Gulf Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:GURE)

SHOUGUANG, China, March 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China today announced that it has received further notification from Shouguang Yangkou Town People’s Government allowing it to resume production at its factories No. 1, No. 4, No, 7 and No. 9.

On February 28, 2020, the Company announced that it received an approval from the government to resume bromine production after winter temporary closure. Subsequently, it received another approval from the Shouguang Yangkou People’s Government dated on March 5, 2020 to resume production at its bromine factories No.1, No. 4, No.7 and No. 9 in order to meet the needs of bromide products for epidemic prevention and control. With these two approvals, the Company is now allowed to take the steps to resume production at all four bromine factories.

The Company plans to focus on one factory at a time so that it can resume bromine production as quickly as possible. While there is no exact timeline for bromine production, the Company has essentially completed most of the necessary work besides some preparation work. The Company expects to begin production at the first factory in about ten days and the rest of the bromine factories in about 4 to 6 weeks.

Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources, stated, “We are very pleased to have approvals to resume production for our four bromine factories. With the Chinese government’s efforts to curb the Covid-19 spread and a surge in demand for bromine products, we believe that there has been a trying opportunity for our company and its shareholders. We look forward to getting approvals to open more of our facilities.”

SHOUGUANG, China, Feb. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China today announced that it has received a notification from the government of Shouguang City, pursuant to which the Company’s bromine facilities has been allowed to resume production.

On November 25, 2019, the government of Shuoguang City issued a notice ordering all bromine facilities in Shouguang City, including the Company’s bromine facilities, to temporarily stop production from December 16, 2019 to February 10, 2020. Subsequently, due to the coronavirus outbreak in china, the local government ordered those bromine facilities to postpone  the commencement of production.

The Company has received an approval dated on February 27, 2020 to resume its bromine production issued by Shouguang Comprehensive Coordination Group for Epidemic Prevention and Control.

Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources, stated, “the Company are starting to do the preparation work for bromine facilities No.1 & No.7, and these two factories are expected to restart production soon. The Company anticipates to make an announcement if there is any further development.”

SHANDONG, China, Jan. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced a 1-for-5 reverse stock split of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock, which is expected be effective for trading purposes as of the commencement of trading on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

The reverse stock split is intended to increase the per share trading price of the Company’s common stock to satisfy the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on The NASDAQ Global Select Market. Trading of the Company’s common stock on The NASDAQ Global Select Market will continue, on a post-split basis, with the opening of the markets on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, under the existing trading symbol “GURE” under the new CUSIP # 40251W 408. The reverse stock split reduces the number of shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding from approximately 47.5 million shares of common stock pre-reverse split to approximately 9.5 million shares of common stock post-reverse split.

The number of authorized shares of common stock and the par value per share will remain unchanged. As a result of the reverse stock split, every 5 shares of the Company’s pre-reverse split common stock will be combined and reclassified into 1 share of common stock. The number of outstanding options will be adjusted accordingly, with outstanding options being reduced from approximately 0.68 million to approximately 0.14 million. No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the reverse stock split. Stockholders who would otherwise hold a fractional share of common stock will receive an increase to their common stock as the common stock will be rounded up to a full share.

“Management and the Board of Directors agree that it is favorable for investors that Gulf Resources’ shares continue to trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and this reverse split will fulfill the minimum share price requirement for continued listing,” said Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources, Inc. 

Shareholders whose shares are in electronic form at brokerage firms do not require action, as the effect of the reverse stock split will automatically be reflected in their brokerage accounts. The Company’s transfer agent will update its books and records to reflect the reverse stock split. All book-entry and other electronic positions representing issued and outstanding shares of the common stock will be automatically adjusted. No action is required by the Company’s shareholders in connection with the reverse stock split.

SHOUGUANG, China, Jan. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that on January 23, 2020, it received a letter from the Nasdaq Stock Market Listing Qualifications Staff (the “Staff”) dated January 23, 2020 notifying that the Company has regained compliance with the shareholder approval requirements set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c) in connection with shares issued to a consultant, based on the Staff’s review of the Company’s submitted materials.

As previously disclosed in the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 19, 2019, the Company was notified by Nasdaq on September 13, 2019 that it did not comply with Nasdaq’s shareholder approval requirements set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c) and the Company was required to submit a plan of compliance by October 28, 2019.

SHOUGUANG, China, Jan. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that it has received the environmental protection approval by the government of Shouguang City, Shandong Province for the proposed Yuxin Chemical factory. The environmental protection approval was the last approval required before commencing construction.

With this approval, Gulf Resources plans to begin construction after the end of Chinese New Year holidays or at the latest in early March 2020. The Company expects that the construction could take up to 18-24 months.

This factory will utilize the most modern production techniques available. It will also utilize equipment that uses all modern technology and provides the highest level of environment protection.

Considering the use of modern production techniques and equipment and less competition, Gulf Resources believes this factory will operate with higher profit margins than before.

Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources, stated, “We recognize that this process had been a long and frustrating for our management and our shareholders, however we are very pleased to have finally received final approval to begin construction. We look forward to the day when this factory will provide our company with substantial levels of sales and profits.”

SHOUGUANG, China, Dec. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China today announced that it has received a notification from the government of Shouguang City, pursuant to which all bromine facilities in Shouguang City will be closed until February 10,2020.

On November 25, 2019, the government of Shuoguang City issued a notice ordering all bromine facilities in Shouguang City to temporarily stop production from December 16, 2019 to February 10, 2020, while the Company received such notice recently.

We believe this seasonal closure ordered by the government is part of governmental action plan to curb air pollution. Our company had intended to commence production in factories #1 and #7, but we will delay the opening of the production until February 10, 2020 in light of the governmental order.

We don’t anticipate the closure of about two months in winter will significantly impact the Company’s business. As we stated in the third quarter earnings conference call, “Winter is a slow seasonal period for bromine production, because of Chinese New Year and given the fact that some crude salt products cannot be processed during the coldest months.” Chinese New Year of 2020 falls on January 25, 2020 and the festival will last approximately up to two weeks. Under normal circumstances, facilities are closed during the holidays. Once this temporary closure is over, we intend to open factories #1 and #7 and gear up production steadily.

SHOUGUANG, China, Nov. 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today clarified the possible effect of the proposed reverse stock split on the Company’s proposed 2019 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan.

On our 2019 third quarter earnings conference call held on November 14, 2019, a shareholder asked a question about the possible impact of the proposed reverse stock split on the proposed 2019 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan that will be voted on at the annual shareholders meeting on December 18, 2019. The Company would like to clarify and make sure that all shareholders fully understand this subject.

As disclosed in the definitive proxy statement filed with the US Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on November 1, 2019, the Company has proposed to effect a reverse stock split to increase the market price of its common stock so that the Company is able to regain compliance with the NASDAQ minimum bid price requirement.

As disclosed in the same definitive proxy statement, the Company is seeking approval of the stockholders to adopt the Company’s 2019 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”). If the 2019 Plan is approved, awards under the 2019 Plan will be limited in the aggregate to 10,341,989 shares of our common stock, inclusive of the awards that were previously issued and outstanding under the Company’s 2007 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended. The Company believes that it has kept salaries and other expenses low and that it is in the best interest of the Company to provide incentives to its employees, directors, consultants, and advisors. Details of the proposals on the reverse split and 2019 Plan are available on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/885462/000119380519001384/e619148_def14a-gulf.htm.

The Company’s 2019 Plan provides for proportionate adjustments to the number of shares subject to the plan in the event of a reverse stock split. Should the aforesaid reverse stock split be effected, the 2019 Plan provides for proportionate adjustments to the number of shares available for issuance and awardable, and as applicable, automatic proportionate adjustments to the shares awarded and the exercise price, grant price or purchase price relating to awards under such plan. Accordingly, if both proposals are approved by the stockholders and the reverse stock split is implemented by the board of directors, upon the effectiveness of the reverse stock split, the number of all outstanding equity awards, the number of shares available for issuance and awardable and the exercise price, grant price or purchase price relating to any award under the 2019 Plan will be proportionately adjusted using the split ratio determined by the board of directors (subject to the treatment of fractional shares). For example, if a 1-for-4 reverse stock split is effected, the 4,895,989 shares that remain available for issuance under the incentive plan as of November 1, 2019, would be adjusted to 1,223,997 shares.

Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results

• Net Revenues for the quarter were $4,548,542 vs. $343,080.
• Net Loss per share was $0.27* Vs. $0.42*.

“This has obviously been a very difficult time for our company,” stated Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources. “Fortunately, we entered this period with a large amount of cash and virtually no liabilities. I am very pleased with what I see happening in Shouguang City. The government is working closely and very supportive with the bromine manufacturers. I believe factories #1 and #7 will reopen soon. I believe we will get approval to open factories #4 and #9 in the very near future, and #2, #8, and #10 should also be operational early next year. The only issue currently interfering with the construction of our new chemical factory is the environmental protection certification. Based on discussions with the government, we believe it is only a matter of time before this project is underway and we can once again profitably produce chemicals. As far as the natural gas is concerned, we are continuing to work with Daying County until Sichuan Province has the Mineral Resources Planning created.”

“We are committed to better communication with our shareholders. When anything occurs, we will communicate it,” Mr. Liu continued. “We will also provide shareholders with our three-year plan, so they can appreciate the opportunities we will have ahead of us once our facilities are opened.

“We are also trying our best to keeping our NASDAQ listing,” Mr. Liu concluded.  “We have nominated a new independent director to fill the vacancy on the board.  The new independent director is expected to be elected at the annual shareholders meeting scheduled on December 18, 2019. We also have included a proposal to vote for a reverse stock split at our shareholders meeting in order to regain compliance with NASDAQ requirements. We appreciate the support of our long-term shareholders and believe that we are very close to returning to profitability.”

Overview

Before covering the details of the third quarter of 2019, Gulf Resources would like to review current regulatory situation in China as well as the clean-up from Typhoon Lekima.

When the bromine industry started in Shouguang City more than 20 years ago, the city granted permission for companies to mine for bromine and crude salt. Everything we did from that time on was in accordance with the rules of Shouguang City and the surrounding counties. As environmental problems in China became more severe, the Chinese Central Government promulgated a series of national regulations. Based on the new National Environmental Protection regulations and requirements from Land Supervision, we believe that most of the companies in our industry have to submit a series of rigorous plans, including our factories, even for some of our bromine factories which have been operating for more than 20 years. We believe that the Central government intends to strengthen environmental protection in China by implementing the new national regulations. However, we believe that this has put a significant strain on local governments and corporations, which were not required to have these approvals.

Since the enactment of these regulations, the local governments have had to work with the provincial governments to develop a comprehensive plan that limits pollution, protects the environment, and does not harm workers and farmers. This has been a complex and extremely difficult task. It has been made more difficult because many of the processes have continued to change as provincial governments attempt to meet the requirements of the national government.

We would now like to briefly review where we are in this process.

Bromine & Crude Salt

In Shouguang City, all of the bromine producers are working closely with the local government to develop a comprehensive plan that will satisfy the requirements of the provincial and national government. We are pleased with the progress that is being made and believe that the full plan will be implemented in the near future. This does not mean that we will definitely receive approval to open our remaining facilities, but we are confident that the process will be completed in the near future and that most, if not all, of our remaining facilities will receive full approvals for opening.

The task in Shouguang City has been made significantly more complicated by Typhoon Lekima, which flooded many of the bromine mines and salt ponds. In addition to the project approval and land issue for each company, the government has to review the actions of each company to repair damages caused by the storm. This has put further stress on the approval process. While we do not believe it will change the outcome, we believe that the stress on government officials has caused delays in the final approval process.

In the third Quarter of 2019, Gulf Resources has been working on the repairs on damages from Typhoon Lekima and has also completed the construction of new ponds and aqueducts. During the quarter, we have focused on getting factories #1 and #7 fully repaired soon. We believe these factories will re-open in December. Winter is a slow seasonal period for bromine production, because of Chinese New Year and because some salt products cannot be processed during the coldest months, we expect to reach normal commercial production level in these two factories in March next year.

We have also been conducting repairs on factories #4 and #9.  We expect to receive approvals for these two factories around the end of the year and begin production early next year.

We have also been conducting repairs on factories #2, #8, and #10. At this point, we expect to complete the repairs by the end of the year or early in next year. We do not anticipate major impediments to receiving government approval for these three factories and mines.

At the same time, we have been spending a considerable amount of money drilling new wells. In the third quarter, we paid more than $25 million drilling new wells. While the capacity of each factory is fixed, the new wells should enable us to raise our capacity utilization by 10% basis points. In other words, if current capacity utilization in a factory is 40%, we should be able to attain a capacity utilization rate of 50% with these new wells. This could be extremely significant. Production costs are relatively fixed. Increases in capacity utilization should flow straight to our bottom line. Given the current elevated price of bromine, our business should be more profitable.

​Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results

• Net Revenue was $6,009,409 compared to $4,594
• Earnings per share were a loss of $0.02 versus a loss of $0.10

During the second quarter, the government of China continued to take steps to improve the environment by ensuring that industries, such as chemicals, mining, and natural gas operate in a manner that maximizes safety and minimizes damage to the environment. These government regulations required a substantial amount of work from the company and its competitors.  We believe that a large percentage of the factories and mines may not receive the required approvals to reopen. However, the government believes this is the only way to ensure the future health and safety of its residents.

In the second quarter, the company began production in Factories #1 and #7.  Because these factories had new equipments, the company began production at a very low level to ensure that the new equipment was functioning correctly. During the quarter, the company tested all of the new equipment and found minimal issues. During the third quarter, the company intends to increase production. It expects to achieve full production in these factories by the end of the year. With the permanent closing of factories #3, #4, and #11, total production capacity has declined from 42,808 to 31,506 tonnes. However, Factories #1 and #7 have annual production capacity of 13,667 tonnes, which  equals 43.4% of our total capacity.  For the three months ending June 2019, our utilization ratio for all of our remaining factories was 18%. The gross profit margin for the bromine segment was 53%. The crude salt segment has a negative gross profit margin of 6%. Natural gas, which was in a testing phase, also had a negative gross profit margin.

During the first six months of 2019, the company invested $39,596,434 in property, plant, and equipment. The major portion of this investment was for the new drilled bromine wells to increase the productivity of facilities to assure the level of profitability in the future and was not related to the rectification processes.

SHOUGUANG, China, June 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China today announced the temporary suspension of trial production at its natural gas well in Daying County, Sichuan Province, China in order to comply with new environmental regulations being implemented in China.

On May 29th, 2019, the Company received an oral notice from the government of Tianbao Town ,Daying County, Sichuan Province, whereby the Company is required to obtain project approval for its well located in Daying, including the whole natural gas and brine water project, and approvals for safety production inspection, environmental protection assessment, and to solve the related land issue. Until these approvals have been received, the Company have to temporarily halt trial production at its natural gas well in Daying.

Management has started discussions with local governmental officials about the oral notice.  We believe that the process that is now occurring to us in Sichuan Province is similar to the process that is occurring in Shandong Province. However, in this Sichuan case, management expects the process to be shorter and easier to accomplish .

While  many of our factories in Shandong were old and most of them were located near populous centers,  all of our machinery in Sichuan is new. From the beginning of the project, the Company has been working closely with the Daying local governments to ensure the project and the equipment satisfy local requirements. In addition, the Daying well is located at a rural and mountainous area.

The Company does not believe it will encounter serious problems in meeting the new governmental requirements. It expects that this process could take approximately three months. At this time, the Company cannot estimate potential costs in association with the compliance process.

Until these approvals have been obtained, the Company will not expect to apply for additional drilling permits. However, the Company believes it remains highly committed to its Sichuan project.

