Huangshi City Friction Material Raw Material Association | Voice of Friction Materials, Issue 4, 2016

Newsletter

1. On the morning of November 18, 2016, the anniversary celebration of the Huangshi City Enterprise Federation's Friction Material Branch and the 13th council meeting was grandly held at the Diaoyu Island Hotel in Daye City. Attendees included: Fu Shunyu, Secretary-General of the Huangshi City Entrepreneurs Association, Pu Yeping, advisor of the branch, personnel from ten member enterprises of the branch, and Manager Wan Hui from Leixin Company, totaling twenty-six people.

At the meeting, the invited leaders and new member Leixin Company were warmly welcomed; then, under the leadership of Wang Dong from Xinyi Company, everyone studied the speech by Comrade Zhou Xianwang at the Entrepreneur Salon and Mid-Autumn Forum on the Green Transformation Development of Huangshi Industry. Following that, some enterprises in the branch reported on the drafted 2016 annual work summary and the safety inspection organized by the branch on November 4, 2016. Finally, Secretary-General Fu Shunyu and Director Pu Yeping delivered important speeches. In the afternoon, the council members held a council meeting to discuss, finalize, and assign tasks regarding six documents of the branch and the group exhibition plans for next year.

After the meeting, everyone gathered for a celebratory dinner for the first anniversary of the branch's establishment, hoping that with everyone's efforts, the branch will continue to thrive and the enterprises will grow stronger.

2. On December 7, 2016, Branch President Wang Yiting and Deputy Manager of Wangping Company, Zhan Wenqi, traveled to Beijing to discuss the related matters of the Huangshi Friction Material Raw Material Branch's group exhibition at the 2017 Chengdu Industry Conference with Chairman Wang Yao and Secretary-General Zhang Yukun of the China Friction Sealing Material Association. The two leaders from the headquarters praised and affirmed our branch's work and provided constructive suggestions for the next steps.

Photo collection of the anniversary celebration of the Huangshi City Enterprise Federation Friction Material Raw Material Branch

Leverage Traditional Advantages to Strengthen the Friction Raw Material Industry

——Report on the Development of the Friction Material Raw Material Industry in Huangshi Region(Wang Dong, Xinyi Company)

In recent years, the friction material raw material enterprises in the Huangshi region have been affected by the overall market environment, leading to a decline in the economic situation compared to before. To reduce losses and further promote the development of our city's friction material raw material enterprises, enhancing their position and advantages in the industry, 15 friction material raw material production and operation enterprises officially established the Huangshi City Enterprise Federation Friction Material Raw Material Branch on February 25, 2016, with the care and support of the Huangshi City Enterprise Federation and relevant leaders. The branch mainly provides non-profit services for the production and operation activities of peer enterprises in the region, safeguards the legitimate interests of member enterprises, promotes industry self-discipline, and facilitates the sustainable, healthy, and coordinated development of member enterprises.

1. Current Status of the Friction Material Raw Material Industry in Huangshi Region
Huangshi, as a famous ancient mining city in China, produces a wealth of copper, iron, talc, feldspar, and other metal and non-metal minerals. It is an important raw material production base for friction materials in the country, possessing unique advantages and conditions for the production and processing of raw materials for friction materials.
1. Significant Resource Advantages. A total of 273 mineral deposits have been discovered and identified, with 53 types of metal and non-metal minerals. The reserves of talc rank second in the world, making it one of the six major copper production bases and ten major iron production bases in the country.
2. Clear Industrial Advantages. A long history of mining and processing has cultivated a large number of technical talents and industrial workers. In recent years, enterprises have continuously increased investment through technological transformation, improving production equipment and technical levels, resulting in high national recognition and reputation for their products.
3. Complete Industrial System. The friction material raw material industry in Huangshi has formed an industrial chain encompassing mining, rough processing, deep processing, modification, and compounding, with 15 production and processing enterprises and an annual output of 300,000 tons of various raw materials.
4. Large Market Share. The friction material raw material products produced in Huangshi have a good brand effect nationwide, occupying a significant market share, with over 50% of the main mineral fillers sourced from the Huangshi region.

5. Favorable Development Environment. Huangshi is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is an open port city. Major highways such as Huhong, Daguan, and Hangrui pass through, and it is half an hour's drive from the provincial capital, Wuhan. Huangshi has been included in the policy scope of 'Two Comparisons' (comparing with the old industrial bases in Northeast China and the development of the western region) and is a sub-center city of the Wuhan Urban Circle Comprehensive Reform Experimental Zone, enjoying significant policy support as a resource-depleted transformation city approved by the State Council. Huangshi is in a policy highland, and the relevant municipal departments attach great importance to the development of the friction material raw material industry, providing rare opportunities for its development through good service measures and efficient handling.

