Business
Gulf Resources Announces Results for the Second Quarter and Six Months Ending June 30, 2023
SHOUGUANG, China, Aug. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources", “we,” or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of
About this update from Gulf Resources, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"SHOUGUANG, China, Aug. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) (\"Gulf Resources\", “we,” or the \"Company\"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced financial results for the second quarter and six months ending June 30, 2023. At the end of this press release you will see our income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Our 10-Q filed with the SEC describes all the business segments of the company. While we normally cover these segments first, this quarter we will provide investors with context about the Chinese economy in general and our industries in particular so you can better understand the current direction of the company. The Chinese Economy In the second quarter of 2023, the Chinese economy continued to suffer a slowdown. Our products were especially impacted. The demand for bromine was weak. With the control of COVID-19, the demand for sanitizers dried up, especially since many companies had built up stock anticipating higher demand. The slowdown in construction also impacted the sales of fire retardants. As a result, bromine prices from sunsirs.com, which had been RMB 69,500 per tonne on October 16,2021 during the height of COVID, dropped to RMB 18,000 on June 30, 2023, representing a decline of 74%. The company expects bromine prices may improve in the future. In fact, by August 10, 2023, bromine prices had increased to RMB 24,200. However, at this time it is difficult to estimate the timing of the improvement. In addition to the decline in the price of bromine, the RMB declined against the U.S.D. Over the extended term, this could be a significant benefit for our company. With the lower RMB, imports of chemicals using bromine are more expensive, meaning domestic producers should gain share. Exports of pharmaceuticals and other chemical products may be cheaper, meaning the opportunities for building an export business may increase. Given the pricing of bromine in the second quarter, the company believes that most companies in the bromine industry and most companies producing chemicals made from bromine have not been profitable. We have yet to seen many bankruptcies, but we assume many may come. Given the current market conditions, we believe that we currently have strong cash position and balance sheet. Accordingly,...