A word from our chairman

Metals are the skeleton of industrial civilisation; extractants are the key that turns raw earth into usable metal. More than twenty years ago, few people had even heard the word “extractant”. It has been the focus of my life.

In 2002, Deyuan Chemicals was founded in Zhengzhou, Henan. From the very first day, we set ourselves one clear direction — the research, development and application of solvent-extraction reagents — and one simple conviction: China should not have to depend on imported extractants. From our first P204 and P507 products, to cracking the ketoxime synthesis that had long held back domestic copper extractants and becoming the first Chinese company to mass-produce DY984N, to the DY272 nickel–cobalt separation reagent that broke the import monopoly at less than a quarter of the import price — for more than twenty years, we have focused on one craft: taking extraction to its utmost.

I have always believed that technology is the true productive force. In 2012, the company established its R&D centre; since then, we have built several research platforms and carried out long-term collaboration with the laboratories of universities including Zhengzhou University and Lanzhou University. It is this deep investment in industry–academia–research that has earned Deyuan a portfolio of invention patents and placed more than ten extractant products at the front of their field.

Effort bears fruit. Today, several of Deyuan’s extractants rank first in China by sales. That “first” is not a finish line — it is the market’s recognition of our work, and the force that keeps us moving forward.

In recent years, we have looked further afield. We have built a 10,000-tonne-per-year copper plant in Zambia, and our overseas business continues to grow. From Zhengzhou to the world, Deyuan Chemicals hopes to bring “Made in China” to the stage of the global metals economy.

Looking ahead, Deyuan Chemicals will continue to lead with innovation, centre on product and serve with purpose — tempering ourselves in the fire, refining metals, shaping futures — as we write a greener, low-carbon, circular chapter of the metals economy together with partners around the world.