THE ANNUAL DEMAND FOR REFRIGERANT MAY EXCEED 750,000 TONS
2022-08-25
Analysis of refrigerant status

The first generation of refrigerants to the ozone layer damage the most, the world has been eliminated from use;  The second generation of refrigerant for the ozone layer damage is relatively small, has been basically eliminated in Europe and the United States developed countries, widely used in our country, is also in the elimination period;  The third generation refrigerant has no damage to the ozone layer and gradually replaces HCFCs products in developing countries. However, the GWP value is higher and the greenhouse effect is more significant. A few developed countries have begun to reduce the consumption.  The fourth generation of refrigerants refers to refrigerants that do not destroy the ozone layer and have a low GWP value. However, the development trend and mainstream products of such refrigerants have not been finalized at present.

The third generation refrigerant will take 2020 to 2022 as the “baseline year”, and the total supply amount will only decrease after 2024. The production capacity of the third generation refrigerant R32 and R125 will increase by 86% and 32% respectively compared with 2018, and the rapid expansion of production capacity leads to lower prices. 2022 is the last year of the base year.  In 2021, there was almost no new production capacity of third-generation refrigerants.

The annual demand for refrigerant may exceed 750,000 tons

According to statistics, the production capacity of R125, R134a and R32 was 307,000 tons, 335,000 tons and 507,000 tons in 2021.  Refrigerant is widely used in household air conditioning, refrigerator (cabinet), automobile air conditioning, commercial refrigeration equipment and other industries, accounting for 92% of the total demand, a small amount of demand used in PTFE and other fluoropolymer raw materials, accounting for only about 8% of the total demand.  In recent years, China’s refrigerant demand has increased year by year. The apparent refrigerant demand in 2021 is 709,000 tons, and is expected to grow to 773,000 tons by 2024.