DFD Keeps Fast Development during the Economic Crisis       

Do-Fluoride Chemicals Co., Ltd. (DFD) is located in Jiaozuo, Henan province and is engaged in the production and sales of high-performance fluoride products, which can be widely used in many industries, such as aeronautics and astronautics, metal metallurgy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electronics.
   Different from other fluoride manufacturers in China, 10-year-old DFD does not use fluorite, one of China's important resources, as the raw material for the production of fluorides. Instead, it makes use of wastes from the phosphate fertilizer industry, the aluminum profile industry and the electrolytic aluminum industry for this purpose. It has developed processes to produce cryolite (Na3AlF6) from sodium hexafluorosilicate (Na2SiF6) or ammonium hexafluoroaluminate, and a process to regenerate cryolite. These processes that DFD owns intellectual property rights can make use of fluorine resources very efficiently. Thus, DFD has trodden a unique path of development. From 2005 to 2009, its annual sales revenue growth rate reached 80%, and its annual profit growth rate was even higher.
   Since early 2009, China's entire fluoride industry got into trouble, and most fluoride enterprises have ceased production or maintained a low operating rate. But DFD has still maintained a steady growth in the production and sales of its products. In 2009, the company's total asset exceeded RMB1 billion, and its output value and pre-tax profit reached RMB1 billion and RMB170 million, respectively. The global giants Alcoa and the Russian Aluminum Corporation abandoned other fluoride suppliers and turned to sign contracts with DFD.
   In the beginning of the global financial crisis, through a variety of ways DFD timely used up its inventory of high-price raw materials worth more than RMB60 million. When the price slashing tide of leading products in the fluoride industry came, DFD implemented the product differentiation and internationalization strategy earlier than other domestic fluoride producers and successfully signed orders with several renowned international aluminum companies. It is precisely the benign complementariness of the domestic market and the international market that has guaranteed the fast sale of the company's products. In addition, DFD tries to gain more capital even when it does not lack money. Such a financing strategy enables the company to always have sufficient funds. During the global financial crisis, while other enterprises did not have enough circulating funds for their production, DFD invested a lot capital in technological renovations and new projects.
    As for its future development, DFD thinks that it should continue to focus on developing a recycling economy. In the next 2 - 3 years, it will achieve the mass production of high-performance inorganic fluorides, the fine production of electronic-grade fluorides and the series production of other fluorides.

The mass production of high-performance inorganic fluorides    

The aim of this strategy is to consolidate the leadership of DFD in China's inorganic fluoride industry and to achieve the maximal profits. DFD has used advanced technologies to produce anhydrous aluminum fluoride and to minimize environmental pollution in its application. In addition, the company's high-performance inorganic fluoride flux project, fluorine resources comprehensive utilization project and renewable cryolite project are all saving energy and environmentally friendly types.

The fine production of electronic-grade fluorides    

In the field of electronic-grade fluorides, DFD has mainly developed lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) and adjusted its product portfolio. A top manager from the company said that the market prospect of lithium hexafluorophosphate is very bright. In China's "Eleventh Five-Year" program, the Chinese government puts forward to vigorously develop new kind of energy sources, especially to develop the alternatives of non-renewable energy resources in the automotive industry. The lithium-ion battery is listed as one of the priority development projects in the program. Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in mobile phones, portable computers and other electronic products and in the electric automobile industry. Lithium compounds have also been used as doping agents for the making of chips in the electronics industry and catalysts for organic synthesis. Lithium hexafluorophosphate is used as an electrolyte in the production of lithium-ion batteries. China now mainly depends on imports from Japan and Korea to meet domestic needs. Therefore, the R & D and mass production of lithium hexafluorophosphate are imperative.
   DFD itself produces the two major raw materials of lithium hexafluorophosphate, that is, lithium fluoride and anhydrous hydrofluoric acid. So it has an obvious cost advantage in this aspect. And DFD contributed a lot in revising the national standards of the two products. In the second half of 2010, the company's 200 t/a lithium hexafluorophosphate unit will be put into operation.

The series production of high-end silicon-based products

Other fluorides are mainly related to the use of silicon. In order to overcome the high power consumption and environmental issues of the polysilicon industry, DFD has invented a clever way to separate fluorine and silicon. The cost of the popular modified Siemens process is greatly affected by international oil prices. DFD has invented a process to produce high-quality silicon dioxide from sodium hexafluorosilicate which is produced from silicon-containing sludge of the phosphate fertilizer industry. This process can reduce the production cost by 30%. Meanwhile, all the byproducts of this process are fluorides, which can also be used to produce other useful fluoride products.
    On January 8th, 2010, DFD got the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission's approval and was allowed to issue its shares (IPO) in domestic stock market.