SHOUGUANG, China, June 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China today announced the temporary suspension of trial production at its natural gas well in Daying County, Sichuan Province, China in order to comply with new environmental regulations being implemented in China.

On May 29th, 2019, the Company received an oral notice from the government of Tianbao Town ,Daying County, Sichuan Province, whereby the Company is required to obtain project approval for its well located in Daying, including the whole natural gas and brine water project, and approvals for safety production inspection, environmental protection assessment, and to solve the related land issue. Until these approvals have been received, the Company have to temporarily halt trial production at its natural gas well in Daying.

Management has started discussions with local governmental officials about the oral notice.  We believe that the process that is now occurring to us in Sichuan Province is similar to the process that is occurring in Shandong Province. However, in this Sichuan case, management expects the process to be shorter and easier to accomplish .

While  many of our factories in Shandong were old and most of them were located near populous centers,  all of our machinery in Sichuan is new. From the beginning of the project, the Company has been working closely with the Daying local governments to ensure the project and the equipment satisfy local requirements. In addition, the Daying well is located at a rural and mountainous area.

The Company does not believe it will encounter serious problems in meeting the new governmental requirements. It expects that this process could take approximately three months. At this time, the Company cannot estimate potential costs in association with the compliance process.

Until these approvals have been obtained, the Company will not expect to apply for additional drilling permits. However, the Company believes it remains highly committed to its Sichuan project.

SHOUGUANG, China, May 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced its unaudited and preliminary financial results for the first quarter of 2019 and provided updates on its recent developments.

Financial Results

• On April 2, 2019 Gulf Resources received governmental approval to open bromine factory #7 (a combination of factories #5 and #7) and sub-factory #1 (now called factory #4). These factories have begun operation in April, 2019.
• During the first quarter 2019, Gulf commenced trial production at its natural gas well in Sichuan Province.
• Despite the lack of operations for most of the past 18 months and the substantial investment in new facilities, Gulf ended the quarter with: 
  °  Cash of $179,653,141 or $3.83* per share 
  °  Net Net Cash (Cash minus all liabilities) of $163,810,739 or $3.49* per share
  °  Working capital of $176,057,345 or $3.75* per share
  °  Shareholders’ equity of $295,137,216 or $6.29* per share.

“The past 18 months were extremely difficult for us,” stated Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources, “now we are beginning to get our major facilities back in operation and are very excited about the potentials of our business.”

Update on Bromine and Crude Salt

During the first quarter of 2019, Gulf Resources made progress in moving to reopen its bromine and crude salt facilities. On April 2, shortly after the end of this quarter, we received an approval to open bromine factories #7 (a combination of factories #5 and #7) and subdivision of factory #1 (which will now be called factory #4). During April, we began production and testing our new equipment. Because these factories have been rectified completely, we are during both testing and initial production stage. Once we are satisfied with the operations, we will begin full production.

We also received approvals for the inside rectification of factories #1 and #9 and are now focusing on the outside rectification. We currently expect to receive approvals for these factories by the end of Q2 2019 or early Q3 2019. Upon receipt of all required approval, we will follow the same processes we are using with our existing factories.

The remaining three factories #2, 8, and 10 are going through rectification. Most of these rectifications are related to the planning approval and the land use rights approval. As previously noted, we entered into a contract with a third party to allow the Company to use the land adjacent to factory #10 for waste water discharge and have invested $1.0 million to build an aqueduct to discharge the waste water.

Because of the factory closure issue and RMB weakness, the price of bromine has been exceptionally high, at about RMB 35,000 Yuan per tonne. At these levels, we believe our business can be profitable.

Because of our strong cash position, we will consider about potential acquisitions. We believe our strong relations with the local government and our experience in rectifying our facilities and receiving approvals, should enable us to acquire bromine assets from smaller, struggling competitors at attractive valuations.

UPDATE ON CHEMICALS

We are still awaiting final approval for our new chemical facilities. We have already spent $10.9 million on the land and the plans for the factory that will be located in the Bohai Marine Fine Chemical Industrial Park. We expect to receive the required approvals before we can begin construction. We expect our chemical factory to be operational before the end of 2020.

In addition, because the Shandong provincial government has announced the permanent closing of more than 600 chemical factories in Shandong Province, we expect our chemical factory, when it finally opens, to face less competition.

UPDATE ON NATURAL GAS

Trial production at our first well in Daying County, Sichuan Province started 4 months ago. We believe our trial production is on track. During the first quarter we sold $38,570 of natural gas. While the revenue from natural gas is nominal, we consider it to be substantial progress. We expect trial production to last for another three to four months, after which we expect to move to commercial production stage.

As we enter commercial production, we expect to increase production gradually. Our mid-term production goal is approximately 20,000 cubic meters per day.

We are in the process of applying for related certificates to drill more gas wells. With years of knowledge building for our personal and equipped facility we expect to expand our natural gas business.

Management Commentary

“We greatly appreciate the support of our investors,” Mr. Liu Xiaobin stated. “We know how frustrating it has been for you, and for us. Now, however, we are increasingly optimistic.”

“To meet the new environmental rules,” Mr. Liu continued, “the government has forced the closing of a lot of bromine, crude salt, and chemical facilities in Shandong Province. We believe this could mean less competition, higher prices, more opportunities and greater profitability to players in our industry. In addition, new regulations are expected to greater demand for clean burning fuels like natural gas.”  

“We have worked diligently to satisfy the new government regulations,” Mr. Liu concluded. “Now we expect to be entering a period where we can reap the benefits of our hard work and provide our patient shareholders with long-term rewards.”

SHOUGUANG, China, April 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that factories #Subdivision of Factory No. 1 and #7 ( the combination of Factory #5 and #7) have begun production.

On April 2, 2019, Gulf Resources announced that these two factories had been approved for reopening and that it expected to begin operations “within this week or next week.” The Company is pleased to have met the timeline to which the Company committed. 

Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated, “We are very happy to begin production at these two factories. As we have noted, bromine remains at record high prices in China. We look forward to generating revenues and profits from these factories, while we continue to work to get our next factories approved for operation.

SHOUGUANG, China, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced it  received approval from the PRC local government to open its bromine factories #Subdivision of Factory No. 1 and #7 ( the combination of Factory #5 and #7) on March 29, 2019. These facilities have passed all approvals both in the factories themselves and in the mines and crude salt ponds. The Company expects to begin operations of its bromine factories # Subdivision of Factory No. 1 and #7 within this week or next week. Factory #7 is expected to have the highest production capacity among our factories.

Mr. Liu Xiaobin, CEO of Gulf Resources stated, “After 18 months of work to meet the new government’s requirements, we are extremely pleased to be able to open the first of our factories and begin production.”

Our Factories #1 and #9 have passed all approvals for the work inside the factories. However, the local government has asked for some additional work to be done outside the factories on the bromine wells and aqueducts. We believe that this work is covered in the budget estimates that were presented on our 2018 year end earnings conference call and press releases.

We expect that the work on factories #1 and #9 will be completed soon. Since these factories have passed rectification inside the factories. We expect to receive full approval in the next one to two months and to commence production in these factories by the end of Q2 2019.

The remaining three factories including:  #2, #8 and #10 have both internal and external issues. However, we believe that these issues can be resolved within the second half of 2019. We expect to have all seven factories and related facilities to be in operation by end of year 2019.

“Some of our shareholders have asked why we did not walk away from the bromine business and use our capital for another business,” Mr. Liu Xiaobin stated, “The reason is we believe this business will prove to be profitable. Bromine prices are at record highs. To our knowledge, some facilities have been approved for reopening, some smaller companies lack funding for full rectifications. We expect that the problems we have encountered in meeting the new government regulations will make our industry and our company more profitable. We appreciate the support of our shareholders and expect to continue communicating with you as events transpire.”

SHOUGUANG, China, Dec. 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announces that it has successfully completed the test production at its first natural gas well in Sichuan Province, China and will commence trial production on January 1,2019.

The well will produce approximately 3,000-5,000 sq. meters of natural gas per day. While the output is relatively small, the Company expects it may increase gradually production throughout the trial phase.

Gulf has signed an agreement with a local customer for the output of the well. The agreement will take effect on January 1, 2019.

At this time, Gulf expects the trial phase to last approximately 6 months, after which the Company should begin commercial production and ramp up gradually.

“We are pleased to have completed the test production,” Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of the Company stated. “Our machinery is working very well. We will enter the trial production phase and have reached an agreement with our first customer taking effect on January 1, 2019.”

“China is forcing many factories, including ours, to replace coal by natural gas or other less polluting forms of energy. China also has a shortage of natural gas. In 2018, it was the largest importer of natural gas, “ Mr. Liu continued. “We are very excited about the opportunities for natural gas production in Daying County of Sichuan Province. Once our first well is in commercial production, we will explore opportunities for other wells.”

SHOUGUANG, China, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today is providing its update on operations.

Natural Gas: The Company first natural gas well is now under testing production. The Company is testing the well to see (1) if the equipment are fully functional through firing, and eliminate potential safety hazards. (2) The procedures for further mining is determined by testing the variations of various pressure index, etc. Since we have begun testing, all of the tests have been successful. Should the tests continue to be successful, we intent to commence trial production by the end of 2018. We plan to be in commercial production during 2019.

Bromine and Crude Salt:  The Company believes it will complete the rectification and clean-up by the beginning of the first quarter 2019. While we still need approvals for project approval, planning approval, land use rights approval and environmental protection assessment approval, by working closely with the local government, we think the approvals will come shortly thereafter as long as our rectification and clean-up meets the new government specifications. We hope to commence operations in our seven factories by the end of the first quarter of 2019.

Chemical Factory: The Company is continuing to work with the government on finalizing the plans for the new chemical factory. Based on the responses from the government, the Company continues believe that the factory will be constructed in 2019 and will begin operations at the beginning of 2020.

Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf, stated, “We are pleased to be making progress on our natural gas project. We look forward to trial production in the near future and commercial production after that. We also continue to work on getting our bromine and crude salt facilities back in operation. In the last three months, bromine prices in China have increased approximately by 13.4%. Once our facilities are open, we believe our business could be very strong. We are also pleased with the progress we are making on the approval for our new chemical factory.”

“This has been a very difficult time for our management and our shareholders. However, we now have more visibility and believe that each of our business segments has a strong future.”

Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results

• For the three months ending Sept. 30, 2018, net revenues were $343,080 as compared to net revenues of $23,840,391 in the same quarter of the previous year. We wrote off $1,397,313 in property, plant, and equipment.
• Our comprehensive net loss was $50,659,838 compared to a profit of $43,001,380 in the same period of the previous year. Our loss per share, both primary and fully diluted, was $0.67* compared to earnings of $0.54* in the same period of the previous year.

“We cannot imagine a more difficult time for any corporation, the government in a much needed effort to improve the environment closed all of our bromine and crude salt factories and forced us to close and relocate our chemical factory. Then, after we had completed most of our rectification, we were hit with the worst typhoon in recent memory. After that, we received a notice from the government that three of our factories would have to be permanently closed. At the same time, we were laboring to develop the needed equipment to separate the impurities so our natural gas project could begin operations,” said the Company’s CEO, Mr. Xiaobin Liu.

As a result, we have almost no revenues, except those that came from selling inventory, and have incurred significant expenses. Not surprisingly, the price of our stock has been driven down, impacting all of our shareholders, including the management team.

With our strong financial position, we have financial resources to complete the rectification and improvement of our bromine mines and crude salt pans, construct our new chemical factory, and expand our natural gas business.

We know shareholders are frustrated by the lack of good news. We wish the news could have been better, but we have issued more press releases this year than any other year to keep our investors fully informed.

Now, we believe we are becoming cautiously optimistic about the future. When this series of events started, we had, and still have, a very large amount of cash. We believe that almost none of our competitors have a stronger cash position than we have. This cash position will enable us to spend the money needed to rectify our bromine and crude salt factories according to the new regulations, build a new chemical factory, and purchase the equipment needed to get our natural gas well operational and profitable.  We believe many of our competitors will not be able to do the same. This means that when our businesses return to operation, the level of competition may be reduced.

We would now like to detail our plans for each of our business segments.

Bromine and Crude Salt

While we have no guarantees that the government will approve the opening of our seven remaining bromine and crude salt factories, we are optimistic enough to significantly increase our capital spending on bromine and crude salt factories. Our initial estimate for rectification was $35 million. As of September 30, we have spent $28.1 million. We anticipate to spend additional $7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.

In addition to the expenditures on rectification, we have indicated that we expect to spend $8-10 million on repairs and rebuilding related to the damages from the flood.

We expect also to spend $40 million to drill more than 1,000 new wells. Roughly more than 2,000 of our older wells are in need of repair or are producing at less than acceptable levels. These older wells will be scrapped. The more than 1,000 new wells will allow us to have more efficient production.

This will be expected to bring the total expenditures in our bromine and crude to $85 million. We would not be spending this money if we did not think we could get approvals for these factories.

Since the end of the third quarter, we have signed 5 contracts costing $14.61 million including $5.9 million to replace flooded wells; $2.6 million to repair damaged aqueducts, halogen reservoirs, and roads; $0.2 million for land for the wastewater discharge channels of factory # 10; $5.1 million for wastewater drainage and treatment for factories Number 1, Number 2 and Subdivision of Factory Number 1; and $0.81 million for wastewater drainage and treatment for factory #10. As we have indicated, we would not be signing these contracts if we did not believe that we will receive approvals to reopen our facilities.

We believe that many of our competitors may not have the resources to complete the rectification and repair the damages from the typhoon. At the present time, we believe that some of the production capacity in market will be permanently removed. Bromine prices have remained very high. At the moment, they are RMB 35,000 per ton and may continue to go up. The devaluations of the RMB make imports into China more expensive, which will also benefit our company. These factors may enable us to earn more than we have had in recent years in this segment.

As a frame of reference, in 2010, when bromine was priced at about RMB 19,000, and when we had 9 factories, we earned $60.5 million in our bromine and crude salt segments. This is not a projection. We are providing this information to demonstrate the potential leverage in this business.

At the present time, we believe we will complete the rectification and clean-up by the beginning of the first quarter 2019. While we still need approvals for project approval, planning approval, land use rights approval and environmental protection assessment approval, by working closely with the local government, we think the approvals will come shortly thereafter as long as our rectification and clean-up meets the new government specifications. We hope to commence operations in our seven factories by the end of the first quarter of 2019.

Chemicals

The plans for our new chemical factory are still on schedule.  Our new chemical factory had already received part of the approvals, we are moving ahead on receiving the rest approvals for it.  We still expect to build our factory in 2019 and commence operations at the beginning of 2020.

The Company’s new factory under plan may be smaller than the original two factories combined. We may have to discontinue some products that have higher levels of pollution in their manufacturing, such as chemicals for paper making, and etc. Our focus may be on higher margin products that offer more downstream opportunities for bromine, such as pharmaceutical products. But all of these plans are subject to government approvals which we believe are in progress.

While the product volume will be lower than previous peak levels, we believe the profit margins will be higher, because we will be focusing on higher margin products and competition may also be reduced.

Natural Gas-

Our natural gas well is still under testing. After we received the equipment we ordered, we found that we needed some equipment adjustments that could assist us in separating impurities, pressurizing the gas, and removing the water. This equipment has been adjusted and re-installed. The initial tests have been positive. The well is firing and the equipment is operating successfully.

We expect to start test production in the next two weeks. We will begin trial production most likely before the end of 2018. Commercial production should commence in early 2019 and ramp up production volume, depending on the result of trial production and the underground geography condition.

We believe this well will generate profits in 2019. After six months of commercial production, we will consider plans for drilling additional wells depending on the first well operation results.

SHOUGUANG, China, Oct. 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt, specialty chemical products, and natural gas in China, today announces it has been working aggressively to complete the rectification required by the government and to make all of the repairs and rebuilding caused by Typhoon Winbiya in August in the seven bromine factories that are expected to receive government approval.

