Hubei’s “Chain” Song | Huayang Chemical: From World Leader to All-Around Champion

Reporter Rong Kailun: “These small jars beside me might seem unremarkable, but they play a key role in skincare products, especially sunscreen. For example, this bottle of yellow powdery BP3 in my hand is a commonly used UV absorber component in sunscreens on the market. And Huayang Chemical, where I am now, has achieved a global first because of it.”

By producing this raw material, which commands a 70% global market share, Huayang Chemical became a “hidden champion” in its niche. This number one position was earned through the company’s own initiative to “raise the bar”.

“Add 25 microliters of reagent, the product can be demonstrated as qualified if the purity exceeds 99.9%.”

Zhao Dingchun, Chief Engineer of Huayang Chemical Co., Ltd.: “Some customers require a purity of 99%. We simply increased the quality by an order of magnitude, achieving 99.9%. Most of our customers are loyal and rarely leave because we supplied high-purity product to win over market.”

By proactively improving quality and moving into the high-end segment, Huayang Chemical has captured the favor of major cosmetics giants with its high-purity raw materials. Its products are exported to raw material markets in Japan, South Korea, Europe, and America, and the company has consistently held the “champion” position in this specialized field in recent years. However, relying on a single product is far from sufficient to become the global leader in UV absorber production.

Zhao Dingchun: “Having too few products is a significant risk to a company’s competitiveness. The company decided to develop a full range of UV absorber products, not only for skincare but also to expand into high-end engineering plastics, including films, sun protection films, and lenses.”

Seizing the opportunity presented by relocation, Huayang Chemical invested nearly 10 million RMB in technological upgrades while stabilizing existing production. It pioneered the research of the high-end UV absorber product “triazinone series” in China and obtained a patent. The UV absorption capacity of this new product can be up to three times that of previous products, significantly broadening its application fields. Currently, this new product is undergoing final testing and is set to begin production in the first quarter.

Xu Bo, Deputy General Manager of Huayang Chemical Co., Ltd.: “Even before entering formal production, many customers have already actively placed orders. Orders for the new product have already exceeded 20 million RMB. There are five major categories of UV absorbers. Through a series of technological innovations, we aim to become the world’s largest producer in all five categories.”

In the Yidu Chemical Park, over 30 other companies relocated alongside Huayang. At the start of the new year, the park focused on industrial chain investment to maximize the aggregation of industrial development resources, welcoming many new members. This brings the goal of achieving a 100-billion-yuan chemical industry output value during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period even closer.

Deng Shichun, Director of the Yidu Municipal Bureau of Economy, Information Technology, and Commerce, Yichang City: “The industrial projects within this chemical park are not operating in isolation; they all have upstream and downstream linkages. The total output value of the chemical industry has already exceeded 22 billion RMB. We have just successfully signed a 3-billion-RMB project with YONFER and several new energy battery projects are under negotiation. We anticipate potentially achieving the 100-billion-yuan chemical output goal 1 to 2 years ahead of schedule.”

(Hubei Radio & Television Media Reporter Rong Kailun, Yidu Station Wu Zhiqiang, Chen Fan. Editor Meizi)