Summary: In late June 2022, Chemspec's application for listing on the Growth Enterprises Market is accepted and it planned to raise capital for building a 25,500 t/a battery material project.

On 30 June, 2022, Shanghai Chemspec Corporation (Chemspec)'s initial public offering (IPO) application was accepted. The company planned to raise capital of USD149.56 million (RMB1 billion), USD119.65 million (RMB800 million) of which will be used for the first part of the 25,500 t/a battery material project (phase I) of Lanzhou Chemspec Corporation (Lanzhou Chemspec) and USD29.91 million (RMB200 million) of which will be used for working capital supplement.

This 25,500 t/a battery material project (phase I) of Lanzhou Chemspec, with a total investment of USD149.56 million (RMB1 billion), includes 15,000 t/a lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI) and 500 t/a ethylene sulphate. USD119.65 million (RMB800 million) from the raise capital is used for the first part of this project, which includes equipment of 10,000 t/a LiFSI and 500 t/a ethylene sulphate, as well as supporting storage, transportation, and environmental facilities.

The prospectus showed that Chemspec, founded in 1996, mainly engages in R&D, production, and sales of new materials and pharmaceutical and pesticide chemicals.

• In terms of new material sector, especially display material, Chemspec gains reputation and influence in global liquid crystal market for its R&D, production, and management abilities. The market shares of the company's main product, fluorinated liquid crystal monomer, rank tops in the industry and the company is a core vendor for the world's second manufacturer of mixed crystal, JNC Corporation, and an important supplier for the world's top mixed crystal producer, Merck KGaA.
• With respect to new energy battery materials and electronic chemicals, Chemspec has made progress in these two sectors. Chemspec is one the earliest companies that realised mass production of LiFSI domestically and globally and it occupies large market shares globally. As of late 2021, the LiFSI capacity of Chemspec hit 1,700 t/a; in 2019–2021, both LiFSI output and sales of Chemspec exceeded 1,000 tonnes; in 2021, the output and sales of LiFSI registered 773 tonnes and 705 tonnes respectively.

 

Chemspec stated that LiFSI is more aligned with the development trend of li-ion battery with high performance, broad temperature, and high safety because LiFSI has merits of high conductivity, high chemical stability, and excellent thermal stability as electrolyte lithium salt. It will become the next generation of lithium salt of li-ion battery that is most likely to partly replace lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF₆). LiFSI is expected to usher in a demand explosion stage in the next five years.

 

LiFSI enjoys a promising market outlook and relevant R&D and production technologies are becoming mature. Many domestic enterprises started construction of LiFSI projects which are estimated to be successively put into production within five years. Based on CCM's incomplete statistics, the current planned capacity of LiFSI has reached over 200,000 t/a in China.