Gulf Resources believes most of the rectification issues related to crude salt and bromine at the remaining factories are resolved. While it still needs approvals for project approval, planning approval, land use rights approval and environmental protection assessment approval, the local government is actively working with us.

The company had signed a contract with a third party to help with the repair and rebuilding work for wells, brine water reservoirs and aqueducts. Virtually every employee of Gulf Resources, including senior management have been working together to repair the rest of the damages caused by the recent floods.

The company believes the rectification and repair process will require three additional months of work, largely because progress is slower during the winter months due to the weather. As noted in the second quarter conference call, the Company estimates the costs of repairing and rebuilding due to the flood damages will be $8-10 million.

The company believes its factories will be fully operational during the first quarter of 2019 if all approvals are obtained after completion of the rectification process and repairs.

Based on the current analysis, the company believes that some of the bromine production capacities in Shandong Province have permanently closed as a result of the more stringent environmental requirements. Bromine prices have continued to trend upward and are currently at RMB 32,000. With the weakness of the RMB, imports have become more expensive. Based on the reduced capacity and high import cost, the company believes the price of bromine will remain at high levels, which should enable the company to produce excellent returns.

SHOUGUANG, China, Aug. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that its facilities have suffered damage from flooding caused by Typhoon Winbiya.

According to JQK News, "A large-scale heavy rainfall occurred in Shandong, resulting in severe typhoon disasters in 13 cities, such as Weifang,…" (https://www.jqknews.com/news/60620-13_cities_in_Shandong_have_been_killed_by_typhoon_disaster_24_deaths_in_Weifang_the_heaviest_13_deaths.html)

As of August 23, 2018, statistics showed that 5.1846 million people in Shandong Province were affected, 24 died, three were missing, and six were injured because of the disaster; 188,800 people were resettled urgently, and 50,200 people needed emergency life assistance.

Weifang was the most seriously affected by the typhoon.  As of August 23, 2018, statistics showed that 1.53 million people were affected, 13 died, three were missing, 172,600 people were resettled urgently, and 342,000 people needed emergency living assistance; 167,900 hectares of crops were affected. There were 10,125 collapsed houses, 8,240 seriously damaged houses and 53,465 damaged houses. The direct economic loss has been estimated to be 17.473 billion yuan, of which the agricultural loss was 9.763 billion yuan.

In Shouguang City, where our headquarters is located, as of August 23, statistics showed the average precipitation reached 378.66mm (14.9 inches), nearly twice the previous maximum, since records began in 1959. Three major reservoirs in the Mihe River Valley far exceeded their discharge levels, flooding farmland, residential areas, and factories. (https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1609656576473793872&wfr=spider&for=pc, https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1609821192848639407&wfr=spider&for=pc)

All of the Company’s bromine factories, crude salt pans and mining areas suffered varying degrees of damage, Bromine factories No. 7,8, and 9 were more seriously impacted. The equipment, buildings, crude salt pans, roads, electricity, wells, aqueduct and etc. sustained varying degrees of damage.

The company is actively assessing the impact of the floods on the company to determine the timing and cost of the needed repairs or replacement.

We have posted photos of the flooding and the damage on our website so investors can better understand the extent of the problems, following the link below: http://www.gulfresourcesinc.com/corporate-ppt.html

Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

• Net Revenue was $4,594 compared to $47.5 million in the same period of the prior year.
• EPS basic and diluted was as loss of $0.10 vs. last years same quarter gain of $0.29.

“We are going through the most complex of times,” Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO stated. “The situation in which we find ourselves is completely unprecedented. Six of the bromine factories completed their rectification process within factory areas (i.e. excluding crude salt field area) , and awaiting for the further measures from the government. We are awaiting approval on the design for our new chemical factory. We believe we have solved the problems at our natural gas well and are getting ready to begin trial production. Fortunately, we believe that we have sufficient working capital that will enable us to satisfy the government requirements, build new facilities, and grow organically . Our focus is the future of the Company. We understand that bromine and chemical capacity in China may be reduced, and we believe that as one of the leading players in the market, we have the ability to make our products more profitable.”

SHOUGUANG, China, July 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a manufacturer of bromine, crude salt, specialty chemical products, and natural gas in China, today announced that it has received the equipment it ordered for its natural gas project. It is completing the installation and will soon commence testing.

The first major piece of equipment is the natural gas separator. This equipment separates dust, dirt, sand and pipe scale, water, high octane value hydrocarbon, etc. The gas collects at the top of the natural gas separator where it is removed and decompressed. Separators often have to be customized to treat the specialized conditions of each drilling area.

The second major piece of equipment is the water jacket furnace. It maintains an even temperature, while saving significant amounts of energy and reducing emissions. This equipment can heat up the natural gas to ensure the normal operation of the following equipment.

SHOUGUANG, China, June 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, wishes to advise investors of the possible delay in opening its bromine factories because of the upcoming SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summit to be held in Qingdao, Shandong Province on June 9-10. We previously disclosed that we expected to complete all of the rectification and improvements of the bromine and crude salt factories and be ready for the government inspection, rating and evaluation by June 2018, and that we would resume operation for those factories when they have approval from the government.  While the company has not yet received formal notification from any government agency, communications with other corporations and the media has indicated that government agencies are forcing some factories to close and delaying approval of others in order to maximize the cleanliness of the environment for this conference.

The SCO Summit will be one of the most important meetings in China in 2018. The SCO Summit includes member states: China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan; observer states: Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia; and dialogue partners: Turkey, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, and Nepal.

As a sign of its importance, President Xi Jinping will serve as the Chairman. President Vladimir Putin of Russia will attend. The heads of state of many other countries will also be in attendance.

The Chinese government has already announced special security arrangements that will impact factory production and cargo transportation. For example, it has banned the loading or shipping of “Dangerous Goods” through June 20.

China has frequently closed factories ahead of major events. For example, 255 factories were closed prior to the G 20 Summit in Shanghai in 2016. An even larger number of factories were closed prior to the Olympics.

As noted, the Company has not received formal notification of delays in re-opening its facilities. However, based upon the actions the government has taken in surrounding areas, it would not come as a surprise to the Company if there is a short delay in the reopening of its bromine factories.

The Company will continue to update investors as it learns more information.

First Quarter 2018 Financial Results

• Net Revenue declined 93% to $2,247,267.
• Loss per share was $0.15*.

With all of our facilities closed, our only revenue came from the sale of crude salt and limited chemical products that were in inventory. The average price of crude salt increased 32%. We were able to collect a substantial portion of our accounts receivable, which declined to $10,246,518 from $29,765,884. During the quarter, direct labor and factory overheads cost the company $5,695,519. However, we were still able to generate $19,407,977 in free cash flow and increase our cash position to $236,720,969 ($5.06* per share). Net net cash equaled $224,913,009 ($4.81* per share).

“We are going through the most complex of times,” Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the President and CEO stated. “The situation in which we find ourselves is completely unprecedented. While we are strongly in favor of the government’s decision to improve the environment, this has been an extremely difficult and complex time for our company. All of our factories are closed. Our bromine factories are awaiting approval after the rectification completed. Our chemical factory is being relocated. Our natural gas well is awaiting new equipment that will solve its technical problems. Fortunately, we have substantial amounts of cash that will enable us to satisfy the government, build new facilities, and emerge as a much stronger company. Our focus is where our company will be in the future. We know that bromine and chemical capacity in China will be reduced, and we believe that as one of the best financed companies in our niche, we will have the ability to emerge much stronger and much more profitable. Accordingly, we will focus on our progress and the issues remaining in our attempt to satisfy the new environmental regulations promulgated by the Chinese government. We will also focus on how we see our businesses in the next several years.”

“We appreciate the support of our shareholders,” Mr. Liu continued. “I do not think anyone can imagine what a complex and difficult time this has been for our management team. Every member of our team is working day and night to meet all of the new government requirements. Our focus is to get our bromine factories operational, build our new chemical factory, and begin producing natural gas at our first well. After these steps are completed, company will consider for acquisition and enhance shareholder value by using rest of the cash.”

“We recognize,” Mr. Liu continued, “that our shareholders have been very patient. We know this is a difficult time for you. We only ask that you understand this is an even more difficult time for us. We are committed to improving our communication with our shareholders, so they can follow every step in our progress of re-opening our facilities. We are also committed to finding ways of enhancing shareholder value once we have our businesses back in operation.”

SHOUGUANG, China, Jan. 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt, specialty chemical products, and natural gas in China, today announced updates to the rectification of its bromine business.

Since the beginning of November 2017, Gulf Resources has been working diligently to follow all of the steps required to rectify its bromine operations.

In the beginning of January, 2018, Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the President and CEO, Mr. Li Min, the CFO, Mr. Miao Naihui, the COO, went on an inspection tour of the bromine plants accompanied by a U.S. based consultant.

The consultant took photographs of the facilities and wrote a report accompanying the photographs.

The company has placed this report and the photographs on its website following the link below: http://www.gulfresourcesinc.com/corporate-ppt.html

As our U.S. based consultant stated in the report,

          “As can be seen from the photos in this report, Gulf Resources has spent a considerable amount of money in the past two months in performing the rectification of its bromine mines and factories. While there are no guarantees, management feels confident that the government will approve the rectification of the factories and mines. The company still believes it will be able to begin bromine operations step by step shortly after the Chinese New Year.”

The company encourages investors to review the report on the website so they can see the considerable amount of work that has already been performed.

SHOUGUANG, China, Nov. 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt, specialty chemical products, and natural gas in China, today announced updates on its chemical business.

On November 24, 2017, Gulf Resources received a letter from the People’s Government of Yangkou County, Shouguang City notifying the Company that due to the new standards and regulations relating to safety production and environmental pollution, from certain local governmental departments, such as the municipal environmental protection department, the security supervision department and the fire department, have decided to relocate chemical enterprises to a new industrial park called Bohai Marine Fine Chemical Industry Park.  The government has decided to close those chemical companies which are not in compliance with regulations within the county. The others which are in compliance with government regulations will be offered the opportunity to relocate to Bohai Marine Fine Chemical Industry Park which has been specifically designed for chemical companies. No chemical companies will be permitted to operate in the county outside of the new chemical industry park, with the exception of bromine facilities which are not being required to relocate.  Chemical companies that are not invited into the park will be permanently closed.  Although we are in compliance with regulations within the county, due to the proximity of our subsidiary, Shouguang Yuxin Chemical Co.’s, production plant in or near a residential area, we have been invited to relocate our chemical production plant to Bohai Marine Fine Chemical Industry Park. However, we must not commence activities until we have relocated the production plant and receive qualified acceptances from related departments.

Based on recent news, the company believes that many chemical factories in Shandong Province will be permanently closed. The same pattern is being followed in other provinces in China. The goal of the government is to reduce pollution and other risks to its citizens. When this process is completed, the company believes there will be fewer chemical companies and these companies will operate at much higher levels of safety and productivity.

While our factories are in compliance with government regulations, they are located in an area that is adjacent to residential areas. For that reason, we will have to close our factories and relocate them to the industrial park. This ruling applies to both of our chemical factories, which are located in the same general area.

To any entity which has been offered the opportunity to relocate, the government will sell those companies the new land for their factories. We will still control our existing land and, in the future, will consider new ways to monetize this asset. We are estimating the cost of acquiring the new land and designing and building a new factory. However, we have already made certain decisions with respect to the relocation, as follows:

We will combine our two factories into one facility. This will allow us to be more efficient.
We will upgrade our production facilities, using the most modern equipment. This will allow us to develop a strong competitive advantage over many of the remaining companies.
We will utilize as much of the existing equipment as possible, providing it does not jeopardize our long-term efficiency.
At the present time, we believe this relocation process will cost between $50-$60 million. Fortunately, as of September 30, 2017 we had approximately $190 million in cash reserves and will be able to pay for this new construction without jeopardizing our other projects.

We will need to acquire the land, design our factory, purchase the upgraded equipment, and then obtain all necessary government approvals. There is no way to be certain about the timeline, but we believe it should take slightly more than one year to construct the factory and obtain government approval. To be conservative, we believe the new factory will be fully operational in 1.5 years, with 2 years as the most conservative target.

We will take a write-down to book value after we determine which of the equipment we will move and which we will replace.

Obviously, we will lose some customers during the interim period. However, because there will be many fewer chemical factories in the county, the province, and throughout the country, we expect that we will be able to recapture all of our business and, through efficiencies, grow from there.

“When we first received this news,” Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated, “we were disappointed. We knew the country was on a campaign to improve the environment, but we did not know the short-term impact on our company would be this serious. However, after we considered all of the steps the government is taking, we are encouraged. We now have the incentive to upgrade our facilities and make them state-of-the-art. There will be fewer competitors, and the number of competitors will be permanently limited. Further, we have the cash to move and fully upgrade, while many of our competitors, that will still be allowed to remain in operation, may not.”

“This means,” Mr. Liu added, “that although over the next 1 to two years there will be no revenues generated from our chemical segment, we believe that with the relocation and upgrades and the opportunity to obtain business from other chemical factories that have closed over the long-term, our chemical business will likely be far more profitable than it has been in the past.

“In 2018,” Mr. Liu continued, “we expect to have our bromine facilities fully operational by the end of the first quarter. We expect strong profits from this segment. We also expect our natural gas project will begin to contribute to revenues and profits. In 2019, we expect to have our new chemical factory begin operations.”

“We know that investors may be disappointed in the decision by the government to force the relocation of our factories,” Mr. Liu continued. “China has serious environmental problems. These steps are absolutely necessary for the well-being of the country. While we are disappointed our factories need to be relocated, we are excited about the opportunity to function in an industry that will have fewer competitors and much lower capacity. We are pleased that we have more than enough capital to fund the rectification of our bromine business, the relocation of our chemical business, and the development of our natural gas business.”

“Because we assume investors will have many questions,” Mr. Liu continued, “we will host a conference call to provide detailed answers before December 9th, 2017, and the company will issue a press release about the conference date once it is booked.”

Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results

• Net Revenue declined 39% to $23,840,391.
• Earnings per share declined 70% to $0.07 from $0.23.

Fourth Quarter

Because the factories are closed, the company does not expect any revenues associated with the production in fourth quarter. Projecting earnings is complicated because Depreciation and Amortization are non-cash charges to earnings and some of the rectification costs may have to be expensed. However, the company believes that its cash burn, excluding rectification costs, should not exceeding $4 million.

Future Prospects

The company is working to get its bromine mines and factories open as quickly as possible. It is already in the process of moving ahead with the rectification. As previously disclosed, the company expects the rectification to cost approximately $35 million. When a batch factory has completed its rectification, we will apply to the government for permission to open them and begin production. The Company believes that the rectification for all of the bromine business will be completed and that operations will recommence by the end of March 2018.  However, the Company will try its best to implement the measures quickly to commence production for part of its bromine factories before this date.

The company still has not received a definitive plan from the local government regarding its chemical factories. It expects to receive this plan by the end of November.  However, since the chemical factories are located closer to where people live, the plans may be more complicated and expensive than they were for bromine. Until the company receives the government’s plan, it will not be able to make any estimates as to time or cost. Based on our conversations with the government, at this time, the company believes it will be able to meet government requirements with cash on hand and open our chemical business segment.

It is difficult to know exactly when each of our factories will be opened. However, once our factories are opened, the company expects significantly higher sales and earnings than it has had in the past. The demand for our products is not going away, it is just being postponed during the period of rectification. Some of our customers also have been closed. They are likely to have significant back orders, which should help to increase demand. Some factories and mines in other parts of Shandong and in other provinces also been closed for rectification. We may be able to capture some of their business once we started production if they are stilling under rectification. There should be somewhat fewer competitors, which we believe will allow us to increase our market share and our utilization. This should lead to higher sales and profits. Over the intermediate to long-term, the company believes the costs of rectification will be more than offset by higher utilization and market share, as some smaller companies may exit the industry.

