据悉，1. Regarding the layout of the automotive coating materials business, Hunan Sokan New Materials stated that the company has achieved a layout of "from interior to exterior", "from small parts to large parts" with the automotive parts coating market as the entry point; 2. In recent years, Hunan Sokan New Materials has been increasing its application and promotion efforts in the passenger car market while developing its main business in high-end consumer electronics.
"Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" September 30 news (reporter Wu Xuguang) On the evening of September 29, Hunan Sokan New Materials announced that it plans to invest in the establishment of two wholly-owned subsidiaries in California, USA with its own or self-raised funds, as the main body for the construction of the American Technology and Service Center project.
According to the company's announcement, the total investment in the above project is 5.8 million US dollars. Among them, Sokan (USA) Property LLC has a total investment of 3.5 million US dollars, mainly used for the purchase of land and factories in Vista, California, USA; Sokan New Materials (USA) LLC has a total investment of 2.3 million US dollars, mainly used for laboratory equipment, testing equipment procurement, and preliminary operation, with a total planned construction period of about 12 months.
After the completion of the American Technology and Service Center project, it will mainly be used for the research and development, sampling, and supporting small-scale production, warehousing, and marketing services of new functional coating materials to meet the rapid delivery needs of downstream customers, enhance its global system marketing and technical service capabilities, etc.
Hunan Sokan New Materials is a manufacturer of new functional coating materials, providing downstream customers with a variety of systematic solutions such as coatings, inks, adhesives, etc. Its target markets are high-end consumer electronics and passenger vehicle sectors.
In recent years, the company has been increasing its application and promotion efforts in the passenger car market while developing its main business in high-end consumer electronics.
The reporter of "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" noted that as early as July 2023, Hunan Sokan New Materials announced a plan to issue convertible corporate bonds with a total fundraising amount not exceeding 0.62 billion yuan, for the automotive coatings and special resin project (phase one) and supplementary working capital.
At that time, Hunan Sokan New Materials stated that through this convertible bond project, the company will expand the production capacity of passenger car coating products, cultivate new profit growth points, and promote the optimization of its existing industrial layout and business structure.
However, on September 13 of this year, Hunan Sokan New Materials announced that due to significant changes in the capital markets environment, combined with various factors such as the current macro-policy environment and the company's own operational development, it has decided to terminate the issuance of convertible bonds and withdraw the application documents.
On September 20 of this year, during interviews with multiple institutions, Hunan Sokan New Materials stated that the 'Automotive Coatings and Special Resins' project is both a supplement and extension to their existing passenger vehicle business, aiming to achieve independent control over key raw materials. The company will adjust its financing strategy and continue to advance the project construction through self-owned or self-raised funds.
Regarding the future layout of automotive coating materials business, Hunan Sokan New Materials mentioned that the company starts with the automotive components coating market, achieving a layout 'from interior to exterior' and 'from small parts to large parts'. They are establishing a research and development system for resin, color paste, and other automotive OEM and aftermarket coating materials, preparing to enter the automotive OEM and aftermarket coating materials field.
The 'Star Market Daily' reporter noted that Hunan Sokan New Materials currently relies mainly on revenue from the high-end consumer electronics sector, while the revenue from the automotive coating materials business, which is considered a growth point, has a relatively low proportion.
As of the 2024 interim report, in the first half of the year, Hunan Sokan New Materials achieved a revenue of 32.3 million yuan. Among them, the high-end consumer electronics sector contributed revenue of 27.1 million yuan, accounting for a high 83.90% of the total revenue, which is its main source of income; The passenger vehicle sector, where the automotive coating materials are located, generated revenue of 46.6737 million yuan, accounting for 14.55% of the total revenue.
However, it is important to note that entering the automotive coating market is not an easy task for companies. Currently, global paint giants occupy about 80% of the domestic automotive paint market, especially in the passenger car original paint market, nearly a monopoly. The market is mainly dominated by foreign brands such as PPG, BASF, Nippon Paint, AkzoNobel, and Kansai from the United States, Japan, and Germany, respectively.
Zhang Xiang, Secretary-General of the International Association of Intelligent Transport Technologies, told the 'Star Market Daily' reporter that automotive coatings have always been a highly market-oriented and fully competitive sub-industry. 'As the domestic automotive industry chain and supporting companies mature, for domestic automotive coatings manufacturers, it will mainly test the companies' comprehensive capabilities.'