Overseas demand for magnesia recovers in progress

Asian Metal: Hello, Mr. Liu! Would you please make a brief introduction to your company firstly?

Mr. Liu: Haicheng Haiming Mining Co., Ltd. is a private company located in Haicheng, Liaoning with total registered capital of RMB240 million (USD 3,5471,475). Owning 40 million tons of magnesite, our company integrates underground mining and deep processing of magnesite. Our major products include high purity dead burned magnesia, fused magnesia, caustic calcined magnesia powder, concentrate powder and raw ore with annual production capacities of 200,000t of high purity dead burned magnesia, 200,000t of fused magnesia, 100,000t of caustic calcined magnesia powder, 600,000t of concentrate powder and 1 million tons of raw ore. With the concept of being a first-class enterprise within the industry, we purchased multi-layer furnaces and ball pressing machines designed and produced by ThyssenKrupp in Germany and made MCC Coking and Refractory (Dalian) Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. responsible for the designing of our magnesia production lines and Beijing General Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy responsible for the overall designing of our beneficiation production lines. We have employed not only outstanding talents who graduated from colleges and universities, but also local experts in the magnesite industry with practical experience. We usually adopt strict ISO9001:2005 quality management system to control the quality of our products and thus can produce a series of excellent products with sufficient magnesium oxide contents, high volume density and less impurity. Our products have been sold to America, Europe, Russia, Thailand, India and other countries and regions and have been recognized by customers.

Asian Metal: Please share with us the magnesia price trend in the first half of 2020 and analyze the reason for it.

Mr. Liu: Affected by the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and the weak economy, the demand for magnesia declined sharply in the first half of 2020 and the magnesite industry was also sluggish. Affected by increased stocks, magnesia prices dropped continuously during the period.

Asian Metal: What are major changes in the current refractory market against the backdrop of the spread of Covid-19 worldwide?

Mr. Liu: Affected by the spread of Covid-19 worldwide, many overseas downstream plants, especially steel mills, have cut or even halted production, leading to less demand for refractory. Meanwhile, many downstream plants try to replace high grade refractory with low grade one in production in order to reduce production costs. As a result, the demand for high grade refractory drops gradually in the market.

Asian Metal: Is the magnesia industry facing a reshuffle? How will you deal with the market risks brought by the spread of Covid-19 as a large manufacturer in the industry?

Mr. Liu: There are over 100 large producers of magnesite refractory in Haicheng, the major producing region of the material in China, and thus the competition among producers is very fierce. Therefore, in addition to working hard, exerting our own advantages and striving to improve our product quality and service, we also need to seek a differentiated development path and develop some new high-value-added products. In this way, we can not only meet the needs of customers, but also make more profits.

Asian Metal: How about the operating rate of domestic magnesia companies currently? Most insiders think that the domestic magnesia industry sees overcapacity, what's your opinion about it and do you have some solutions?

Mr. Liu: Mineral products belong to the resource industry, and resources will inevitably be exhausted in the future. The so-called overcapacity is a result of disorderly competition. Anshan, Yingkou and Liaoyang have jointly stopped supplying explosives to open-pit mines for 6-12 months since July 1st, which is a favorable policy for the development of magnesia industry.

Asian Metal: When will the magnesia market outlook turn better based on the current condition in your opinion and what do you think of the market outlook in the second half of 2020 or 2021?

Mr. Liu: When the magnesia market will turn better depends on both the control of the spread of Covid-19 overseas and the demand in the market. As some overseas end users have resumed production, we have signed more orders than the previous months and we hope this situation will last for a long period of time.

Asian Metal: What are your expectations for the future development of your company?

Mr. Liu: We have been adhering to the principle of selecting first-class equipment, employing first-class talents, and providing first-class products and services since the establishment of our company. We have witnessed the rapid development of our company from a deserted mountainous area to a modern factory. We believe that Haiming Mining will become a century-old enterprise in the future under the strong support of national policies and the efforts of our staff.

Asian Metal: Thank you for sharing with us your opinions and wish your company a brighter future!

Mr. Liu: Thank you and also wish Asian Metal a better future!