“We appreciate the patience of our shareholders,” Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the President and CEO stated. “We have a large balance of cash, but at this moment, we may need $35 million for the rectification of the bromine business and a somewhat larger amount for the chemical business once we received the definitive plan from government. We may also be in a position to acquire a few small companies that cannot afford the costs of rectification at comparable cheaper prices. In addition, we have committed to spend up to $172 million for deep processing of brine well resources and the comprehensive utilization of associated natural gas under brine well in Sichuan Province. While we have thus far committed very little of this money, it is critical that we can continue to demonstrate to the government of Sichuan Province and Daying County that we still have the money to follow through on our commitments.”

“There may be a substantial amount of natural gas in Daying County and in Sichuan Province,” Mr. Liu continued, “The two major Chinese state-owned oil companies and many large independent producers are already spending billions of dollars to explore for natural gas in Sichuan. We were fortunate that we discovered natural gas while drilling for bromine. We were also fortunate that we had a large cash balance so we could convince the government of Daying County that it should partner with us. The natural gas opportunity is now far larger and more exciting than we could have ever imagined because of the new actions of the government to force companies to convert to natural gas from coal.”

“As we have told you before,” Mr. Liu concluded, “we believe all the events that are occurring in China will greatly benefit our company. We believe the bromine industry will have fewer competitors, our utilization will increase, and our profits could return to record levels. We believe the chemical industry will also consolidate and that our revenues and profits in chemicals will go up substantially. In addition, we believe that the new policies the government is implementing will greatly increase demand for natural gas. We are currently attempting to resolve technical problems related to drilling our first well. However, we have a strong partnership with the government of Daying County, and we believe the new government regulations may give us even more opportunities than we ever imagined.”

SHOUGUANG, China, Nov. 01, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt, specialty chemical products, and natural gas in China, today announced updates on the rectification of its bromine business.

On September 1, the Company announced it received notification from the government of Yangkou County, Shouguang City that production at its factories and mines had to be halted in order for the Company to perform “rectification and improvement in accordance with the country's new safety, environmental protection requirements.”

Since that time, the local government organized the Safety Supervision and Administration Department and the Environmental Protection Departments conducted inspections of every bromine production enterprise within its jurisdiction, in order to improve security, environmental protections, pollution, and safety.

The Company has been working closely with the County authorities to develop rectification plans for both its bromine and its chemical businesses. The Company and the government have now agreed on a plan for Haoyuan Chemicals, the Company’s bromine business, which includes the following:

The coal boilers should be dismantled. The “conversion of coal to electricity” and “conversion of coal to gas” or the connection to the centralized pipe network should be carried out.

Positions related to chlorine should all adopt automatic control (or remote control). Emergency cut-off devices should be provided for liquid chlorine vaporization. Video monitoring and toxic gas alarms should be set as required and should be in normal operation.

Emergency facilities for leakages regarding above-ground storage tanks should be provided (collecting pool, cofferdam, receiving tank, dumping pump, etc). It is encouraged to use underground storage tanks. For each storage tank, high level alarms and high level interlocking shut-off valves should be provided as required. Meanwhile, liquid level detectors should be installed.

Hardening should be carried out for site road, unloading area, device area, storage tank area and gasification area of liquid chlorine storage. It is encouraged to carry out hardening for the entire site.

All pipes inside the plant area should be buried or above-ground pipe supports should be adopted. Cables should be placed inside pipes and pipe supports should be used. Related labels and flow direction should be marked clearly. It is forbidden to place cables in a disordered way.

Anticorrosion should be carried out for all devices, pipes, valves and flanges inside the plant without any terrible rust. Related caution labels should be suspended and posted as required. Misuse, hanging in a disordered way and damage are forbidden.

Attention should be paid to the cleanness and greening inside the plant. Leakage is strictly forbidden.

Aqueducts and crude salt pans of some mining areas should be modified again to strengthen the leakage prevention and prevent underground brine and waste water from polluting surrounding farmland. Leakage prevention should be checked each year and updated on a regular basis.

In case the related crude salt pan of the bromine factory cannot consume the waste water generated by the factory, negotiation should be made with surrounding enterprises.
After the rectification is completed, the County will entrust relevant governmental supervisory departments and safety and environmental experts to conduct a joint inspection. We may start production again if we pass the inspection, otherwise production shall be halted until the rectification has been approved. If the Company fails inspection twice, we will be forced to close the factories according to law.

The Company believes the new environmental policies are very important for the quality of life in China. While the measures the Company must take to implement the policies are costly and time consuming, the Company believes they are essential. It also believes that in the end, the Company’s position in the bromine business will be significantly strengthened, as many smaller and unlicensed competitors may be unable to pass inspections or to finance needed improvements.

Gulf Resources is committed to undertaking and completing all of the rectification steps which the Company believes will cost approximately US$35 million. The Company believes that the rectification for all of the bromine business will be completed and that operations will recommence by the end of March 2018.  However, the Company will try its best to implement the measures quickly to commence production for part of its bromine factories before this date.

At this time, the government has not issued plans for the Company’s chemical business. Because the factories of chemical business are located in residential areas, the government may need longer time to formulate its plans and make a decision. The Company is in discussions with the government to arrive at a rectification plan for its chemical business. As soon as it receives the government’s detailed plan, it will begin developing its strategy and communicate with investors.

In Sichuan, the Company has found a solution for the waste water, and it will continue to resolve the technical drilling issues for its natural gas project.

Financial Implications

Since September 2017, all of the bromine and chemical operations have been closed. We expect that these operations will be closed during the entire fourth quarter of 2017. As a result, the Company will report reduced earnings for the third quarter of 2017 and a loss for the fourth quarter of 2017. The Company is currently reviewing the financial implications and will report to investors in the near future.

Gulf Resources would like to reiterate to investors that as of June 30, 2017, the Company had more than US$176 million in cash. This cash will enable Gulf to make the improvements in its bromine business as well as any improvements that may be required for its chemical and natural gas businesses.

Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources, stated, “Sometimes events that appear to be bad news are actually great opportunities. We are obviously disappointed that our factories and mines had to be closed and that our earnings for 2017 will be disappointing. However, we believe the government is doing the right thing by taking strong steps to improve the environment. Our management is working extremely closely with the local authorities to resolve all of these issues are quickly as possible.”

“We further believe,” Mr. Liu continued, “this could turn out to be a very exciting business opportunity for Gulf. We believe our mines and factories have had generally higher quality standards than those of most of our competitors. We believe that unlicensed competitors may be permanently closed and that smaller competitors may not have the capital to upgrade. We may have opportunities to purchase these competitors at a comparable cheaper price. In addition, with fewer competitors, we expect that utilization and profitability in our industries could increase. Over the long-term, we believe our earnings power may increase as well. With our very large cash position, we should be able to rectify our factories, make acquisitions, develop our natural gas project, and also enhance shareholder value.

“We will continue to communicate with our shareholders,” Mr. Liu continued, “as we gain more visibility as to the cost and the timing of the rectification program in bromine and the plans for the similar program in chemicals.”

Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results

• Total net revenue were $47,531,989 vs. $47,600,767.
• Diluted EPS excluding Unrealized gain/(loss) on translation of intercompany balance （currency adjustments） reported EPS $0.30 vs. $0.27, an increase of 11.9%*.

“Gulf Resources (GURE) reported a strong second quarter.” Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of the Company stated. “However, the results in the quarter and the six months were significantly complicated by the change in the value of the RMB versus the US$. For example, while reported net income increased 4% to $13,751,678 from $13,197,019, comprehensive net income, including the impact of the changes in currency, increased 512%* to $21,012,915 from $3,436,246. The significant difference between these two numbers reflects the impact of the change in the value of the RMB versus the US$. The change in the value of the currencies also impacted our shareholders equity, which increased 8.9%* to $380,601,205 ($8.13* per diluted share).

“In our press release of July 10, 2017, the company stated that it expected to report earnings and earnings per share increased by double digits excluding potential extraordinary items and currency exchange problems. In order to fully understand the financial results we are reporting today, it is important to understand the impact of these items on the earnings.”

In order to better understand our financial results and how they compared to our previous guidance,” Mr. Liu continued, “we believe it is important to provide investors with a view of our company’s operations that both includes and excludes the impact of the changes in currency. Let us start with the guidance of a double-digit increase in EPS excluding extraordinary items and currency exchange problems.

Reported income from operations was $18,482,472 versus $17,331,122 an increase of 7%.
However, we incurred a currency translation loss for the quarter of $466,655 as compared to a gain in the same quarter of the previous year of $679,196, which has been called as “Unrealized gain/(loss) on translation of intercompany balance” in the company 10-Q .
Excluding the impact of the currency transactions, income from operations would have been $18,949,127* versus $16,651,926*, an increase of 13.8%*. 
Reported net income was $13,751,678 vs. $13,197,019, an increase of 4%.
Net income excluding currency changes would have been $14,218,333* vs. $12,517,823*, an increase of 13.6*%.
Reported fully diluted earnings per share were $0.29 vs. $0.28, an increase of 3.6%*.
However, after excluding the impact of currency changes, reported fully diluted earnings per share would have been $0.30 vs. $0.27, an increase of 13.6%.

“While we have no control over the changes in the value of the currency, we are pleased to have achieved a double digit increase in EPS excluding the changes in the currency and a 4% increase even with the currency impact.”

“On a segment basis,” Mr. Liu continued, “Our press release stated, “Gulf expects to report strong  results in bromine and improved results in chemicals for the second quarter of 2017.” As with the EPS numbers, it is important to consider the impact of the changes in currency on our results. Since we do all of our business in RMB, we believe this is a more relevant measure.

Sales in RMB increased for the company as a whole as well as for its major segments.

Total net revenue were $47,531,989 vs. $47,600,767.
Net Revenue  in RMB were RMB 325,762,379.5 vs. RMB 310,892,606.5, and increase of 4.8%.
Reported net revenue in Bromine and Crude Salt were $20,945,016 vs. $20,786,293, an increase of 0.8%.
In RMB, net revenue in Bromine and Crude Salt were RMB 143,547,500* vs. RMB 135,760,520*, an increase of 5.7%*.
Reported net revenue in Chemicals was $26,586,973 vs. $26,814,474, a decline of 1%.
In RMB, net revenue in Chemicals were RMB 182,214,879* vs. RMB175,132,087*, an increase of 4.0%*.
Segment Earnings

Reported income from operations in Bromine and Crude salt increased 31.8%* to $10,792,183* from $8,189,553*.
Income from operations in RMB in Bromine and Crude Salt increased 38.3%* to RMB 73,964,656* from RMB53,488,035*.
Reported income from operations in Chemicals declined 2.5% to $8,318,480 from $8,531,677.
Income from operations in RMB in chemicals increased 2.3%* to RMB57,011,034* from RMB55,722,533*.
“As can be seen from the numbers above,” Mr. Liu continued, “we had sales and pre-tax earnings increases in bromine, crude salt, and chemicals in RMB in the second quarter.

SHOUGUANG, China, July 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt, and specialty chemical products, today announces the temporary suspension of production at its first natural gas well in Sichuan Province.

In the initial stages of production, the content of the natural gas did not meet the expected quality standards. The basic issue is that the water content in the natural gas is too high, which is a common problem in natural gas wells. From the outset, the Company was aware that this type of problem could occur, which is why it was only producing test quantities of natural gas.

Gulf Resources currently is consulting with the professional petroleum experts from Southwest Petroleum University to assess the issue and make recommendations.  At the present time, the Company believes the solution will likely involve the addition of relatively inexpensive pieces of equipment, which should take a few months to procure and install. However, until the full plan from the Southwest Petroleum University team is received, the Company cannot be completely certain of the cost or the timing.

While this is a short-term set back, the Company believes this will not change the intermediate to long-term opportunities for natural gas production in Sichuan Province.

Gulf Resources continues to be optimistic about both its core business and the opportunities in Sichuan Province. At the present time, Gulf expects to report strong results in bromine and improved results in chemicals for the second quarter of 2017. Overall, excluding potential extraordinary items and currency exchange problem, the Company expects to report that sales in the second quarter of 2017 increased over those in the previous year. It also expects to report that earnings and earnings per share increased by double digits.

Liu Xiaobin, the President and CEO of Gulf Resources stated, “We are moving very carefully to insure that our Sichuan project produces natural gas of the highest quality. We believe we have a great opportunity and do not want to jeopardize it by taking any shortcuts. Meanwhile, we are very pleased that our chemical business has improved and our bromine business remains very strong. We look forward to reporting strong results for the second quarter and for the remainder of the year.”

First Quarter 2017 Financial Results

• In the first quarter of 2017, revenues declined 5% to $32,788,493 from $34,495,450. Cost of goods sold declined by 15%. As a result, gross margins dollars improved 18%.
• Income from operation increased 25% to $10,812,997 from $8,666,318. Earnings before taxes also increased by 25% to $10,896,946. Net income increased by 25% to $8,075,120. Earnings per share increased by 21% to $0.17 from $0.14.

Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the President and CEO of Gulf Resources stated, “We are extremely proud of our much improved margins, cost controls, and profitability during the seasonably slow first quarter. We believe we will continue to produce strong results during the remainder for 2017.”

“We are very pleased with the results of our bromine segment,” Mr. Liu Xiaobin stated. “Bromine pricing continues to increase. It is even up since the end of the quarter. We expect prices to remain strong in the future. We are investing in our facilities to improve utilization. We believe we can continue to increase both sales and profits in bromine. Stricter government regulations are forcing many smaller competitors to close, which should allow us to increase our market share.”

“While we are not making projections,” Mr. Liu continued, “we would like to remind investors that our bromine segment has historically had significantly higher earnings from operations during year 2009-2011. We are very optimistic about the opportunities in this segment.”

“While our chemical business is still showing declines over the previous year,” Mr. Liu stated, “the declines were much lower than in the fourth quarter of 2016 when sales and gross profits increased 3% and 3% respectively as compared to the fourth quarter 2016. Although the economy in China is still soft and although some of our customers still have capital constraints, we believe we have reached the bottom and are starting to see real improvements. We believe we are becoming cautiously optimistic about these businesses.”

2017 Guidance

For the second quarter of 2017, we expect continued strong pricing in bromine. We also believe we should be able to slightly increase the volume of bromine sold. The chemical business should be slightly lower in sales and earnings than in the previous year, however the gap should continue to close. Earnings for the quarter should be higher than those in the previous year.

For the year as a whole, we expect sales to increase between 3% and 8%. Bromine should continue to be strong. The chemical business should improve and show an increase by the fourth quarter. Net Income and earnings per share should increase by at least 10%.

“We believe,” Mr. Liu continued, “there are a number of factors that could lead to larger increases in earnings, however because many things are currently unknown, we prefer to remain conservative.”

“We at Gulf have continued to deliver on our promises,” Mr. Liu continued. “We have many exciting things ahead of us. We are going to see real revenues from our natural gas project. We believe we have significant additional leverage in Bromine. We think our chemical business has bottomed and is starting to show improvement. We see very exciting acquisition opportunities that could significantly add to earnings, and we are committed to finding ways to help recognize shareholder value.”

“We appreciate the support of our shareholders,” Mr. Liu continued. “We are implementing our plan that we believe will lead to significantly higher sales and earnings in the years ahead and that will give us the opportunity to help our shareholders recognize the value they see in our company.”

HOUGUANG, China, May 03, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt, specialty chemical products, and natural gas in China, today announced a contract with Sichuan Heshun Natural Gas Sales Co.,Ltd, its first customer for its natural gas production in Sichuan Province.

