Sinochem International increases investment in the HDI sector, with planned domestic capacity exceeding 500,000 tons.

Recently, the Department of Ecology and Environment of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region accepted and publicized the environmental impact report for the 100,000 tons/year HDI and 180,000 tons/year Phosgene Expansion and Renovation Project (Phase I) and the 13,000 tons/year Chlorinated Ester Expansion Project of Ningxia Ruitai Technology Co., Ltd.

The project is planned and constructed as a whole to include 100,000 tons/year HDI, 100,000 tons/year HDI trimer, and 180,000 tons/year phosgene, with a co-production of 290,000 tons/year 30% hydrochloric acid; the project is implemented in three phases. The current phase promotes Phase I, involving the construction of a new 20,000 tons/year phosgene unit. Upon completion, the company's total phosgene capacity will increase from the existing 30,000 tons/year to 50,000 tons/year.

Project Background: Filling the Phosgene Capacity Gap and Supporting Downstream High-end Products

Ningxia Ruitai Technology is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jiangsu Yangnong Chemical, a subsidiary of Sinochem International. Established in 2010, the company currently possesses multiple production units including phosgene series products and nylon 66. The existing chlorinated ester capacity is 8,000 tons/year, and the products are supplied externally for the production of EHP and TBEC raw materials.

There are two major practical drivers for this expansion and renovation. On one hand, the company's existing 30,000 tons/year phosgene capacity can hardly meet the full-load operation of downstream units. As a core intermediate for polyurethane and polycarbonate, phosgene capacity has become a bottleneck restricting the company's development. On the other hand, this expansion simultaneously supports chlorinated ester capacity. After the project lands, the chlorinated ester capacity will increase from 8,000 tons/year to 13,000 tons/year. Meanwhile, new catalytic desulfurization facilities will be added to optimize the quality of phosgene products, laying a solid raw material foundation for the subsequent production of high-end HDI products.

HDI: High-end Aliphatic Isocyanate, Key Raw Material for New Energy Coatings

HDI, or hexamethylene diisocyanate, belongs to high-end aliphatic isocyanates. It differs significantly from aromatic isocyanates like MDI and TDI. Its molecules contain no benzene rings and feature a saturated aliphatic chain structure. It possesses outstanding characteristics such as yellowing resistance, weather resistance, corrosion resistance, and high light transmission. It is an indispensable curing agent raw material for high-end polyurethane coatings and adhesives. The phosgene method is also the current mainstream production process for high-performance HDI.

HDI is mostly used in scenarios with long-term outdoor exposure and stringent requirements for aging resistance, including automotive OEM topcoats, architectural exterior wall coatings, industrial heavy-duty anti-corrosion paints, high-end wood varnishes, and yacht protective coatings. It can effectively solve industry pain points such as easy yellowing, fast aging, and short service life of traditional coatings.

For a long time in the past, the global HDI market was monopolized by overseas enterprises. Foreign companies like Covestro and BASF dominated market supply, while domestic supply of high-end products was insufficient, leading to a high dependence on imports. However, in recent years, Asia has become the core region for global HDI capacity expansion, and domestic chemical enterprises have accelerated their layout in the HDI track, speeding up the import substitution process.

Industry Expansion Wave: Multiple Chemical Giants Enter the Market, Planned Capacity Under Construction Exceeds 500,000 Tons

Regarding overseas manufacturers:

· Covestro completed the acquisition of Converge's HDI derivative base in July 2026, with existing HDI capacity of 190,000 tons/year;

· Nippon Polyurethane (NPU) has existing capacity of 15,000 tons/year and plans to expand by 50%, with new capacity expected to come on stream around August 2026;

· Asahi Kasei has existing capacity of 22,000 tons/year.

Domestic enterprises are accelerating to seize the market:

· Wanhua Chemical has a total existing HDI capacity of 209,000 tons after acquiring Converge assets. Combined with the Ningbo technical renovation project, the long-term total capacity will expand to 309,000 tons/year;

· Meirui New Materials has formed 100,000 tons/year HDI monomer and derivative capacity in its Henan Industrial Park, with another 200,000 tons under construction;

· NHU (Zhejiang Medicine) plans 103,000 tons/year HDI in its Weifang, Shandong project;

· Oriental Shenghong's subsidiary Lianyungang Hongke New Materials is investing 13.33 billion yuan to build an industrial chain project, laying out 50,000 tons/year HDI, simultaneously supporting TDI, PC, and BPA units, to create an integrated "Refining-Aromatics-BPA-PC/TDI/HDI" industrial chain.

According to industry statistics, the total planned HDI capacity awaiting production in the domestic stage has already exceeded 500,000 tons. In the future, the domestic self-sufficiency capability of HDI will be significantly improved, and the industry competitive landscape will usher in a reshaping.

Downstream Demand Explodes at Multiple Points, New Energy Field Opens Incremental Space

In addition to the traditional coatings market, the application of HDI in emerging industries is expanding rapidly, with continuous demand growth in areas such as electrophoretic paints, ultra-wear-resistant floor paints, wind power blade and tower protection coatings, and photovoltaic backsheet structural adhesives.

· Automotive Industry, BMW i-series electric vehicle OEM varnishes use an HDI curing agent system, with a weather resistance life of over 10 years, a 50% increase compared to traditional coatings;

· Wind Power Field, Huntsman's WindCoat™3025 coating containing HDI trimer is applied to blades in a 60MW domestic offshore wind farm, with salt spray resistance breaking through 3,000 hours;

· Photovoltaic Industry, HDI-based materials are used in N-type modules with a light transmittance of up to 99.3%, a 2 percentage point increase compared to traditional EVA encapsulant films. With the continuous development of new energy vehicles, offshore wind power, and the photovoltaic industry, HDI's long-term demand has strong support.