China Refractory Materials Industry Association holds a working symposium on "opposing involution, stabilizing growth, and strengthening self-discipline"

The China Refractory Materials Industry Association held a symposium on "Anti-Involution, Stabilizing Growth, and Strengthening Self-Discipline" on October 11, 2025, in Changxing, Zhejiang Province. Liu Baikuan, Chairman of Puyang Refractories Group Co., Ltd., and other leaders from leading industry enterprises attended the meeting.

1. The Industry Faces Severe Challenges

The meeting pointed out that the current refractory materials industry faces a severe imbalance between supply and demand, with excessive supply and insufficient downstream demand. This "involution" is serious, affecting the quality and efficiency of the industry's development. Participating entrepreneurs discussed the difficulties caused by involution and vicious competition, and explored issues such as overcapacity, vicious competition, and price pressure from steel mills.

The "involution" phenomenon stems from declining demand and overcapacity, leading to a general decline in the quality and efficiency of enterprise operations and affecting the healthy development of the industry.

2. Response Strategies and Future Directions

Several business leaders shared their response strategies, including: strengthening technological innovation, differentiating competition, adjusting business models, optimizing production processes, and increasing R&D investment to cope with market changes; expanding into overseas markets and strengthening collaboration among leading companies; and improving production efficiency and product quality through technological upgrades.

The meeting discussed the future development direction of the industry, including strategies such as product premiumization, internationalization, and supply chain integration. It emphasized the importance of technological innovation and market segmentation, and proposed using differentiated competition to escape low-end price wars.

The meeting called for stronger horizontal cooperation within the industry to jointly address challenges, proposing specific cooperation mechanisms such as product complementarity and market collaboration among leading companies, and establishing information sharing platforms and price coordination mechanisms.