On September 27th, Capital Bang learned that Science and Technology Innovation Board Western Superconductor released a reply to the letter of inquiry on the examination of the application documents for issuing shares to specific targets.
With regard to the industrialization project of high-performance metal materials for aerospace, the recruitment manual and due diligence report show that: (1) the company is currently in small batch production of superalloy materials, and the capacity utilization rate is low; (2) after the completion of the industrialization project of high-performance metal materials for aerospace, the production capacity of superalloy materials will be increased by 1500 tons per year. (3) the high-performance superalloy materials for engines and the corresponding superalloy materials for the powder plate project of the company's IPO investment project are under construction capacity of 2500 tons per year; the time for the project to reach its scheduled state of use has been postponed from July 22, 2021 to January 22, 2023.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange requires the issuer to explain: (1) the reason and rationality of the delay of the above-mentioned IPO investment project, the current project construction progress and the scale of reaching production; (2) whether there is any difference in product specification, performance, application field and target customer between the capital raising corresponding superalloy material and the IPO financing project corresponding superalloy material, and the rationality of continuing to increase production capacity when the pre-financing project has not been completed. (3) explain the capacity digestion arrangement of superalloy materials after the completion of pre-placement and capital offering projects, combined with market capacity, capacity utilization, in-hand orders, intention orders, etc.
Western Superconductor replied that on July 7, 2021, the company held the 23rd meeting of the third board of directors and the 16th meeting of the third board of supervisors, and examined and adopted the "motion on the extension of partially raised investment projects." taking into account the early market changes of the project, the impact of the epidemic situation and the progress of implementation and other factors, the company decided to postpone the time when the project reached the intended state of use. That is, from July 22, 2021 to January 22, 2023. This extension does not change the content, investment purpose, total investment and implementation subject of the fund-raising project.
The company's "high-performance superalloy material and powder plate project for engine" originally planned to take 24 months and reach the scheduled state of use by July 22, 2021.
After the adjustment of the internal investment structure of the project, the superalloy bar products mainly adopt triple and duplex smelting processes, according to the existing equipment conditions of vacuum induction melting furnace and protective atmosphere electroslag furnace, combined with the process characteristics of the products, increase the production capacity of vacuum consumable melting. In addition, the project adjusts the purchase scheme of free forging machine and increases the rolling mill, and adjusts the number of matching reheating furnaces according to the design of 45MN free fast forging unit and large reversible rolling mill. The adjustment of the internal investment structure involves the purchase of some new equipment, and the manufacture and installation of the new equipment requires a certain period of time, which affects the construction progress of the project.
In addition, the epidemic situation of COVID-19 has occurred since the beginning of 2020, which has led to a certain lag in the progress of infrastructure construction, equipment procurement, especially the manufacture and installation of imported equipment, and has affected the construction progress of the project to a large extent.
As of the date of reply to this audit inquiry letter, the project of high-performance superalloy materials and powder plates for engines is still under construction and has not yet reached production scale.
After the completion of the superalloy project in the industrialization project of high-performance metal materials for aerospace, the production capacity of superalloy will be increased by 1500 tons per year, the main production brands are GH4169, GH2132, GH4738, GH4698, etc., among which, the production scale of small-size GH4169, GH2132 and other superalloy products is 100 tons, and the production scale of large-size superalloy products such as GH4169, GH4738, GH4698 is 1400 tons.
In this fund-raising project, the industrialization project of high-performance metal materials for aerospace will add some production equipment such as 12-ton vacuum induction furnace, 12-ton protective atmosphere electroslag furnace, 12-ton vacuum consumable electric arc furnace, etc. it can produce superalloy bars of larger size than the original 8-ton related production equipment.
The main customers of the high-performance metal materials industrialization project for aerospace and the superalloy products in the IPO investment project are engine-related production enterprises such as the subsidiary companies of China Aviation Industry Corporation.
The superalloy brand to be produced in this fund-raising project does not include the powder superalloy master alloy, in addition, there is no big difference between the superalloy material in this fund-raising project and the superalloy material corresponding to IPO project in product specifications, properties, application fields and target customers.
After the completion of the superalloy project in the industrialization project of high-performance metal materials for aerospace, the production capacity of superalloy will be increased by 1500 tons per year, the main production brands are GH4169, GH2132, GH4738, GH4698, etc., among which, the production scale of small-size GH4169, GH2132 and other superalloy products is 100 tons, and the production scale of large-size superalloy products such as GH4169, GH4738, GH4698 is 1400 tons.
The prospectus reveals that after the completion of the industrialization project of high-performance metal materials for aerospace, the new production of titanium alloy materials will be increased by 5050 tons per year.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange requires issuers to combine market capacity, historical sales, capacity utilization, in-hand orders and intended orders to explain the capacity digestion arrangements for titanium alloy materials after the completion of the project.
Western Superconductor replied that according to the company's semi-annual report for 2021, the company sold 2898.92 tons of titanium alloy materials in the first half of the year, and the annual sales volume is expected to reach 6000 tons, which is higher than the forecast for 2021 titanium alloy sales in the above table.
It is estimated that the company's titanium alloy sales will exceed 10, 000 tons in 2026, and the project is expected to reach full production in 2027. After reaching production, the company's titanium alloy production capacity will reach 10000 tons. The titanium alloy materials of this project have sufficient market digestion capacity.
With regard to the Superconducting Innovation Research Institute project and the Superconducting Industry Innovation Center project, the prospectus reveals that: (1) the Superconducting Innovation Research Institute project will build a national advanced titanium alloy and superalloy engineering preparation technology development base and innovation platform; at present, the company's existing innovation platform capacity has been insufficient, there is an urgent need for integration and capacity improvement. (2) the superconducting industry innovation center will build superconducting wire industrialization preparation technology laboratory and pilot test base, superconducting magnet and power application equipment development laboratory and pilot test base, superconducting wire-superconducting magnet-power application equipment full chain industrialization base. On the basis of the existing equipment and technical team, the company intends to aim at the latest development direction of the application of superconducting materials and magnets, supplement or upgrade related equipment, and form a blank research and development platform for the application of superconducting materials and magnets in China.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange requires the issuer to explain: (1) the reason and rationality of the Superconducting Innovation Research Institute project which focuses on titanium alloy and superalloy technology and the name "Superconducting Innovation Research Institute"; (2) combined with the company's existing office experimental sites and personnel and equipment, analyze the necessity of investing in construction projects. Whether the new construction project is for self-use only, whether it involves external rental or sale, and whether it involves disguised investment in real estate business; (3) analyze the necessity of purchasing new equipment in the project according to the company's existing R & D equipment and equipment replacement demand.
Western Superconductor replied that the Superconducting Innovation Research Institute project will build a national advanced titanium alloy, superalloy engineering preparation technology development base and innovation platform, because the company's securities are referred to as "Western Superconducting" for short, the company generally calls itself "Superconducting Company" when it is introduced to the outside world, so "Superconducting" in "Superconducting Innovation Research Institute" refers to "Western Superconductor" or "Superconducting Company". It is reasonable for the company to name the innovation research platform "Superconducting Innovation Research Institute".
The company's existing scientific research office and equipment construction area is seriously insufficient, and it is difficult to meet the future company R & D conditions construction and new personnel scientific research office needs, does not involve external rental or sale, does not involve disguised investment in the real estate business. Therefore, through the construction of the Superconducting Innovation Research Institute project and the Superconducting Industry Innovation Center project, the company will further improve the ability to gather talents, resources and scientific and technological achievements and accelerate the development of the industry.
There are reasonable reasons and necessity for the project of Superconducting Enterprise Research Institute to purchase new R & D equipment.