Wang Jun: Deep processing is the necessary road for chemical zirconia development

----Interview with Wang Jun, General Manager of Langxi Jiuli Zirconium Salt Co.,Ltd

Asian Metal: Hello, Mr. Wang. Thank you very much for accepting our interview. Could you please introduce your company first?

Mr.Wang: Our factory commenced operations in the production of zirconia products in 2002 but relocated to this site in 2004 due to the need for expansion and environmental regulation. We currently have 4 production lines; the first is for zirconium carbonate production with an output of 3,000tpy, the second being for zirconium oxychloride production with a capacity of 5,000tpy; the third is for sodium zirconium silicate, and the last is for the production of zirconium acetate and other chemical zirconia products. Another new production line is currently under construction but, please forgive me we could not reveal the detail at this moment as the product is in the research and development stage.. Among our products, sodium zirconium silicate is our patented product, and we are applying for the national patent for zirconium acetate.

AM: We know that your factory is mainly producing zirconium carbonate and then export to overseas market, can you give a brief introduction on it?

Mr.Wang:We export about 1,000t of zirconium carbonate every year, which account for about 11% of the total export market share. In addition, we export about 100t of sodium zirconium silicate and about 50t of zirconium acetate per annual.

AM: How do you think about current zirconium oxychloride and zirconium carbonate market?

Mr.Wang: As the new industry regulations for zirconium oxychloride would be released, coupled with the strict control on enviromental control from Chinese government, I think more than 30% of zirconium oxychloride plant would be obsoleted in one or two years. According to the statistics from Zirconium&Titanium Industry Association, the total production capacity for zirconium oxychloride in China is about 500,000-600,000tpy, and I believe that the current scenario oversupply situation of zirconium oxychloride in China would be improved greatly. And we could see zirconium carbonate market might copy zirconium oxychloride market.

AM: Facing similiar market situation of zirconium oxychloride and zirconium carbonate, how does your company remain competitive in the furture?

Mr.Wang: We plan to stop the zirconium carbonate production line. After making some structural and technical adjustment on those old equipment and investing on some high-tech imported equipment, we plan to transfer the production line to use for production of deep procession products. In fact, the deep processin techniques for chemical zirconia products becomes very mature in Europe and America with good application. In China, high-tech products and high-value added products are still in early stage of development and they are also the necessary development direction for chemical zirconia. Therefore, we spare no effort at investing in research and development on zirconia deep processing,for example, we already got the patent for sodium zirconium silicate, and we are applying for national patent for other products now. In addition, we are reasearching a new zircona product, which would be sold at as high as several hundreds of thousands Yuan (RMB) . It is estimated that there are less than 3 producers around the world, which would make up for Chinese blank for the products.

AM: How about your investment in techniques?

Mr.Wang: As we have fairly deep knowledge about the market outlook of zirconia products, we put human and financial resources into new product research and development . We conservatively invest more than 30% of our total net profit on new techniques research. Our total labour force is about 70 workers in our factory, of which 5 employees are permanent research staff members working on new technique on various products. We cooperate with overseas technician staff and send our technician staff to study abroad. More over, we also put into great efforts on new products market investigation. By the way, our staffs are very young with most of them born in late 80s and young and able to quickly learn new techniques and adapt same to changing business sector to make our factory more stronger.

AM: And advice for Asian Metal?

Mr.Wang:We expect that Asian Metal could hold a conference on zircon products. With such a conference, participants of this industry could gether together, exchange ideas and challenges and communicate and relate our thoughts and experiences on the market and production freely.

AM:Thank you again for accepting this interview and for substantial support from your company. We believe your insightful views will provide guide for other participants.