As we all know, the fkm (fluoroelastomer) price rise sharply in 2021. And it reached to the peak price in the end of 2021. Everyone thought it would go down in the new year. In February 2022, the raw fkm price seemed little lower. While after that, the market has new information about price trend. It might not decrease a lot as we predicted. On the contrary, the high price will keep for quite a long time. And the worst situation that it will increase again. Why this will happen?
The demand of PVDF which can be used in lithium battery cathodes is increasing dramatically. According to the reports, the global demand for PVDF for lithium battery cathodes in 2021 was 19000 tons, and by 2025, the global demand will be about 100 thousand tons! The large demands cause the price of upstream raw material R142 soar sharply. Until today the price of R142b is still rising. R142b is also a monomer of fluoroelastomer. General copolymer fluoroelastomer is polymerized by VDF (vinylidene fluoride) and HFP (hexafluoropropylene) Before September 2021, the price of copolymer raw gum is about $8-$9/kg. Till December 2021 the price of copolymer raw gum is $27~$28/kg! International brands such as Solvay Daikin and Dupont is changing focus to more profitable business. Therefor the shortage is increasing. The high demands and still rising price cause the price of fluoroelastomer keep rising and won’t go down for a long time.
Recently one big fkm raw gum supplier stops providing fkm. And another supplier has announced price rise already. With recent COVID outbreak in China, we think the high price will last. Please contact our sales team for updated price and adjust your stocks reasonably. Hope we could get through the difficult times hand in hand.
Post time: May-16-2022