Under the terms of the contract, Gulf will sell 8,000 cubic meters of natural gas each day to Sichuan Heshun Natural Gas Sales Co., Ltd. This amount will allow Gulf to satisfy its minimum revenue guarantee for its business operation. Sichuan Heshun Natural Gas Sales Co., Ltd will transport the natural gas from Gulf’s well to its customers in the local area.

During this initial period, Gulf will continue to increase its daily production gradually. As soon as Gulf is confident it can provide significantly larger amounts of natural gas on a consistent basis, it will secure contracts with other customers.

“We are very pleased to have secured our first contract for natural gas,” stated Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of Gulf Resources. “During this initial period, it is very important that we can deliver the natural gas we are promising.  The company has received the product quality inspection report. We believe our first well can produce a large amount of natural gas. We further believe that there will be opportunities to drill many more wells. However, we must be careful to make sure that we can successfully deliver on all of our commitments. We do not want to take any short cuts that could jeopardize the substantial opportunity that we believe we have before us.”

“This is the first step in what we believe will be a very exciting business opportunity for Gulf and its shareholders,” Mr. Liu continued. “We are extremely pleased to be commercializing our natural gas discovery.”

SHOUGUANG, China, March 28, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced the completion of the merger of its two chemical divisions, Yuxin Chemical and Rongyuan Chemical. Gulf had originally announced the proposed merger on Sept. 2, 2016. Recently, the company finally completed all the merger processes. Yuxin Chemical (SYCI) has acquired Rongyuan Chemical (SCRC).

Company had received all needed government approvals; and the Company also completed the process of merging the management, finance, sales, procurement, R&D, and other departments, which will help to eliminate some cost duplication.

Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated, “In the current economy of China, we have to consider every opportunity to reduce costs and improve profitability. The merger will help to eliminate costs. It will also give us greater bargaining power in purchasing raw materials and machinery and in selling our products to end customers. In addition, it will make our company easier for investors to understand.”

SHOUGUANG, China, March 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that continuing strength in the price of bromine should lead to significantly improved sales and earnings in bromine business, especially in the first half of 2017.

Over the past two years, the price of bromine in China has shown continuing strength.

Between 2014 and 2015, the price of bromine increased 9.6%. In the first 9 months of 2016, the price increased by 21.4% from the same period of 2015 and 31.2% for the same period of 2014.

Since the end of the third quarter of 2016, the price of bromine has continued to increase. At the beginning of March 2017, it was $4,142. This represents an increase of 17% from the price in the third quarter of 2016. It also represents an increase of 43.5% from the average price in 2014.

There is no guarantee that pricing will remain at its current level. However, international pricing is very strong. Domestically, supply is being constrained by restrictions in production, limited licensing of mines and factories, as well as the degradation of some domestic facilities. As a result, we expect the pricing of bromine will continue to remain strong.

At these levels, profits in bromine business could have benefit to our bottom line.

We will provide our guidance when we release our results later this month. However, at the present time, in the first half of 2017, for which we have good visibility, we expect increases in sales and earnings for bromine business.

SHOUGUANG, China, Nov. 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that one of the Company’s subsidiaries Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited (SCHC) signed the demolition compensation agreement for its factory #6 with the Yangzi Street Office of Weifang City Binhai Economic-Technological Development Zone.

To improve the environment and increase tourism, the government of Weifang City has created the Taiwan Island Ecological Culture City Project in its Binhai Economic-Technological Development Zone. SCHC’s Factory #6 is located within this zone. In order to complete this project, the government and SCHC have reached a Demolition Compensation Agreement whereby the government will pay SCHC approximately USD$2,678,989 (based on the current exchange rate) for the demolition of Factory #6.  This amount is expected to be roughly slightly above the current book value of its fixed assets. SCHC will receive 60% of the funds within five days since signing the agreement and the remainder within five business days since the acceptance by construction unit. It is a relatively common experience in China for governments to acquire property for tourism, housing, infrastructure, and other uses and compensate the impacted companies accordingly. 

Factory #6
Factory #6 is in a different geographic region than Gulf’s other factories. Gulf believes that none of its other factories may be impacted by government actions in the foreseeable future.

Factory #6 contains 2,641 acres. It was acquired on January 8, 2008 with the total purchase price of USD$9,722,222. In 2015, Factory #6 had bromine capacity of 4.539 tons (10% of SCHC’s total). Production was 1,914 tons (10% of total). Sales were 1,944 tons (10% of total). The utilization ratio was 42%, slightly above the corporate average of 40%. Factory #6 also produced 36,500 tons of crude salt (11% of total). Details regarding Factory #6 are presented in Gulf Resources Annual Report on 10-K.

Financial Impact
Gulf Resources is operating at a relatively low utilization ratio. For the first nine months of 2016, the utilization rate for Bromine was 40%. Gulf Resources expects that virtually all sales from Factory #6 will be transferred to other factories. This should result in higher utilization for the company as a whole.

Costs should be reduced because Gulf Resources will be operating one less factory. This will mean lower rent, labor costs, utilities expenditures, depreciation and amortization. With higher utilization and lower costs, profits should benefit.

In addition, the government may force the demolition of other small bromine factories near the location of our Factory #6. This could lead to lower competition and further increases in utilization.

Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated, “The demolition of Factory #6 will allow the government of Weifang to develop the Taiwan Island Ecological Culture City Project. We will transfer all business from Factory #6 to our other factories. Given our current low level of utilization in Bromine and the low margins in crude salt, demolishing this factory should allow us to increase our utilization and profits. While we never like to see one of our factories demolished, in this instance the demolition and sale should benefit our company.”

Third Quarter 2016 Financial Results

• For the period ended September 30, 2016 compared to the period ended September 30, 2015, net revenues decreased 9% to $38,811,622 from $42,601,598.
• Earnings per share were flat at $0.23.

Mr. Xiaobin Liu, Gulf’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “Despite the continuing weakness in the Chinese economy, especially in industries related to our core business such as oil exploration in terms of money amount, we are pleased to report a quarter with improved income from operations and flat earnings per share. We are especially pleased with the strong performance of our bromine business. If the economy improves, as we believe it eventually will, we will have significant upside leverage in all of our core businesses.”

“Our cash balances continue to increase,” Mr. Liu continued. “We are now making good progress in building the infrastructure in Sichuan. We are very optimistic about the opportunities ahead of us.”

Guidance
The company remains optimistic about the opportunities ahead of us. Bromine prices have remained very strong. We are seeing stabilization in the Chinese economy, which should ultimately benefit some of our more economically sensitive sectors. Healthcare expenditures are increasing, which should benefit our pharmaceutical chemicals business. We are making excellent progress in Sichuan. We continue to believe that earnings and earnings per share in 2016 may exceed that in 2015.

“2017 could be a very exciting year for Gulf,” Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO stated. “With strong pricing in bromine, a stabilization of the Chinese economy, and the beginning of production of natural gas in Sichuan, we could see a good growth in sales and earnings.”

“We appreciate the long patience of our shareholders,” Mr. Liu concluded. “Like you, we would like to see a higher stock price. In 2017, we should start to be able to show the significant opportunities ahead of us that could enable us to dramatically increase our earnings and share price.”

SHOUGUANG, China, Oct. 26, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announces a delay in the completion of its first brine water and natural gas well field construction in Sichuan Province due to excessive rainfall and severe flooding.

Portions of Sichuan Province and much of central and southern China were hit by the largest amount of rainfall in over 20 years. As can be seen from some of the quotes below, which come from the news media and can all be easily found online, this flooding cost China $33 billion and left millions of people homeless.
The first series of storms began in June. Further storms hit in July and August. Finally, as can be seen from the final quote, even more storms hit Sichuan from September 18th onwards, which is quite unusual.

“Several days of heavy rain and flooding in southern and eastern China has left at least 128 people dead and over 40 missing, according to Chinese authorities. Some areas have recorded over 200 mm of rain in 24 hours.”

SHOUGUANG, China, Aug. 30, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced the merger of its two chemical divisions, Yuxin Chemical and Rongyuan Chemical. Under the terms of the agreement, Yuxin will acquire Rongyuan. After the merger is completed, during the third quarter of 2016, Yuxin will be the surviving division.

The senior management of the two divisions will be merged as well the finance, personnel, production, procurement, sales, logistic and R&D departments. Gulf believes it should be able to eliminate the substantial cost duplication between the two divisions. In addition, the management of Gulf Resources believes that the merger of the two divisions will give it greater bargaining power in both procurement and sales.  All of the existing factories will continue in operation.

Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated, “In the current economy of China, we have to consider every opportunity to reduce costs and improve profitability. We have two divisions that all produce chemical types of products in similar locations. By merging these two businesses, we can eliminate the duplication in management, finance, sales, procurement, logistics, R&D, and other departments. While it is too soon to quantify the full amount of the savings, we do believe it could benefit company in many ways.”

“In addition,” Mr. Liu continued, “We believe that one business doing nearly $100 million in revenues  after merger will have greater leverage in procuring products and machinery and in selling to end customers. In addition, the merger of these two divisions will make our company easier for investors to understand and evaluate.”

“We continue to focus on ways of improving the profitability of Gulf Resources,” Mr. Liu concluded. “While we are pleased with the company operation and are very optimistic about our natural gas project, we want investors to understand that we are also focused on reducing costs and improving profitability wherever we can.“

Second Quarter 2016 Financial Results 

• Revenues declined by 4% to $47.6 million compared to the same period in 2015.
• Earnings Per Share Diluted was $0.28 vs. last years $0.23.

SHOUGUANG, China, July 26, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced the updates on its Sichuan natural gas project.

We would like to bring our shareholders up to date on the progress of our Sichuan Natural Gas project.

We are very pleased with the progress we have made in the past quarter. We have:

Signed the agreement to purchase the equipment needed for drilling and converting the natural gas.
Constructed the roads and related infrastructure needed to begin operations in the remote and mountainous region of Daying county.

The total capital expenditures in 2016 should be approximate $3 million. This total includes equipment, roads, and all other related expenses.

We expect to begin production on the first well in October or November.

Once production begins, we expect to have a phased development process. For the beginning three to six months, we will produce at trial production levels. After this period of time, we expect to produce at maximum levels step by step. At the present time, based on the studies we have completed, we estimate the well should be able to produce at maximum levels for a minimum of 10 years.

Once we achieve maximum output, we will be in a position to evaluate our plans for additional wells. Assuming the first well produces to the levels we expect, we plan to drill 3-4 new wells in 2017. Based on the results of these wells, we could accelerate our development in 2018.

The next group of wells should cost approximately $8 million a well. If we significantly increase the number of wells drilled, the cost per well may be reduced.

At this point in time, there is no way to know how long the approval process will take. The company has the strong support of the government of Daying County. The county government will work with the company try to obtain whatever provincial approvals are needed.

The first well in Sichuan is permitted for both natural gas and bromine. The bromine concentrations in Sichuan are about 7x higher than those in Shandong. There is every reason to believe that we will be able to produce bromine in addition to the natural gas. However, we will not begin to consider developing the bromine reserves until after the natural gas is being produced at full capacity.

Based on our current development plans, we should continue to be free cash flow positive.

We will be reporting our second quarter in early August. We are very pleased that our project in Sichuan is progressing as planned.

SHOUGUANG, China, May 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced its Sales and Earnings Guidance for 2016.

For the year 2016, Gulf Resources projects annual revenue from $160-$170 million compared to revenues of $162 million in 2015. Net Income is projected to be between $35-36 million, compared to $34.1 million in 2015. Fully diluted EPS should equal or somewhat exceed the $0.74 reported in 2015.

For the second quarter, revenues should be between $49-$50 million, compared to $49.35 million the second quarter of 2015. Net income should be between $10-$11 million, as compared to $10.8 million in the second quarter of 2015. EPS should be between $0.21-$0.24, compared to $0.23 in the second quarter of 2015.

These projections represent management’s best estimates at the current time. They assume no improvement in the current weakened state of the Chinese economy or in some of the economically sensitive industries that are customers of Gulf Resources. While management does believe that the economy will improve at some point, it wants to maintain its conservative approach.

These projections also assume that there will be costs but no revenues associated with the natural gas drilling project in Sichuan. Once drilling has begun, Gulf Resources will update these projections.

In addition, to further keep investors informed, Gulf Resources has posted a new investor presentation to its website. The presentation can be found in the “About Gulf” tab, under Corporate PPT.

Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Results

• Net revenues increased 40.6% to $35.5 million
• EPS increased 152% to $0.16 from $0.07 per share.

Business Outlook

“We are extremely pleased with our results for 2014,” Gulf’s CEO Xiaobin Liu stated. “Although the Chinese economy was very weak, we posted strong results in all of our business segments, acquired Rongyuan, upgraded two of our factories, and reached an agreement with the government of Daying County in Sichuan Province that may allow us to build a very large natural gas and brine business in that province.”

“As we look to 2016,” Mr. Liu said, “we do not yet see signs of recovery in China. However, all of our businesses remain strong. Bromine prices have risen and show no signs of dropping. Our chemical businesses are strong, and Rongyuan has great opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry. This should lead to higher sales and earnings in 2016.”

“We are making strong progress in Sichuan,” Mr. Liu said. “We are moving ahead to build our factory and install the infrastructure needed to allow us to become a  producer of natural gas.”

“We know our investors have been very patient,” Mr. Liu concluded. “We are committed to recognizing shareholder value and significantly improving the price of our stock. If our natural gas business is as successful as we hope it will be, our company will be transformed. If it is not as successful, we will find ways of returning capital to shareholders.”

SHOUGUANG, China, March 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company" or "GURE"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced the explaining letter for its website issues.

In response to requests from shareholders, GURE is in the process of completely updating and rebuilding its website.

The Company is aware that it has not been diligent in keeping its website up to date on all subjects. The new and improved website will update all of the information needed by investors and will also include new communication from the management as well as full information on new projects, including the acquisition of SCRC and the drilling for natural gas in Sichuan province.

Unfortunately as we have begun the process of rebuilding our website, we have encountered a technical problem. The software we originally used, Joomla 1.0 is no longer supported by our website provider. To utilize the current PHP version 5.6, we need to upgrade to Joomla 3.4.

We are working as hard as we can to get the new software installed and provide investors with all the information they want.

We recognize that this is an unfortunate time for this to occur. We will be reporting our 2015 results soon and will be holding a conference call. It would be an inconvenience for our investors to attend the webcasting if we are not able to get the new software installed. But there would still be a link available for investors to attend our webcasting even though not a direct link from the company website.

We apologize to our investors for this issue. We want our investors to know that we are dedicated to providing them with complete, up-to-date information on our website and that we will work diligently to get the new website operational and then to keep it complete and current.

We appreciate your patience and promise to do a better job of investor communications in the future.

Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement

 
As described under Item 3.03 below, on November 24, 2015, Gulf Resources, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Gulf Delaware” or the “Company”), consummated a merger (the “Reincorporation”) with and into its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gulf Resources, Inc., a Nevada corporation (“Gulf Nevada” or the “Registrant”), pursuant to the terms and conditions of an Agreement and Plan of Merger entered into by Gulf Nevada and Gulf Delaware on November 24, 2015 (the “Merger Agreement”), which is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.1. As a result of the Reincorporation, the Registrant is now a Nevada corporation.
 
Item 3.03 Material Modification to Rights of Security Holders
 
On November 24, 2015, Gulf Delaware consummated a merger with and into its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gulf Nevada. As a result of the Reincorporation, the Registrant is now a Nevada corporation.
 
