Hongfu
Bentonite Cat Litter
Clumping sodium bentonite litter from Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia — the county that made about two thirds of China’s clay litter in 2024. Registered 2011, 28 insured staff, inside the mining area, with import/export and road-freight clauses on the licence; the test data, the customs registration and two environmental penalties are the open checks.
Clay that clumps, from the county that has it.
Clumping Sodium Bentonite Cat Litter
The core line: sodium bentonite granules that clump on contact, the format that still carries most of the world’s litter volume. Ningcheng sits on a national-scale bentonite field and the company is registered in the mining township itself, so the clay is local rather than bought in. Grain size, clumping time, dust level and moisture are not published — ask for them as measured values with the method written next to each number, because there is no industry standard to point at (see FAQ).
Private-Label & Contract Production
Ningcheng’s 33 litter producers supply, by the county’s own account, more than 1,400 brands worldwide — this is a contract-manufacturing cluster first and a branded one second. That makes private label the natural route here: your bag, your granule spec, your claims. What has to be agreed in writing before the first container: the exact clumping and dust figures, bag and pallet configuration, and which claims go on the bag (see Capabilities — an antibacterial claim in the United States is a registration, not a marketing line).
Bulk Bentonite & Mineral Products
The registered scope covers non-metallic mineral product manufacture, mineral sales and ore dressing, so bulk clay and related mineral products sit inside the licence as well as litter. For buyers this matters in one practical way: a producer that also sells the raw mineral can tell you where the seam is and what the reserve looks like. Ask for it; the county’s published field reserve is not the same thing as this company’s own mining right.
Industrial Fragrance — Stated, Not on the Licence
The company describes a second line in industrial fragrance. The registered scope contains no fragrance manufacturing clause — it carries “sales of chemical products (excluding licensed chemicals)” only. So on the record this is a trading or an affiliated-production activity, not something this entity is licensed to manufacture. If you are buying fragrance, ask which company produces it and on what licence, and get the safety data sheet for the exact grade before shipping anything.
Road Freight From the Mine
An unusual entry on the licence for this category: “road freight transport (excluding dangerous goods)” is a permitted item. In a product whose freight cost can rival its ex-works value, owning the truck leg from the mining township to the port is a real cost position — and a real answer to “who controls the schedule”. Ask for the port they usually load at and the transit time they quote.
What Is Not Here Yet
No third-party laboratory report, no product data sheet, no export declaration and no overseas customer reference has been sighted. The company states that exports have so far been handled by freight forwarders and by large domestic customers, and that it is now setting up to export in its own name. Read this listing as a producer at the start of its own export track, not as an established exporter — the production history is long, the export history under its own name is not.
What the registry confirms, and what stays open.
Fourteen Years, 28 Insured Staff, in the Mining Township
Registered 2011-03-24 with paid-in capital of RMB 1.24 million against RMB 1.7 million registered, and 28 contributors on social insurance — a working plant rather than a trading shell, and old enough to have been through more than one cycle in this category. The registered address is a village in Mangnong township, Ningcheng county: inside the mining area, not in a city office park. For a mineral product, where the company sits is part of the specification.
Ningcheng Is the Product’s Real Credential
Chifeng municipal government published in April 2025 that Ningcheng county produced over 2 million tonnes of bentonite cat litter in 2024, about two thirds of China’s output, across 33 producers, working a national-scale bentonite field with a stated 16 million tonnes of retained reserve, and supplying more than 1,400 brands worldwide. Xinhua and Global Times reported the same cluster in 2024. That is a public fact about the county, not about this company — but it is why a buyer sourcing clay litter should be looking at this county at all, and why the mine-level questions below are worth asking.
Manufacturing, Export and Freight Are All Inside the Licence
The registered scope carries 「非金属矿物制品制造；非金属矿及制品销售；选矿」 (non-metallic mineral product manufacture, mineral sales, ore dressing), 「货物进出口」 (import and export of goods) and, as a permitted item, 「道路货物运输（不含危险货物）」 (road freight, non-dangerous goods). The right to export in its own name is already on the licence — what the company says it is still completing is the customs and tax registration that activates it. Ask for the customs consignor-consignee registration before contracting.
