Why is R-22 still produced if it's being phased out?

The logic of the exemption

The Montreal Protocol controls what reaches the atmosphere. Refrigerant use is "emissive" — leaks, venting, end-of-life losses — so it is capped and phased. Feedstock use consumes the molecule: HCFC-22 pyrolysed to make TFE is chemically destroyed in the process, with only trace fugitive emissions, so the treaty leaves it outside the control measures. The same principle runs through UNEP and technical assessments of feedstock flows: control the emission pathway, not the chemistry industry's raw materials.

Where the molecules go

PTFE — non-stick, chemical-resistant, dielectric — anchors demand from cookware to wire insulation to process equipment; pharmaceutical and agrochemical syntheses draw related fluorochemistry. That industrial pull is why HCFC-22 plants run at scale in a phase-out decade.

Why the distinction matters commercially

Two markets, two rulebooks, one molecule. The refrigerant lane runs on quota, Rule 6 registration and Rule 7 declarations; the feedstock lane runs on industrial disclosure and its own tracking. For buyers the practical meanings differ too: an AMC company's R-22 is scarce and appreciating; a chemical plant's HCFC-22 input is a stable industrial raw material. We serve both from the same registered footing — servicing cylinders for the trade, and bulk HCFC-22 supply where industrial users consume it as feedstock (sector detail on the industries page).

The long view

The exemption also explains an apparent paradox in national statistics: Indian HCFC-22 production can remain robust into the 2030s while refrigerant consumption obediently steps down the HPMP staircase — the two series measure different lanes. Peer-reviewed atmospheric work (Andersen et al., PNAS 2021) and UNEP/NRDC issue papers track the feedstock flows precisely because the tonnages are large; scrutiny of fugitive emissions from feedstock plants is the live policy question, not the exemption's existence.

Feedstock demand as a business signal: who buys HCFC-22 by the tonne

The exemption's commercial face is a distinct buyer class with distinct behaviour, worth understanding whether you compete for it or simply share a supplier with it. Who they are: fluoropolymer and fluorochemical producers pyrolysing HCFC-22 toward TFE/PTFE chains, and pharmaceutical and agrochemical manufacturers whose synthesis routes consume HCFC-22 as a fluorination input — industrial units identifiable in the public record through environmental-clearance filings and consent-to-operate documents that disclose raw-material inputs. How they buy: in bulk formats on continuous schedules, with procurement run by stores and purchase departments against specifications, vendor-registration processes and quality documentation — a world of rate contracts and delivery windows rather than counter sales. Why the lane is stable: their demand rides fluoropolymer and pharma production economics, not the refrigeration servicing cycle, and the Montreal Protocol's feedstock exemption means no quota staircase stands between them and supply — the structural durability that makes industrial HCFC-22 one of the steadier fluorochemical businesses in a phase-down decade. The compliance texture: feedstock transactions still ride the disclosure and documentation machinery — declared end-use, industrial-consumer paperwork, the traceability that keeps the exempt lane demonstrably separate from the capped one. For a distributor, serving both lanes from one registered footing is an exercise in keeping those files clean; for an industrial buyer, the supplier test is whether they understand the two-lane structure at all — sector detail on our industries page.

Related: R-22 / HCFC-22 supply · Industries incl. feedstock buyers · Phase-out timeline