Upon the effectiveness of the Reincorporation:
 
• the affairs of the Company ceased to be governed by Delaware corporation laws, the Company's existing Certificate of Incorporation and the Company's existing By-laws, and the affairs of the Registrant became subject to Nevada corporation laws, Articles of Incorporation of Gulf Nevada and the Bylaws of Gulf Nevada;
 
• the resulting Nevada corporation will (i) be deemed to be the same entity as the Delaware corporation for all purposes under the laws of Nevada, (ii) continue to have all of the rights, privileges and powers of the Delaware corporation, (iii) continue to possess all properties of the Delaware corporation, and (iv) continue to have all of the debts, liabilities and obligations of the Delaware corporation;
 
• each outstanding share of the Delaware corporation’s common stock will continue to be an outstanding share of the Nevada corporation's common stock, and each outstanding option, warrant or other right to acquire shares of the Delaware corporation's common stock will continue to be an outstanding option, warrant or other right to acquire shares of the Nevada corporation's common stock;
 
• each employee benefit plan, incentive compensation plan or other similar plan of the Delaware corporation will continue to be an employee benefit plan, incentive compensation plan or other similar plan of the Nevada corporation; and
 
• each director and officer of the Delaware corporation will continue to hold their respective offices with the Nevada corporation.

 
The Reincorporation effected a change in the legal domicile of the Company and other changes of a legal nature, the most significant of which are described in our proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Schedule 14A on August 31, 2015.
 
The Reincorporation is not expected to affect any of the Company’s material contracts with any third parties, and the Company’s rights and obligations under such material contractual arrangements will continue as rights and obligations of the Company after the Reincorporation. The Reincorporation itself will not result in any change in headquarters, business, jobs, management, location of any of the Company’s offices or facilities, number of employees, assets, liabilities or net worth (other than as a result of the costs incident to the Reincorporation) of the Company.
 
The foregoing description of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, the Nevada Articles of Incorporation and the Nevada Bylaws does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Nevada Articles of Incorporation and the Nevada Bylaws, copies of which are attached as Exhibits 2.1, 3.1 and 3.2, respectively, to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference.

SHOUGUANG, China, Nov. 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company" or "GURE"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the company�s wholly owned subsidiary Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited(�SCHC�) has entered into an agreement with the People�s Government of Daying County in Sichuan Province for the exploration and development of natural gas and brine resources (including bromine and crude salt).

Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated, "We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with the government of Daying County. We believe there are substantial resources of natural gas and brine in Sichuan. With the support of the government of Daying County, we believe we should be able to build a strong new business in natural gas and brine in Sichuan that could potentially transform our company."

"We have talked in the past about our goal of becoming a large and very profitable company and greatly enhancing shareholder value," Mr. Liu continued. "We believe this agreement is a significant step in this process. If we can develop major natural gas and brine resources in Sichuan, we can find a sure path to a significantly higher stock price."

Because of the size, scope, and potentially transformative nature of this agreement, Gulf Resources would like to review a number of issues and answer questions that investors might have.

• What Are the Opportunities In Daying County?

Gulf has been conducting exploration projects in Daying County since 2011. It discovered that the bromine concentration in the underground brine water resources was 6-7 times higher than those in Shandong Province. Then, in beginning of 2015, Gulf discovered natural gas at its original brine well. The Company subsequently hired a third party (a subsidiary of Sinopec) to conduct of survey of this well. The survey and geographic studies indicated rich natural gas resources under the well. Based on the assessment report, the Company estimates this well should produce annual revenue of approximately US$4.7 million and annual net income approximately US$2.3 million per year. In 2014, Sinopec Petroleum made the largest natural gas discovery in Chinese history (440 billion cubic meters) in Anyue and Tongnan counties, which are adjacent to Daying. However, to date, there has been limited activity in Daying County. Gulf believes that Daying County has rich natural gas and brine resources.

• What are the terms of the Agreement?

Under the terms of this agreement, SCHC will invest up to RMB 1.1 billion (Approximately $172 million) for deep processing of brine well resources and the comprehensive utilization of associated natural gas under brine well. This money will be spent for drilling, extraction, and production of natural gas, storage depots, pumping stations, trucks and other transportation equipment, roads, workers� housing, and other related expenditures. SCHC will have the responsibility for exploration, drilling, production, and etc. It will have to meet environmental assessment and safety regulations.

The government of Daying County will appoint one county level leader and one project secretary department to work with SCHC to obtain exploration and mining licenses, support SCHC�s technology improvement and capacity expansion, provide SCHC with appropriate incentives, assist SCHC with obtaining project approval, environment impact and safety assessments, provide SCHC with access to water and electricity at standard rates, and assist SCHC in obtaining permits from provincial and national authorities, and the project funds at all levels of the governments including the national, provincial and municipal levels.

The full terms of the agreement will be filed as an 8-K and will be available at WWW.SEC.GOV.

• Is SCHC required to invest all of the RMB1.1 billion?

This investment is a commitment from SHC. It is not a requirement. Actual expenditures will depend on the results of the drilling on a step-by-step basis, as well as on further approvals from provincial and national government authorities. SCHC will not continue to invest money in this project if the wells do not perform to expectations.

• Will SCHC have exclusivity in this area?

There is no exclusivity in this area. However, SCHC believes it has two advantages. It has a strong relationship with the Daying County government that is anxious to develop all its resources. It has applied for drilling licenses for multiple products (brine and natural gas), and it has the commitment of the government to assist with this project.

• Who has authority to grant permission to drill additional wells?

County, provincial, and national governments are all involved in granting permission to drill additional wells. This agreement is only with the county government of Daying County. The Sichuan Province government or the national government could ultimately reject future permissions or give permission to other parties. However, the agreement between SCHC and the county government insures SCHC will have a strong ally. The county government has assured SCHC that it will serve as an advocate to the Provincial and National governments to help SCHC receives the necessary permits.

• How many wells can SCHC drill?

Based on the agreement with Daying County as well as the expected costs of drilling the wells and providing the additional needed infrastructure, SCHC estimates it should be able to drill between 15 to 20 wells in the initial stages. However, SCHC believes that ultimately the number could be significantly higher.

• When will production commence?

SCHC will begin trial production on its first well in the very near future. It will also commence the process of applying for more drilling permits if the trial production performance is good.

• How will the company finance this exploration?

The Company can finance this exploration from existing cash and free cash flow. At the end of the September 2015 quarter, Gulf had cash on hand of approximately $121 million. The strong cash flow from operations in the past 12 months has generated approximately $49 million. This will give Gulf sufficient resources to complete this project.

• How much could Gulf earn from natural gas?

This is a far too complex question to answer at the present time. However, based on the results of the first test well, Gulf estimates it could produce net income of $2.3 million per year. Since drilling costs of potential future wells should be lower, this project could produce substantial returns if the natural gas in other locations is consistent with that in the test well.

• How has Gulf�s balance sheet impacted this Agreement?

The cash on Gulf�s balance sheet was a critical component of its ability to secure this agreement with Daying County. The officials in the county carefully analyzed Gulf�s balance sheet and cash flow before entering into the agreement. The county officials wanted to be certain that Gulf had the resources to complete the project if the wells produced desired results.

Gulf is aware that shareholders have wanted it to declare cash dividends or buy back stock, because the shareholders and Gulf�s management both believe the stock is highly undervalued. However, management felt that securing this agreement from Daying County was essential to the long-term growth of the Company.

• What is Gulf�s Long-Term Financial Plan?

If this project proves successful, Gulf will consider many alternatives. These could include among others: selling the natural gas business, spinning it off as a separate public company in China or Hong Kong, or considering a listing on another exchange. Gulf believes it is premature to consider these alternatives.

Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Net revenue.  Net revenue was $42,601,598 for three-month period ended September 30, 2015, an increase of approximately 11.5 million (or 37%) as compared to the same period in 2014.

Earnings Per Share: Basic and fully diluted earnings per share increased 77% to $0.23 from $0.13

Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the Chief Executive Officer commented, �We are pleased to report that despite the slow down in the economy of China, we posted very strong increase in revenues, gross profits, net income, and earnings per share. We have seen strong increases in the prices for bromine and crude salt. Our acquisition of SCRC is performing very well. We have diversified our business in a manner that reduces risk from economic slowdowns and gives us a more balanced and potentially faster growing stream of revenue and profits. Finally, we are very optimistic that we may receive permission to begin drilling for natural gas in Sichuan Province. The potential for our natural gas project coupled with the success of our SCRC acquisition and an expected improvement in the Chinese economy could provide highly significant benefits to GURE and our shareholders in the years ahead.�

�Our balance sheet remains extremely strong,� Mr. Liu continued, �with cash per share of $2.61*, and working capital per share of $3.82*. This gives us the resources to continue to transform GURE into a major and highly profitable corporation.�*

• Net revenues grew to $49.35m from $31.75m in the same quarter of the previous year, an increase of 55%.
• Diluted earnings per share grew to $0.23 from $0.14, an increase of 64%. 

"We are extremely pleased with these very strong results," Mr. Liu Xiaobin, the President and CEO of Gulf Resources stated.

Mr. Liu Xiabin stated, "We appreciate the patience of our loyal shareholders and want to assure you that as soon as we fully understand the capital needs required for the natural gas program, we will take concrete steps to return capital to our shareholders and increase shareholder value."

"We are very excited about our future," Mr. Liu concluded. "Our financial and operating results are extremely strong. Our acquisition of SCRC gives us a more stable and potentially faster growing revenue and earnings base. Bromine prices continue to increase. We are making good progress in negotiating the permission for our first natural gas well and intend to pursue permissions for more wells if the first well trial production performance is as successful as we expect. We have a very strong balance sheet with no debt and minimal liabilities. This will give us the ability to embark on many exciting projects while also finding ways of rewarding our shareholders."

SHOUGUANG, China, July 27, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced it reaffirms earnings guidance for 2015.

"We know investors are concerned about the problems in the Chinese stock market and the lower price of your Gulf Resources shares," Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated. "The economy of China has not been strong and the decline in the domestic stock market has had some impact. Nonetheless, we continue to be optimistic about our current business and future prospects.

"Our business continues to operate according to our plan," CEO Liu continued. "Bromine prices have increased about 10% from the same period last year. With the sharp price increases and production cut backs announced by the world's two largest producers, we expect further improvement. SCRC, our newly acquired chemical company, is doing well. Because SCRC makes products used in medicines, it should be immune to weaknesses in the Chinese economy.

"Over the intermediate to long-term," CEO Liu stated, "the ban on new IPOs in China and the decline in the prices of small capitalization stocks, should benefit Gulf. Many potential competitors may not have the opportunity to raise capital. As one of the largest domestic companies in the bromine industry, we should be able to gain share and continue to expand our downstream chemical business.

"At the end of the first quarter, we had $2.61 per share in cash, shareholders' equity per share of $7.72, and working capital per share of $3.69 (based on the 42.7 million primary shares)," CEO Liu continued. "This gives us great flexibility to grow our business."

"We are continuing to pursue permission to produce natural gas at our first test well on trial production," CEO Liu stated. "If the trial production performs as expected, we will pursue licenses for further wells. Natural gas prices continue to be very strong in China. We believe this could be an exceptional opportunity for us."

"We understand why U.S. investors may be nervous," Mr. Liu stated, "but we want to assure you that the fundamentals of our business are strong and we are working hard to produce strong returns for our investors."

While we do not know exactly how the economy will perform in the second half of 2015, we continue to believe that we can achieve our original earnings guidance of between $33 and $34 million, ($0.71 to $0.75 per share.)

• Net revenue was $34.91 million, a year-over-year increase of 36%.
• Net income was $5.3 million, or $0.12 per basic and diluted share, versus $4.3 million, or $0.11 per basic and diluted share a year ago, representing a year-over-year decrease of 24%.

"Despite the continuing macro-economic tightening policy imposed by the PRC government, we reported strong increases in sales and earnings," Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated. "We are very pleased with our recent acquisition of SCRC and believe it will enable us to generate higher and more stable margins from this downstream business. We are also very pleased with the positive test results from our bromine/natural gas well in Sichuan and intend to begin trial production in the immediate future. While our bromine and crude salt business has been under pressure, large price increases by Albemarle and Israel Chemical, the two largest producers of bromine, and the lowering of interest rates in the PRC, give us confidence that we will see improvement in these sectors. We continue to maintain our EPS guidance of approximately $0.74 per share for 2015." 

Business Outlook

"We are very pleased with our current position," Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of Gulf Resources stated. "Our acquisition of SCRC looks very promising, and we will continue to look for other downstream acquisitions."

"We are very excited about our opportunities in natural gas," Mr. Liu continued. "We expect that our existing well with natural gas can be profitably produced. While there is no guarantee that we will be able to obtain licenses for other wells, we believe we are in a strong position to become a significant producer of natural gas."

"The economy in China appears to be improving," Mr. Liu further stated, "and the world's two largest producers of bromine have significantly increased their prices. It may take another few months for these price increases to fully impact producers in China, but we are optimistic that bromine pricing and profits will increase."

"We still have $111 million of cash on our balance sheet, an amount roughly equal to our entire market capitalization," Mr. Liu stated. "This cash could enable us to finance the drilling of many wells and make other accretive acquisitions."

SHOUGUANG, China, May 7, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company" or "GURE"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced the assessment results of natural gas resources under its bromine well in Sichuan.

On January 30, 2015, the Company announced that it had found natural gas resources under its bromine well in Sichuan. The Company subsequently hired a third party (a subsidiary of Sinopec) to conduct of survey of this well. According to the report, the major results of the study are as follows:

• The well is located in the West Wing of Penglai South tectonic fault zone.
• The geological horizon well depth is shallow.
• Based on drilling, testing, logging display, and perforation test results, Penglai South structure has preferable natural gas reservoir properties.
• The complexity analysis shows that this natural gas containing total 93.1% of methane and ethane.
• This well should be able to have a trial production output of 52,186 cubic meters per day with 19.34MPa flowing pressure from bottom well.

Based on the assessment report, the Company estimates this well should produce annual revenue of approximately US$4.7 million and annual net income approximately US$2.3 million per year.

GURE intend to apply for permission to begin trial production, which is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2015. GURE has already spent US$7.85 million and will spend another US$2 million on this well before trial production commences.

After the trial production is completed, GURE intends to apply for permission to drill approximately 10 more wells. Before this permission is granted, the government will consider the trial production results as well as the capabilities and financial strength of the Company. However, because GURE is the first company drilled well in this small county area after Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) discovered rich proven geological natural gas reserves in Moxi block, it believes it has a strong advantage to obtain permission. The cost of future wells expected to be lower than the cost of the initial well.

There is no guarantee that GURE will receive permission to drill these additional wells. Nor is there any guarantee that future wells will produce the same result as the original well. However, given the results of the study as well as natural gas discoveries in neighboring areas, GURE is optimistic about the opportunity.

This Sichuan area also has substantial bromine resources. However because the natural gas opportunity is much larger, GURE will initially focus on natural gas in Sichuan.

Gulf Resources' CEO, Xiaobin Liu stated, "We are very excited to have found natural gas in addition to halogen water under our existing well. We are also very excited that the content of the gas is highly pure. The Company will work actively with the local government and our consultant to start trial production, apply for required permits for future wells, and commence natural gas production."

"At the present time," Mr. Liu continued, "it is impossible to quantify the total opportunity. There are always uncertainties and the need for governmental approval. However, given the shortage of natural gas in China and our strong advantage in this small county area, we believe this could represent a substantial business opportunity."

SHOUGUANG, China, April 17, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced the company has filed its Pro Forma 8-K for the acquisition of Shouguang City Rongyuan Chemical Co., Ltd. (SCRC).

Gulf Resources signed the Equity Interest Transfer Agreement with SCRC on Jan. 12, 2015. The transaction was closed on Feb. 4, 2015. Gulf is required to file the Pro Forma 8-K with the SEC by April 20, 2015. Based on the agreement, the former shareholders of SCRC guaranteed SCRC's audited 2014 net income would not be less than RMB70 million (approximately $11.4 million).