An Antibacterial Claim Is a Registration, Not a Slogan
This is the single most expensive mistake in this category. In the United States, an antibacterial or antimicrobial claim on litter is a pesticidal claim under FIFRA and requires EPA registration of the product — the one antibacterial clumping litter on the US market carries EPA Reg. No. 095062-00001. Odour control is a permissible claim; antibacterial is not, unless it is registered. Labels also fall under the FTC Fair Packaging and Labeling Act: product identity, the name and place of business of the manufacturer or distributor, and net quantity in both metric and US units. Litter is not an FDA-regulated product, which means there is no federal product standard to hide behind — the buyer’s own specification is the standard.
Crystalline Silica: The Answer Exists, Put It in the File
Buyers and their compliance teams will raise crystalline silica in clay litter. Two documents answer it and both are worth holding: California’s OEHHA issued a Safe Use Determination for crystalline silica in sorptive mineral-based pet litter (1999), concluding it poses no significant risk in that use; and the European Bentonite Association’s 2022 FAQ on clay-based pet litter states that under worst-case consumer use, exposure is more than 300 times below the occupational health benchmark, noting that the IARC classification concerns occupational exposure. Both are industry or industry-data-based documents rather than a product test on this company’s litter — which is exactly why a dust measurement on the actual product is still worth having.
Two Environmental Penalties and Historical Court Records Are on the Register
Stated plainly because a buyer’s due-diligence provider will find them: the risk record carries two environmental administrative penalties against the company, and in the historical section one enforcement (被执行人) entry, one case filing, one hearing notice and three judgment documents (one of them an application to confirm a mediation agreement). The public record shows the categories and counts; dates, causes and outcomes are not published at that level. Ask the company for the penalty decisions, the rectification completion evidence and the closing documents for the cases — a mining-adjacent plant with fourteen years of history and no record at all would be more surprising than one with these.
What was checked — and what the check found.
What the registry supports: the company is active and has been since March 2011; the 18-digit credit code passes the national check-digit rule with a prefix matching Ningcheng county; registered capital is RMB 1.7 million with RMB 1.24 million paid in; 28 people are on social insurance; and the registered scope carries non-metallic mineral manufacturing, mineral sales, ore dressing, import and export of goods, and road freight as a permitted item. What the same record shows in the other direction, and what this page therefore states rather than claims: two environmental administrative penalties against the company, and in the historical section one enforcement entry, one case filing, one hearing notice and three judgment documents — counts and categories are public, the underlying dates and outcomes are not. Nothing has been sighted on the product side: no laboratory report, no data sheet, no export declaration, no customer reference; and the fragrance line the company describes has no manufacturing clause on the licence. What would close it: the customs consignor-consignee registration, a dust and clumping test on the actual granule with the method stated, the mining right with its retained reserve, the penalty decisions with rectification evidence, and one completed export in the company’s own name.
A mine-side producer, read off the record.
Hongfu is Ningcheng Hongfu Bentonite Co., Ltd.（宁城县宏福膨润土有限公司）, registered on 2011-03-24 in Mangnong township, Ningcheng county, in the Chifeng region of Inner Mongolia, and producing sodium bentonite cat litter. Registered capital is RMB 1.7 million with RMB 1.24 million paid in, 28 people are on social insurance, and the registered scope covers non-metallic mineral product manufacture, mineral sales, ore dressing, import and export of goods, and road freight as a permitted item.
Where it sits is most of the story. Chifeng municipal government published in April 2025 that Ningcheng county turned out more than 2 million tonnes of bentonite cat litter in 2024 — about two thirds of China’s output, from 33 producers working a national-scale bentonite field, supplying over 1,400 brands worldwide. Xinhua and Global Times reported the same cluster in 2024. Sodium bentonite is the clay that clumps; the county’s position in this product is a matter of geology, not of marketing.
Read the rest as it is. This is a contract producer at the beginning of its own export track: exports have until now been handled by freight forwarders and by large domestic customers, and the company is in the middle of completing the registrations that let it declare exports itself — the right to do so is already on the licence. No product test report, data sheet or customer reference has been sighted; a second line in industrial fragrance has no manufacturing clause on the licence; and the public risk record carries two environmental penalties plus historical court entries, stated in Capabilities rather than left out. Contact routes through ChinaMakersHub; direct details are exchanged after first inquiry.
Fourteen years, on the record.