2. Problems Facing the Friction Material Raw Material Industry in Huangshi Region
With the development of China's economy and society, especially the automotive industry, there is a steadily growing market opportunity for friction materials. In the next five years, China will remain in a critical period of accelerating modernization and an important strategic opportunity period, providing new market space for the steady development of the friction material industry.

The friction material raw material industry faces both development opportunities and greater challenges. Overall, the development mode of our city's friction material raw material industry is relatively extensive, and there are several main issues: first, a large scale of low-end production capacity; second, a short industrial chain and low product added value, with slow development of processed products; third, insufficient technological innovation; fourth, small enterprise scale and low production concentration. Therefore, the development of our city's friction material raw material industry will shift from 'incremental expansion' to 'quality improvement and efficiency enhancement', and from 'high-speed growth' to a 'stable development' period.

3. Development Goals for the Friction Material Raw Material Industry in Huangshi Region
The overall low-end production capacity of the friction material raw material industry is excessive, and future market competition is bound to become increasingly fierce. During the '13th Five-Year Plan' period, our city will vigorously eliminate backward low-end friction material raw material production capacity, research and strive to reserve cutting-edge international friction material raw material technologies, and through innovation and optimization, aim to establish our city's friction material raw material industry as a national production base.
1. Establish a cooperation mechanism between industry, academia, and research to enhance enterprise innovation capabilities. Compared to European and American countries, China's raw materials for friction materials face issues such as low technological levels and insufficient independent innovation capabilities. Therefore, in-depth cooperation with universities to establish a cooperation mechanism between industry, academia, and research will be an important means for enterprises to transform and upgrade, enhancing their innovation capabilities. Through 'school-enterprise partnerships' and investment in research and development funds, a batch of mid-to-high-end products and technologies with high technical content will be produced and reserved, laying a foundation for enterprise development.
2. Product upgrade and expansion of the industrial chain. With the advancement of technology, customers' demands for raw materials for friction materials are increasing. Some low-end products are facing the trend of elimination. Currently, the application fields of raw materials for friction materials in our city are relatively singular, leading to a decline in the profitability of enterprises, and the original growth model is also difficult to sustain, which has become a major constraint on our development. We should fully utilize our regional and resource advantages, shift from rough processing to refined processing, material modification, purification, and compounding. We should not only provide raw materials for the friction materials field but also explore the full value of the products—developing horizontally and venturing into high-end fields such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, coatings, aerospace, and photovoltaics, thereby expanding the industrial chain through product upgrades.
3. Unite for warmth and build a national production base for raw materials of friction materials. Friction materials are mainly used in braking components of industrial equipment, including aerospace, aircraft, automobiles, and machine tools, with a very wide range of applications. The raw materials for friction materials mainly consist of mineral powder materials, metal fiber materials, granular materials, and composite materials, which are essential components of friction materials. The Huangshi area is also an important production base for raw materials of friction materials in the country. It is believed that under the leadership of the Huangshi City Enterprise Federation and the unremitting efforts of various enterprises in the raw materials for friction materials sector, the raw materials subcommittee will strive to continuously innovate and improve, aiming to establish our city as the largest, most influential, and widely recognized comprehensive production base for friction materials in China.

4. Suggestions for the development of the raw materials industry for friction materials in the Huangshi area.

1. Policy support to accelerate enterprise development. The raw materials industry for friction materials is a small-scale industry in the Huangshi area, and the attention from relevant city leaders is insufficient, with limited policy support. In future developments, it is necessary to strengthen the interaction between government and enterprises, striving for strong support in terms of policies, funding, and services.
2. Promote the development of the industrial chain. As an old industrial city, Huangshi has numerous enterprises in various industries. We should strive to connect with relevant industry enterprises through recommendations from relevant departments, and under the same conditions of product quality and price, prioritize choosing local enterprise products to support local enterprise development, maximizing contributions to Huangshi's economy.
3. Build a platform for cooperation between schools and enterprises. Technology is the primary productive force, and enhancing the overall innovation capability of enterprises and strengthening 'industry-university-research' collaborative innovation is essential. Through the cooperation of government departments, enterprises, and educational institutions, we can build a good platform for industry-university-research collaboration, effectively combining resources from all parties to maximize the impact of research and development outputs.