The audited financial statements show that in 2014 SCRC reported:

• Sales of $52,382,605, and increase of 23.1% from $42,562,392 in 2013
• Income from operations of $15,987,202, an increase of 28.3% from $12,459,050 in 2013.
• Net Income of $12,047,478, an increase of 28.6% from $9,371,590 in 2013, exceeding the guarantee of $11.4 million.
• Cash of $24,484,964, working capital of $34,873,709 and shareholders' equity of $54,169,792.

On a pro-forma basis, Gulf Resources would have ended 2014 with

• Revenues of $160,625,493, 41% higher than the $113,660,331 reported in the 10-K.
• Net Income of $29,675,079, 66% higher than the $17,871,795 reported in the 10-K.
• Basic Pro-Forma Earnings Per Share of $0.65, 41% higher than the $0.46 reported in the 10-K.
• Cash of $104,764,959
• Stockholders' equity of $325,446,553.

Gulf Resources CEO Xiaobin Liu Stated, "We are very pleased with SCRC's strong performance. We believe this transaction will lead Gulf Resources into a downstream business that should help GURE increase its profit margins, improve its return on investment, and produce more consistent and reliable earnings."

"With this major downstream acquisition," Liu continued, "major international price increases in bromine, and the discovery of natural gas in Sichuan; we are optimistic about our future and believe we are on the right path to significantly increasing shareholder value."

* The sellers of SCRC agreed as part of the purchase price to accept 7,268,011 shares of Gulf Resources stock, based on a valuation of $2.00, which was a 73% premium to the price on the day the agreement was reached. For accounting purposes, these shares are now being valued at $1.84, which was the closing price of Gulf Resources' stock on the day of the closing of the agreement. The price difference between the original $2.00 and the current $1.84 is solely for accounting purposes. There has been no change in the number of shares issued. In addition, the sellers of SCRC have agreed to a 5 year lock-up. 

SHOUGUANG, China, April 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company" or "GURE"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today discussed the likelihood of an increasing bromine price trend in China.

The United States, Israel, and China are the three largest producers of bromine. The two of largest companies in the industry are Albemarle Corporation and Israel Chemical. In recent months, both Albemarle and ICL have announced substantial price increases for bromine.

On March 26, 2015, Albemarle Corporation, announced that it will increase global prices for elemental bromine and bromine derivatives by 30%. ¹ On November 4, 2014, ICL Industrial Products, a segment of ICL, announced that it has increased its prices for elemental bromine and hydrobromic acid that it sells in the Far East by 20%. ²

Gulf Resources is one of the largest bromine producers in China. Bromine has been Gulf's largest business segment. At the 2014, it accounted for 51% of sales and 61% of assets.

The Company's CEO Xiaobin Liu Stated, "The significant price increases by the two largest companies in the bromine industry will have a positive effect on the Chinese domestic bromine market. It is difficult to predict when these price increases will be fully reflected in China. However, we believe when customers work through their current inventories, we will see significant increases in prices."

"At the same time," Mr. Liu continued, "The Chinese government is putting more policy incentives toward stimulating the economy. This could further increase demand. We believe we are on the right path to significantly increase shareholder value."

Fourth Quarter 2014 Financial Results

• Revenue was $25.2 million, a year-over-year decrease of 16%
• Net income was $2.9 million, or $0.07 per basic and diluted share, versus $5.6 million, or $0.15 per basic and $0.14 per diluted share a year ago, a year-over-year decrease of 49%.

Business Outlook

Overall, we expect that the Chinese economy and bromine demand will remain relatively soft. However, with the acquisition and the expansion of our chemical business, we expect 2015 total revenue will increase to $190 million, and net income will increase to the range of $33 million to $34 million (approximately $0.74 per share) based on current bromine price levels.

This guidance does not include either the costs or the potential revenues of the Sichuan gas project.

The Company will not consider further development of the Sichuan gas project until the assessment report from third party has been completed, which is expected by the end of May 2015. If the project is commercially viable, the company intends to invest approximately $10 million for further development in 2015.

The Rongyuan acquisition is going smoothly. Audited financials are required be filed by end of April 2015 with the SEC in accordance to Form 8-K rules.

Gulf will continue to pursue horizontal and vertical acquisition targets in order to increase the Company's profitability.

"In 2015, we will also consider methods of increasing shareholder value," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of the company. "We have generated substantial free cash flow and made accretive acquisitions. We have also bought back some stock. However, we recognize our stock is highly undervalued. We ended 2014 with net cash per share of $3.77*, more than twice the current stock price. Our shareholders equity was $312.1 million ($8.02 per share)*. During 2015, we will consider a number of possible ways of increasing shareholder value including stock buybacks, roadshows, the possibility of dual listing on other exchanges, and etc. We value our shareholders and want to take steps that will benefit them."

Item 2.01 Completion of Acquisition or Disposition of Assets.

On February 4, 2015 (the “Closing Date”), Gulf Resources, Inc. (the “Company”) closed the transactions contemplated by the Acquisition Agreement (the “Agreement”) dated January 12, 2015 by and between the Company, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“SCHC”) and Shouguang City Rongyuan Chemical Co, Ltd. (“SCRC”). Pursuant to the Agreement, SCHC acquired all rights, title and interest in and to all assets owned by SCRC, a leading manufacturer of materials for human and animal antibiotics in China and other parts of Asia.

Item 3.02 Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities.

On the Closing Date, the Company issued 7,268,011shares of GURE’s common stock, par value $0.0005 per share (the “Shares”), at a price of $2.00 per Share, to the four former equity owners of SCRC. The issuance of the Shares was exempt from registration pursuant to Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. On the Closing Date, GURE entered into a lock-up agreement with the four former equity owners of SCRC. In accordance with the terms of the lock-up agreement, attached hereto as Exhibit 10.1, the shareholders have agreed not to sell or transfer the Shares for five years from the date the stock certificates evidencing the Shares are issued.

SHOUGUANG, China, Feb. 4, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company" or "GURE"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the Company has closed the Equity Interest Transfer Agreement with Shouguang City Rongyuan Chemical Co., Ltd ("SCRC"), and entered into a five year lock up agreement with the four former equity owners of SCRC for the 7,268,011 shares in GURE to be received by them in connection with the transaction.

The Equity Interest Transfer Agreement was approved by the regulatory authorities in China and updates have been made to the register of members, and it has been registered and filed with relevant industrial and commercial bureaus in China on February 4, 2015. Based on the agreement, GURE will issue 7,268,011 shares of GURE's common stock at a price of $2.00 per share to the former equity owners of SCRC by February 10, 2015. 

At time of the closing of the transaction, GURE entered into a lock-up agreement with the four former equity owners of SCRC who are confident with respect to the Company's future growth. The shareholders have agreed not to sell or transfer their shares for five years from the date of the stock certificates evidencing their shares.

The Company's CEO Xiaobin Liu Stated, "the closing of this transaction will lead Gulf Resources into a downstream business that we believe will help GURE increase its profit margins, improve its return on investment, produce more consistent and reliable earnings and lessen our dependence on the economically sensitive bromine industry. Entering into the lock-up agreement will provide our shareholders with security that the shares held by the former owners of SCRC will not disrupt the market. With this acquisition and our new discovery of natural gas in Sichuan, we are very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead of us and believe we are on the right path to significantly increase shareholder value and company's bright future."

SHOUGUANG, China, Jan. 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company" or "GURE"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the company has found natural gas resources under its bromine well in Sichuan area.

In 2014, the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNCPC), (listed symbol PTR) discovered 440.4 billion cubic meters of proven geological natural gas reserves of which 308.2 billion cubic meters is "technically recoverable" in Moxi block of An'yue field Sichuan Province. This area is very near to the region where Gulf Resources is exploring for bromine.

GURE's technical staff believed there might be natural gas under the company's bromine well due to the similar geological structure with Moxi block. In September 2014, GURE's team started deeper drilling exploration under its existing well and did exploration analysis on the resources from different levels. Recently, GURE's team discovered natural gas resources under its existing well. Because the discovery was under its existing well, the drilling costs have not been excessive.

Gulf Resources' CEO, Xiaobin Liu stated, "We are very excited and pleasantly surprised to have found natural gas under our existing well. We will hire a third party to conduct a survey of the geological structure and complexity analysis and the economics of the natural gas under this well. However, given the success of the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation in the same region, we are optimistic about this opportunity."

China continues to have a shortage of both natural gas and oil. While world prices have come down, prices in China have remained on a stable increase trend and China is still a large importer of natural gas. In 2014, the price for stock natural gas station for non-residential use increased approximately RMB0.4 ($0.06) per cubic meter. During the first three quarters of 2014, imports of natural gas increased approximately 9.3%. It is predicted that the price might increase approximately another RMB0.4 ($0.06) per cubic meter in 2015 for stock natural gas.

"Gulf does not know," Mr. Liu added, "if this project will be commercially viable. Neither has it decided whether it will develop these fields by itself or seek to partner with a company specializing in this industry until after the assessment report from third party has been completed."

"Nonetheless," Mr. Liu concluded, "We are very excited about this new finding. The discovery of natural gas in our drilling area might bring Gulf into a business segment with exceptional opportunities in terms of both sales and profits."

1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On January 12, 2015, Gulf Resources, Inc. (the “Company”) and Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“SCHC”), entered into an Equity Interest Transfer Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Shouguang City Rongyuan Chemical Co, Ltd. (“SCRC”) and its shareholders, pursuant to which SCHC shall, upon closing, acquire SCRC and all rights, title and interest in and to all assets owned by SCRC, a leading manufacturer of materials for human and animal antibiotics in China and other parts of Asia.

In consideration for SCRC, SCHC shall pay $66.2 million in cash and issue approximately 7.27 million shares of common stock at a price of $2.00 per share, which represents a 73% premium over the previous 10 day closing price. Total consideration for the purchase of SCRC is approximately $80.8 million. The shareholders of SCRC have guaranteed that SCRC’s audited 2014 net income will not be less than approximately $11.4 million, otherwise the purchase price shall be proportionally adjusted based on a percentage less than the $11.4 million threshold.

From the effective date of the transaction until the closing date, all of SCRC’s income and rights shall belong to SCHC. The closing of the transactions contemplated by the Agreement shall occur when the Agreement has been approved by the regulatory authorities in China, and updates have been made to the register of members which are then filed with the relevant industrial and commercial bureaus in China.

SHOUGUANG, China, Jan. 13, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) has accelerated its transformation from a manufacturer of raw materials into an integrated producer of value added downstream products with its acquisition of Shouguang City Rongyuan Chemical Co., Ltd. (SCRC), a leading manufacturer of materials for human and animal antibiotics in China and other parts of Asia.

Xiaobin Liu, the Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources stated, "As our shareholders know, we have generated substantial cash flow and at the end of the third quarter, GURE had cash of $132 million and shareholder's equity of $307.1 million. We informed our shareholders that we intended to use our excess cash to build a faster growing and higher margin business that was not as subject to the economic cycles that has impacted our bromine business."

"In 2014, despite the weakness in the overall Chinese economy, our chemical business, which has higher margins and return on investment than our other business segments, has shown improved profits," Xiaobin Liu continued. "With the acquisition of SCRC we are moving into a downstream business that we believe will help GURE increase its profit margins, improve its return on investment, produce more consistent and reliable earnings and lessen our dependence on the economically sensitive bromine industry."

SCRC is a leading manufacturer of materials for human and animal antibiotics in China. We believe there will be an increased demand for these products due to the wide reform of the medical system in China. We also believe there will be an increased demand in other Asian countries. SCRC has been a solid customer for our company in the past. In 2014, SCRC purchased approximately $5.4 million of bromine from GURE.

In this transaction, our wholly owned subsidiary, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited (SCHC) signed an equity interest transfer agreement with the four individual shareholders of SCRC. Consideration for this transaction consists of $66.2 million in cash and the issuance of shares of approximately 7.27 million shares of common stock at a price of $2.00 per share which is a 73% premium over the previous 10 day closing price, bringing the total consideration for the purchase of SCRC to $80.8 million. Following the transaction, we will have approximately 46.17 million shares outstanding.

The shareholders of SCRC have guaranteed that SCRC's audited 2014 net income will not be less than RMB70 million (approximately $11.4 million), otherwise the purchase price shall be proportionally adjusted based on a percentage less than the RMB70 million threshold. From the effective date of the transaction until the closing date, all of SCRC's income and rights shall belong to SCHC. The closing of this transaction shall occur when the equity interests transfer under the agreement is approved by regulatory authorities, and updates have been made to the register of members which will then be filed with relevant industrial and commercial bureaus in China.

GURE believes SCRC will generate net income for 2014 in the range of $11-12 million. In 2015, GURE believes that SCRC will contribute additional revenue of approximately $60 million, with a contribution to net income of approximately $15 million.

Overall, we expect that the Chinese economy and bromine demand will remain relatively soft. However, with the acquisition and the expansion of our chemical business, we expect 2015 total revenue will increase to $190 million, and net income will increase to the range of $33 million to $34 million (approximately $0.74 per share) based on current bromine price levels.

Xiaobin Liu states "We will continue to pursue a long-term growth strategy by expanding our business segments, exploring more brine water resources, obtaining bromine assets through acquisition, developing new projects, and continually looking for and making attractive horizontal and vertical acquisitions, while evaluating our cash flow from operating activities, which will help the company achieve a sustainable long-term competitive advantage."

"With a solid base in bromine, crude salt, chemicals, and now materials for human and animal antibiotic products," Xiaobin Liu stated, "We believe we can generate higher income and return on investment that will greatly enhance shareholder value."

The closing of the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions. Further details on the terms of this transaction can be found in the company's 8-K, which is expected to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 14, 2015.

SHOUGUANG, China, Nov. 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the Company's Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program under which the Company is authorized, but not obligated, to purchase up to $2 million of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock from time to time over the next 12 months at the price of less than $1.2 per share which is $0.2 higher than the last announced share repurchase program back in 2013. The timing and amount of any repurchase will depend on market conditions, the trading price, and other factors. Such repurchases will be subject to, and executed in compliance with, applicable laws and regulations. The share repurchase program may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time. The share repurchase program will be funded with the Company's available working capital. Currently the Company is under its normal operation and does not possess any material non-public information.

Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "The Company's management team, together with its board of directors, believes that the share repurchase program is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. Given our solid market leadership position, strong track record of business expansion, healthy balance sheet and future growth expansion opportunity, we believe that our stock is deeply undervalued. Our share repurchase program demonstrates the management's commitment to enhance shareholders value. We are confident about the Company's future growth."

• Net revenue was $31.1 million, a year-over-year decrease of 6%
• Net income was $5.0 million, or $0.13 per basic and diluted share, versus $8.1 million, or $0.21 per basic and diluted share a year ago, representing a year-over-year decrease of 38%.

"Despite the continuing macro-economic tightening policy imposed by the PRC government beginning in the second half of 2011, and a decrease in raw material prices of bromine and crude salt, the Company's net revenue decreased slightly by 6% for the third quarter 2014 compared to the same period of 2013. Even though the net revenue from our chemical products segment slightly increased approximately 4.5%, our other two business segments, bromine and crude salt, experienced weaker results," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

Business Outlook

"We will continue to pursue a long-term growth strategy by expanding our business segments, exploring more brine water resources, obtaining bromine assets through acquisition, developing new projects, and continually looking for and making attractive horizontal and vertical acquisitions, while evaluating our cash flow from operating activities, which will help the Company achieve a sustainable long-term competitive advantage. Currently the Company is in discussions with a large sized chemical company based in China majored with TMP crude product and TMB. We intend to enter into an acquisition agreement by end of the year. The Company is also doing deeper prospecting on its well project in Sichuan, in order to evaluate the underground resources besides bromine," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of Gulf Resources. "In the meantime, the Company will continue to try to improve its internal controls, expand its sales markets, increase its production utilization rate and decrease management and administration expenses."

