Wanhua chemical takes frequent actions: Completes Equity Transfer, Publicizes Two Major Projects, Establishes New Company...

Middle East "giant" buys a stake

Two major projects announced

The project intends to renovate the existing battery-grade sulfate facility within the existing plant area of Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. in the Yantai Chemical Industry Park, Shandong Province. Using nickel-cobalt hydroxide, crude nickel sulfate, cobalt hydroxide, nickel and nickel-iron alloy, lithium-extracted battery black powder, and other materials as raw materials, the project aims to produce battery-grade sulfate products. Based on the capacity expansion and technical transformation in 2024, the project will optimize bottleneck processes and continue to increase production capacity. Upon completion, the project will produce 101,300 tons of nickel sulfate hexahydrate crystals, 24,000 tons of cobalt sulfate heptahydrate crystals, 9,500 tons of manganese sulfate monohydrate, 7,500 tons of crude nickel hydroxide, 50 tons of crude scandium, 250 tons of scandium oxalate, 5,700 tons of crude manganese carbonate, 7,960 tons of crude magnesium carbonate, and 1,800 tons of crude zinc carbonate. Additionally, by-products will include 5,000 tons of crude manganese dioxide, 300 tons of sponge copper, and 20,000 cubic meters of manganese chloride solution.

Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. is an enterprise that integrates the research and development, production and operation, and comprehensive resource utilization of processes such as acid leaching of cobalt, nickel, manganese, and lithium metals, solvent extraction separation, and evaporation crystallization.

For the strategic layout of battery materials, projects have recently commenced at both the Wanhua Sichuan Base and the Wanhua Haiyang Industrial Park.

Regarding the reasons for this expansion, Wanhua stated: First, to address the difficulties in raw material supply for precursor production facilities and the high prices of certain raw materials in the market, while utilizing by-products such as hydrochloric acid, liquid alkali, and sulfuric acid produced at Wanhua's Yantai Industrial Park as chemical auxiliaries to reduce production costs. Second, to utilize Wanhua Chemical's battery-grade sulfate production technology to resolve the instability or excessive levels of magnetic substances and other indicators in market battery-grade sulfates, ensuring stable quality of the precursor products produced. Third, to recycle the lithium-depleted black powder generated from the production of precursor and cathode materials, as a raw material for this project, processing it into battery-grade sulfates. This will form a closed-loop production system for elements such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium within Wanhua Chemical's battery materials business, enhancing core technological competitiveness.

• 220,000 tons/year SEP Project Announcement

On September 17, Wanhua Chemical Group (Penglai) High Performance Materials Co., Ltd. released the draft for public comments on the Environmental Impact Report for the 220,000 tons/year SEP project.

This project plans to be located in the Wanhua Penglai Industrial Park within the Penglai Chemical Industry Park in Shandong Province. It will utilize raw materials such as styrene, butadiene, methyl methacrylate, and butyl acrylate produced by the Wanhua Yantai Industrial Park's integrated ethylene project. The project will adopt its independently developed emulsion grafting - bulk SAN blending process to produce ABS and ASA. Once completed, it will produce a total annual output of 220,000 tons, including 200,000 tons of ABS materials and 20,000 tons of ASA materials.

As of the end of 2024, China's total ABS production capacity will reach 9.165 million tons per year, but the capacity utilization rate is only 60%. Currently, the major manufacturers include Zhejiang Petrochemical (1 million tons/year), LG Yongxing (930,000 tons), Zhenjiang Chimei (850,000 tons), Ningbo Taihua (750,000 tons), Liaoning Kingfa, INEOS Styrolution, Jilin Petrochemical, LG Huizhou, Tianjin Dagu, Lijin Petrochemical, Hengli Petrochemical, among others.

Recently, Yantai Wanhua Electric New Materials Co., Ltd. was established. The company is jointly held by Wanhua Chemical, Beijing Huairou Laboratory Technology Achievement Transformation Co., Ltd., Yantai Zhongtao Investment Co., Ltd., and Orient Cable.The registered capital reaches 110 million yuan, and the business scope includes new material technology promotion services, synthetic material manufacturing (excluding hazardous chemicals), etc.

Shareholder Information, Image Source: Aiqicha

As early as 2021, the first demonstration project utilizing domestically produced nylon 12 cable material, jointly developed by Orient Cable and Wanhua Chemical, was officially connected to the grid at the Wanhua Chemical Ningbo Chlor-Alkali 110kV cable. Meanwhile, the "Wanhua Chemical-Orient Cable Joint Innovation Laboratory" was established. Wanhua Chemical has made arrangements in polymer materials for cables such as XLPE, TPU, POE, and PA12.

In April 2024, at the Chinaplas 2024 event, Wanhua Chemical reached a strategic cooperation with Orient Cable and TBEA to promote innovation and development in the field of high-voltage cable insulation materials (such as XLPE products). This collaboration aims to meet the rapid demand of the high-voltage cable industry driven by the rapid development of new energy vehicles and offshore wind power.

Wanhua Chemical Chinaplas 2024 showcases XLPE product applications, filmed with new chemical materials.

It is reported that at that time, Wanhua Chemical had successfully conducted pilot production of ultra-high voltage grade XLPE products.

XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene) is a type of thermosetting resin made from polyethylene cross-linking, characterized by stable chemical properties and excellent low-temperature resistance. It can resist acid and alkali corrosion and serves as a high-quality electrical insulating material, widely used in medium and high voltage transmission and distribution networks.

Currently, the core global manufacturers of this material include companies such as Dow, Borealis, Zhejiang Wanma Polymer Materials, Avient, and Solvay. In China, it is still considered a "bottleneck" new material.

In addition, in May 2022, Wanhua Chemical (Fujian) New Material Co., Ltd. and Wanma Co., Ltd.'s subsidiary, Wanma Polymer Group, jointly invested approximately 1 billion yuan to build the "Wanma-Wanhua Upstream and Downstream Integration Project," primarily aiming to construct an annual total production capacity of 600,000 tons for eco-friendly cable polymer materials.