Company registered in the mining township
宁城县宏福膨润土有限公司 is registered on 2011-03-24 in Kuntouyingzi village, Mangnong township, Ningcheng county, with a scope covering non-metallic mineral product manufacture, mineral sales and ore dressing. Registered capital RMB 1.7 million, of which RMB 1.24 million is paid in. Confirmed on the enterprise record.
Scope widened; people and address change
The public record notes three changes of principal personnel and one change of registered address over the period, and the most recent registration approval is dated 2023-10-08. The scope as it now stands includes import and export of goods and, as a permitted item, road freight excluding dangerous goods.
Two environmental penalties; historical court records
The risk record carries two environmental administrative penalties against the company, and in the historical section one enforcement entry, one case filing, one hearing notice and three judgment documents. Counts and categories are public; dates, causes and outcomes are not published at that level and have not been supplied.
The county becomes the world’s litter yard
Chifeng municipal government publishes that Ningcheng produced over 2 million tonnes of bentonite cat litter in 2024 — about two thirds of China’s output — from 33 producers supplying more than 1,400 brands, and sets a 2.4 million tonne target for 2025. Xinhua and Global Times report the cluster the same year.
Listed on ChinaMakersHub
Registry read 2026-09-19: active since 2011, 28 insured staff, manufacturing, import/export and road-freight clauses in scope, credit code verified. Open and stated on this page: no product test report or data sheet, no export in the company’s own name yet, a fragrance line with no manufacturing clause, and the environmental and court records above.
Who this litter is for.
Private-Label Pet Brands
The main route. You bring the granule spec, the bag and the claims; the plant brings the clay. Fix in the contract what is measured and how — clumping time, clump strength, dust, moisture, bulk density — because there is no product standard to default to. Be careful with claims: an antibacterial line on a US bag is an EPA registration, not copywriting.
Distributors & Wholesalers
Volume buyers whose economics are freight economics. Work the load plan before the price: bag weight, pallet pattern, tonnes per 40' HC, and the road-weight limit at destination — in the United States that caps a delivered container near 19.7 tonnes, well under what the box could physically hold.
Supermarket & E-commerce Own Brands
Own-brand pet care is where the volume growth has been: US private-label pet care ran about USD 5.5 billion in the 52 weeks to 13 July 2025, up 2.4%, with pet care the best-performing department for own-brand unit sales. Litter is a repeat-purchase, heavy, low-differentiation product — which is exactly the profile own brands like.
Litter Brands Wanting a Second Source
Established brands dual-source clay for a reason: one mine, one plant, one weather event. A fourteen-year producer inside the county that makes two thirds of China’s litter is a credible second source — provided the plant can show the mining right, the reserve and a consistent granule. Ask for three months of lot data, not one sample.
Buyers of Bulk Bentonite
Beyond litter, the licence covers mineral sales and ore dressing. If you need bulk sodium bentonite for foundry, drilling or civil work, ask for the seam analysis and the processing route — and note that the export and freight clauses on this licence mean the same company can quote delivered rather than ex-works.
Fragrance Buyers — Read the Licence First
The company describes an industrial fragrance line, but the registered scope has no fragrance manufacturing clause. Establish which entity makes it, under what licence, and get the safety data sheet for the exact grade — fragrance compounds can be flammable and regulated in transport, and the road-freight permission on this licence explicitly excludes dangerous goods.
Sourcing guides for this category
What Documents to Request From a Chinese Supplier Before Your First Order
The 27-Point China Factory Audit Checklist
Importing from China: The Compliance Checklist by Market
Private Label vs White Label vs OEM in China: Which One Are You Buying?
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does Hongfu actually make?
Sodium bentonite cat litter — clumping clay granules — produced in Ningcheng county, Inner Mongolia, where the company has been registered since 2011 and sits inside the bentonite mining area. The registered scope also covers mineral sales and ore dressing, so bulk clay is within the licence. The company additionally describes an industrial fragrance line; that one has no manufacturing clause on the licence and is addressed separately below.
Is Ningcheng really the main source of clay cat litter?
