the perspective of procurement, during the reporting period (2022, 2023, and 2024), Kolorady primarily sourced the polycaprolactone required for its production from the supplier Ingevity UK Ltd. Ingevity UK Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ingevity Corp, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and is the world’s largest manufacturer of polycaprolactone products.

In the fiscal years 2022 to 2024, the proportion of the total procurement amount that Colorray dedicated to purchasing from Ingevity UK Ltd. was 36.97%, 31.67%, and 29.37%, respectively. The procurement amounts were 29.2388 million yuan, 24.4831 million yuan, and 30.4387 million yuan, respectively. The recorded average prices of polycaprolactone in RMB were 53.45 yuan/kg, 61.07 yuan/kg, and 60.80 yuan/kg, respectively.

Based on this calculation, the amount of polycaprolactone purchased by Corbion is quite considerable, amounting to 547,031 kilograms, 400,902 kilograms, and 500,637 kilograms (approximately 500 tons), respectively.

It is worth noting that although the company currently relies primarily on Ingevity UK Ltd. for the procurement of polycaprolactone, Covestro has recognized the risks associated with supplier dependency. At present, the company is actively developing alternative polycaprolactone suppliers that meet production performance requirements and has initiated small-scale production. However, given that the product stability of these alternative suppliers still needs to be verified through actual market application feedback, the company has not yet widely used polycaprolactone materials from other suppliers.

Coleready is sprinting towards listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange, planning to publicly issue no more than 11.8 million shares (including this amount, excluding the over-allotment option). The raised funds will mainly be used for the "Radiotherapy Positioning and Rehabilitation Product Headquarters Construction Project," "Composite Material Production Line Expansion Project," "R&D Center Construction Project," and "Supplementing Working Capital." With the advancement of the fundraising projects, the company may have new arrangements in the procurement and use of raw materials such as polycaprolactone.

The transition of Claridy from the New Third Board to the Beijing Stock Exchange is an important step in the company's development process. Polycaprolactone, as a key raw material for the production of its core products, is crucial for the company's sustainable development in terms of stable supply and reasonable procurement. In the future, as the company's business expands and the listing process advances, the role of polycaprolactone in the company's production and operations will become more prominent.