Caustic soda (Sodium Hydroxide, NaOH) stands as one of the most essential raw materials in modern basic chemical industry. It widely supports numerous sectors including alumina production, papermaking, textile printing and dyeing, fine chemicals, food processing, water treatment and metallurgy. Within China’s caustic soda industrial landscape, Befar Group, boasting decades of accumulated chlor-alkali technology, a comprehensive product portfolio and prominent advantages in segmented product categories, has evolved into a well-recognised core supplier of caustic soda for domestic and global markets.
Founded in 1968, Befar Group launched its formal chlor-alkali production in 1970, making it a long-established chlor-alkali chemical enterprise in China. Its core entity, Befar Group Co., Ltd., is listed on both Shanghai Stock Exchange (601678.SH) and Hong Kong Stock Exchange (06745.HK). It acts as a key industrial chain leader in Shandong Province and ranks among China Top 500 Manufacturers. As the flagship product of the Group’s chlor-alkali division, caustic soda serves as a cornerstone business. Its products are certified as premium chemical brands under the “Quality Shandong” programme and exported to more than 100 countries and regions worldwide.
In terms of production capacity layout, Befar Group operates an annual caustic soda capacity of 610,000 metric tons. Its product range covers liquid caustic soda, flake caustic soda and prilled caustic soda, with both industrial and food-grade specifications available to satisfy diversified demands from downstream customers. Liquid caustic soda is mainly offered in 32% concentration (industrial grade & food grade) and 48% industrial grade. Solid caustic soda includes 98.5% flake sodium hydroxide and 99% prilled sodium hydroxide. The annual capacity of prilled caustic soda reaches 200,000 metric tons. Befar is China’s largest prilled caustic soda manufacturer, holding approximately 60% market share in the domestic prilled caustic soda market. It also maintains a leading market position for food-grade flake caustic soda.
Advanced production processes guarantee stable product quality of Befar’s caustic soda. The Group fully adopts the ion-membrane electrolysis process for caustic soda production. It introduced complete sets of world-class ion-membrane caustic soda facilities back in 2002, and these units once served as demonstration projects for overseas technology suppliers in China and across the globe. Befar is also the first domestic enterprise to deploy membrane-based primary brine refining technology on a large scale. After refining, the total content of calcium and magnesium impurities in brine is steadily controlled below 7 PPb, exceeding conventional industrial benchmarks. Supported by self-developed membrane denitrification technology which replaces traditional barium chloride processes, the Group achieves stable product purity while easing environmental burdens. Equipped with DCS automatic control systems and intelligent automated warehousing and palletising facilities, Befar ensures consistent quality across production batches.
Befar’s solid caustic soda features outstanding purity, rapid dissolution rate, low impurity content, favourable fluidity, low dust generation, and convenient storage and automatic metering. Food-grade caustic soda is subject to strict national standards controlling restricted indicators such as arsenic, mercury and heavy metals, complying with applications including food equipment cleaning and food acidity adjustment. Industrial-grade caustic soda applies to alumina smelting, textile printing and dyeing, pulp manufacturing, petrochemicals, wastewater pH adjustment, metal surface treatment and other fields.
Geographic advantages and integrated industrial chains further strengthen supply chain stability. Located in Binzhou on the Yellow River Delta adjacent to the Bohai Sea, Befar enjoys convenient port logistics. It supports production with self-owned raw salt capacity and captive thermal power facilities. Sufficient upstream raw material and energy supplies help mitigate cyclical market fluctuations, enabling long-term stable supply solutions for global and domestic customers.
From an industrial perspective, new capacity expansion in China’s caustic soda sector is continuously restricted by energy consumption policies. Market competition is gradually concentrating on leading enterprises with technological strengths, stable quality and multi-specification supply capabilities. Befar Group keeps advancing industrial upgrading. The planned technical renovation and expansion project at Zhanhua base is expected to lift the total annual caustic soda capacity to 810,000 metric tons in the long run, further consolidating its leading position in the solid caustic soda segment.
For overseas procurement merchants and downstream manufacturers, Befar’s complete range of grades and specifications, mature export experience and long-term stable quality standards make it a vital supplier for solid caustic soda and high-quality liquid caustic soda. Driven by sustained demand growth for high-purity caustic soda from new energy and fine chemical industries, Befar Group will continue supplying standardised caustic soda products to global markets relying on proven ion-membrane chlor-alkali technology and well-established global distribution channels.
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