By the local government’s own published account, yes. Chifeng municipal government stated in April 2025 that the county produced over 2 million tonnes in 2024 — approximately two thirds of China’s output, one third of Asia’s and one fifth of the world’s — across 33 producers, working a national-scale bentonite field with 16 million tonnes of retained reserve, and supplying more than 1,400 brands. Xinhua and Global Times reported the same cluster in 2024. Treat those as facts about the county. What they do not tell you is anything about an individual plant’s own mining right, reserve or quality — ask this company for its own numbers.
Can it export in its own name?
The right is on the licence — 「货物进出口」 is in the registered scope — but the company states that its exports have so far been handled by freight forwarders and by large domestic customers, and that it is still completing the registrations that let it declare exports itself. No customs consignor-consignee registration and no export declaration have been sighted. Practical effect for a first order: agree who is the exporter of record, who books the forwarder, and on what Incoterm, and ask to see the customs registration once it is issued.
What test data should I ask for?
There is no product standard to fall back on — and be careful with what circulates online: a supposed “ASTM F2171 cat litter standard” is quoted across a number of supplier blogs and does not exist. Ask instead for measured values with the method written beside each one: clumping time and clump strength, dust content, moisture, bulk density, granule size distribution, and absorption. Ask for three consecutive production lots rather than a single golden sample, and have your own lab confirm the first shipment.
Can I put “antibacterial” on the bag?
Not in the United States without registering the product. An antibacterial or antimicrobial claim is a pesticidal claim under FIFRA and requires EPA registration — the only antibacterial clumping litter on the US market carries EPA Reg. No. 095062-00001. Odour control is a different, permissible claim. Labelling itself is governed by the FTC Fair Packaging and Labeling Act: product identity, the manufacturer or distributor’s name and place of business, and net quantity in metric and US units. Cat litter is not FDA-regulated, so your own specification is the standard.
What about crystalline silica in clay litter?
It comes up in every serious due-diligence pass, and there are two documents worth holding. California’s OEHHA issued a Safe Use Determination for crystalline silica in sorptive mineral-based pet litter in 1999, finding no significant risk in that use. The European Bentonite Association’s 2022 FAQ on clay-based pet litter states that under worst-case consumer use, exposure sits more than 300 times below the occupational benchmark, and notes the IARC classification concerns occupational exposure. Both are industry documents rather than a test on this company’s product — so still ask for a dust measurement on the granule you are buying.
How much litter actually fits in a container?
Less than the box can carry, and this is the number that decides the economics. A 40' high cube can physically take roughly 28 tonnes of cargo, but a delivered-to-door shipment in the United States is capped by the federal 80,000 lb gross combination weight limit: after tractor, chassis and container tare, that leaves about 19.7 tonnes of cargo without an overweight permit. Plan bag weight, pallet pattern and the load plan against the destination’s road limit, not against the container’s rated payload.
Why does the page mention environmental penalties and court records?
Because a buyer’s due-diligence provider will find them and we would rather you read them here first. The public risk record shows two environmental administrative penalties against the company, and in the historical section one enforcement entry, one case filing, one hearing notice and three judgment documents. The public record gives categories and counts, not dates, causes or outcomes. Ask the company for the penalty decisions and rectification evidence and for the closing documents on the cases — what matters commercially is whether they are resolved, and a fourteen-year-old plant in a mining county with a completely blank record would be the more unusual case.
What did the ChinaMakersHub check find?
Run on 2026-09-19 against Chinese enterprise records by credit code: active since 2011-03-24 in Ningcheng county; credit code passes the national check-digit rule with a matching regional prefix; registered capital RMB 1.7 million with RMB 1.24 million paid in; 28 contributors on social insurance; scope covers non-metallic mineral manufacture, mineral sales, ore dressing, import/export of goods and road freight as a permitted item; most recent registration approval 2023-10-08. Also on the record and stated above: two environmental penalties and historical court entries. Not sighted: any product test report, data sheet, customs registration, export declaration or customer reference; and the stated fragrance line has no manufacturing clause on the licence.
Talk to Hongfu Bentonite Cat Litter directly.
Send the granule specification you need — clumping time, dust, moisture, bulk density and grain size — with bag weight, pallet pattern and destination port, and ask for three consecutive lots rather than one sample. Ask for the customs consignor-consignee registration, the mining right with its retained reserve, and the environmental penalty decisions with rectification evidence. If you plan an antibacterial claim, budget for EPA registration before you budget for the bag. ChinaMakersHub will route the request.