Second Quarter 2014 Financial Results

Net revenue was $31,752,814 for three-month period ended June 30, 2014, a decrease of approximately $1.1 million (or 3%) as compared to the same period in 2013.

"We are pleased to report that net income has increased 37% for the first half year of 2014 compared with the same period of 2013. This was mainly due to strong performance from our chemical products segment, which increased both its selling price and selling volume per tone. Gross profit margin also increased by approximately 5%. While our other two business segments, bromine and crude salt, experienced weaker results," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

Business Outlook

"Despite the continuing macro-economic tightening policy imposed by the PRC government beginning in the second half of 2011, and a decrease in raw mater prices of bromine and crude salt, the Company's net income increased slightly by 6% for the second quarter 2014 compared to the same period of 2013. We will continue to pursue a long-term growth strategy by expanding our business segments, exploring more brine water resources, obtaining bromine assets through acquisition, developing new projects, and continually looking for and doing attractive horizontal and vertical acquisition, while evaluating our cash flow from operating activities, which will help the Company achieve a sustainable long-term competitive advantage," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of Gulf Resources. "In the meantime, the Company will continue to try to improve its internal controls, expand its sales markets, increase its production utilization rate and decrease management and administration expenses."

First Quarter 2014 Financial Results

• Net revenue was $25.6 million, a year-over-year increase of 14%
• Net income was $4.3 million or $0.11 per basic and diluted share, versus $1.9 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted share a year ago, representing a year-over-year increase of 128%.

"We are pleased to report that the revenue from chemical segments products had impressive performance increasing by 36.9% even with the average performance from bromine and crude salt segments in the First Quarter of 2014 as compared with the same period of 2013. The Company's income from operations still increased by 115%, and net income increased by 128% as compared with the same quarter of 2013," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

Business Outlook

"Although we expect bromine prices to stay at current relatively low level in fiscal year 2014 due to the continued slowdown of the economy in China especially from real estate industry, we believe the strategy to take this great opportunity to expand the business segments, by exploring more brine water resources and obtaining bromine assets through acquisitions, the development of new projects and continually looking for attractive horizontal and vertical acquisition targets would enable us to achieve long term growth in the future while considering the sufficient cash flow from our operating activities, "said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of Gulf Resources." In the meantime, the Company will try to improve its internal control, expand sales markets, increase its production utilization rate and decrease management and administration expenses." Given anticipated bromine price trend, the Company forecasts total revenue approximately $124.3 million, and net income to range between $22.02 million and $23.1 million in fiscal year 2014.

Fourth Quarter 2013 Financial Results

• Revenue was $30.1 million, a year-over-year increase of 36.5%
• Net income was $5.6 million or $0.15 per basic share and $0.14 per diluted share, versus $1.9 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted share a year ago, a year-over-year increase of 195%

"Although the PRC government continued imposing macro-economic tightening policy to slow down the economy which began in the second half of 2011, the Company made persistent efforts to expand sales markets, increase production utilization rate and decrease management and administration expenses during the fiscal 2013. We are pleased to report that Company's crude salt and chemical products segments did performance well, sales volume of bromine segments also increased with slightly decrease in average selling prices, in fiscal year 2013 as compared with the fiscal year 2012, which resulted in a 16% increase in net revenue and a 40% increase in net income in fiscal year 2013 as compared with fiscal 2012," said Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources.

Business Outlook

"Based on the business operation experience from year 2013, company will continue as it is in the foreseeable future, and continually looking for both of horizontal and vertical acquisition targets, in order to increase the Company's anti-risk ability and profitability." said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

Third Quarter 2013 Financial Results

• Net revenue was $32.9 million, a year-over-year increase of 34%
• Net income was $8.1 million or $0.21 per basic and diluted share, versus $4.1 million, or $0.12 per basic and diluted share a year ago.

"We are pleased to report that Company's net revenue for the third quarter of 2013 has increased 34%, income from operations increased 94%, and net income increased 97% as compared with the same quarter of 2012, which is mainly due to the increased sales revenue from all segments of the Company and gain on relocation of bromine factory No.3. As compared with the same period of 2012, the sales revenue of chemical products segment largely increased 45%, crude salt segment increased 65% and bromine segment slightly increased 22%." said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

Business Outlook

"The Chemical products segment did have a great performance for the third quarter of 2013 as compared to the same period of 2012 with gross profit margin increased from 29% to 34%. We also noted an upward trend in the average selling price of crude salt since the third quarter of 2011 due to the stable demand of the crude salt. The average selling price increased from $37.19 per tonne in the third quarter of 2011 to $41.39 per tonne in the third quarter of 2013. We expect the average selling price of crude salt to remain at current levels through the end of 2013. Since we are still impacted by China's macro-economic conditions, our bromine price still remains at a competitively low price which result in gross profit margin only increase 2% percent in the condition our sales volume increase 20%. The Company will be continually looking for both of horizontal and vertical acquisition targets, try to expand sales markets, increase its production utilization rate and decrease management and administration expenses." said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results

• Net revenue was $32.9 million, a year-over-year increase of 5%
• Gross profit was $9.6 million, a year-over-year decrease of 3%
• Gross margin decreased to 29%, as compared to 32% in the second quarter of 2012
• Income from operations was $7.4 million, as compared to $7.6 million in the second quarter of 2012
• Operating margin was 22%, as compared to 24% for the second quarter of 2012
• Net income was $5.4 million or $0.14 per basic and diluted share, versus $5.7 million, or $0.16 per basic and diluted share a year ago.

"We are pleased to report that Company's net revenue for the second quarter of 2013 has increased 5% as compared with the same quarter of 2012, which is mainly due to the increased sales effort of the Company. As compared with the same period in 2012, the sales revenue of chemical products segments largely increased 18%, and the sales volume of bromine increased 13%. The selling prices of some products increased as compared with the same period of 2012, such as crude salt, oil and gas exploration additives, and pesticides manufacturing additives. But the net income decreased 6% as compared with the same quarter of 2012, mainly due to the depreciation and amortization costs." said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

Business Outlook

"Although still impacted by China's macro-economic conditions, some raw materials prices are increasing. The average bromine price in this quarter had increased to $3,084 per tonne as compared to $2,954 by end of 2012. Crude salt price is in a steadily upward trend, reached $41 per tonne in second quarter of 2013. The gross margin of chemical products segment also increased to 33% in the second quarter of 2013, as compared to 31% for the same period of 2012. The Company will continually try to expand its sales markets, increase its production utilization rate and decrease management and administration expenses. We are confident that we can achieve the earnings targets set forth in the financial guidance announced at beginning of this year." said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

First Quarter 2013 Financial Results

• Revenue was $22.5 million, a year-over-year decrease of 5%
• Gross profit was $4.5 million, a year-over-year decrease of 33%
• Gross margin decreased to 20 % as compared to 28% in the first quarter of 2012
• Income from operations was $2.6 million as compared to $4.6 million in the first quarter of 2012
• Operating margin was 12% compared to 19% for the first quarter of 2012
• Net income was $1.9 million or $0.05 per basic and diluted share, versus $3.3 million, or $0.10 per basic and diluted share a year ago, respectively.

"Due to the lower demand of bromine as influenced by continuing macroeconomic tightening policy imposed by the Chinese government, the average selling price of bromine decreased from $3,569 per tonne for the first quarter in 2012 to $3,053 per tonne for the same period this year , we reported lower operating performance in this quarter in comparison to the same period of last year as we were unable to offset the deceasing revenue of bromine segment by those increasing from crude salt and chemical products segments," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company.

Business Outlook

"Due to the cold weather in winter, the Chinese New Year, as well as the macro-economic tightening policy imposed by the PRC government, the Company did not perform well during the first quarter in 2013. But we should also see that the selling price of bromine has increased to $3,053 per tonne during this quarter, as compared to $2,954 per tonne in the fourth quarter in 2012. We believe that this indicates an increasing demand of bromine from the downstream industrial customers. Therefore, we are confidence that we can achieve the earning targets set forth in the financial guidance announced in January this year," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of the Company

SHOUGUANG, China, April 18, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the Company's Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program under which the Company is authorized, but not obligated, to purchase up to $2 million of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock from time to time over the next 12 months. The timing and amount of any repurchase will depend on market conditions, the trading price, and other factors. Such repurchases will be subject to, and executed in compliance with, applicable laws and regulations. The share repurchase program may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time. The share repurchase program will be funded with the Company's available working capital. Currently the Company is under its normal operation and does not possess any material non-public information.

Mr. Xiaobin Liu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "The Company's management team, together with its board of directors, believes that the share repurchase program is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders. Given our solid market leadership position, strong track record of business expansion, and healthy balance sheet, we believe that our stock is deeply undervalued. Our share repurchase program demonstrates the management's commitment to enhance shareholders value. We are confident about the Company's future growth." 

Second Quarter 2012 Highlights

• Revenue was $31.3 million, a year-over-year decrease of 39.0%
• Gross profit was $9.9 million, a year-over-year decrease of 62.4%
• Gross margin decreased to 31.6 % compared to 51.3% in the second quarter of 2011
• Income from operations was $7.6 million as compared to $13.4 million in the second quarter of 2011
• Operating margin was 24.3% compared to 26.1% for the second quarter of 2011
• Net income was $5.7 million or $0.16 per basic and diluted share, versus $10.0 million, or $0.29 per basic and diluted share a year ago, respectively
• Cash totaled $72.0 million as of June 30, 2012

"Although the Chinese central government has now adopted a more flexible credit and monetary policy to cope with the slowdown of economic growth and the accompanying structural change in the economy, we are inevitably impacted by the lower demand in private investing and moderate decrease in consumption by our customers in the business segments of our company. In comparison to the same period last year, our operating performance for the second quarter this year was significantly lower. While bromine average selling price decreased from $4,333 per tonne for the second quarter in 2011 to $3,486 per tonne for the same period this year, we expect bromine prices to remain relatively stable throughout the year given current economy condition. We expect this economic condition to continue throughout the rest of the year," said CEO Mr. Xiaobin Liu.

Business Outlook

"In the near term, we are likely to encounter operating pressure due to a foreseeable increase in labor and lowered bromine price influenced by the nationwide housing price control by the central government. As soon as the economy pass the phase of structural change and the condition, turn favorable, we expect we will be able to benefit from the underground bromine reserve we previously obtained with our equipment and facilities being consistently upgraded. In addition, as the market prices of potential acquisition targets are subjected to undervaluation due to the current economic environment, we will attempt to retain cash in order to take advantage of the market by acquiring quality assets that can enable our company to sustain long term growth in the future." Said CEO, Xiaobin Liu.

First Quarter 2012 Highlights

• Revenue was $23.8 million, a year-over-year decrease of 47.5%
• Gross profit was $6.7 million, a year-over-year decrease of 73.0%
• Gross margin decreased to 28.1 % compared to 54.6% in the first quarter of 2011
• Income from operations was $4.6 million as compared to $20.3 million in the first quarter of 2011
• Operating margin was 19.3% compared to 44.7% for the first quarter of 2011
• Net income was $3.3 million or $0.10 per basic and diluted share, versus $14.4 million, or $0.41 and $0.40 per basic and diluted share a year ago, respectively.
• Cash totaled $81.9 million as of March 31, 2012

"Due to the lower demand of bromine as influenced by continuing macroeconomic tightening policy imposed by the Chinese government, the average selling price of bromine decreased from$4,596 per tonne for the first quarter in 2011 to $3,569 per tonne for the same period this year, with stable cost of raw material and increasing cost of labor, we reported significantly lower operating performance in this quarter in comparison to the same period of last year as we were unable to benefit from the upgrades and enhancement made to our equipment and the acquisition of the factory completed in 2011 under current economic condition," said CEO Mr.Xiaobin Liu.

Business Outlook

"Although the potential benefit of our recently acquired manufacturing capacity and upgrades on production efficiency was not positively reflected in our operating results in this quarter, we believe that the company in the long run will benefit from exploration and acquisition of businesses with proven reserve and cooperation with overseas large-scale bromine manufacturers in the same sector with sophisticated manufacturing technology." said Xiaobin Liu, the CEO of the company, "therefore, we intend to retain our cash for potential attractive opportunities of future expansion of our bromine and crude salt businesses that can enable the company to achieve long term sustainable growth."

SHANDONG PROVINCE, China, March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced financial guidance for fiscal year 2012.

Based on the current business outlook, the Company estimates that bromine prices, a factor with a large impact on the Company's operating performance, will fluctuate between a range of RMB23,150 per tonne and RMB30,000 per tonne in fiscal year 2012.

Given anticipated bromine price levels, the Company forecasts total revenue to range between $114.7 million and $147.3 million, and net income to range between $16.8 million and $30.5 million in fiscal year 2012.

The above forecast does not take into account the potential effect on net income resulting from expenses that may arise from potential drilling expenditures in 2012 for further testing and exploration of underground bromine water resources in Daying County, Sichuan Province.

"Although we expect bromine prices to stay relatively constant and stable in fiscal year 2012 due to the continued slowdown of the economy in China, we believe the strategy of exploring more brine water resources and obtaining bromine assets through acquisitions will enable us to achieve long term growth in the future," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, CEO of Gulf Resources. "We have sufficient cash flow for our operating activities and will continue to look for attractive acquisition targets."

Fourth Quarter 2011 Highlights

• Revenue was $30.5 million, a year-over-year decrease of 17.8%
• Gross profit was $10.4 million, a year-over-year decrease of 46.8%
• Gross margin decreased to 34.1% from 52.7% for the fourth quarter of 2010
• Income from operations was $1.9 million as compared to $16.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010
• Operating margin was 6.2% compared to 43.7% for the fourth quarter of 2010
• Net income was $1.0 million or $0.03 per basic and diluted share, versus $12 million, or $0.35 per basic and diluted share a year ago
• Cash totaled $78.6 million as of December 31, 2011

"For the year 2011, our top-line revenue remained stable as our business segments adapted to a challenging market environment for our products. During the year, we engaged in substantial exploration and acquisition-seeking activities that we believe will lead to sustainable growth opportunities. However, the continuing influence of macroeconomic tightening policies in China resulted in weakened market demand for a number of our products in the fourth quarter of the year. The quarter's operating environment was especially difficult compared to the same period in 2010 as the average selling prices of both bromine and crude salt decreased. Despite slowing economic growth in the domestic market, we now expect the prices for bromine and crude salt to stay relatively stable with only minor volatility throughout the year in 2012," said Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources.

Business Outlook

"With the completion of equipment upgrades and improvements carried out in 2011, we expect that the problem of aging equipment will be solved and that this will facilitate enhanced bromine extraction from brine water with lowered concentrations in the Shandong area," said CEO Mr. Xiaobin Liu. "Factory No. 4 completed its relocation by the end of 2011 and began production in late November. We anticipate our bromine production capacity to gradually recover to the same levels of a year ago. We will also focus on exploring quality underground brine resources and to form cooperation opportunities in Daying County in Sichuan Province."

Management is currently reviewing full year production targets and bromine price trends in 2012 and will provide 2012 full year guidance before the 2012 first quarter earnings conference call.

SHANDONG, China, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, is issuing this press release regarding recent market speculation as to the Company's plans with respect to a potential third-party investment in the Company, or a privatization transaction.

There have been recent market rumors about the implications for the Company of an investment letter of intent ("LOI") between Shandong Ocean Bright Stone Industry Fund Management Co., Ltd., a PRC-based investment fund ("Ocean Bright"), and Shandong Haoyuan Industrial Group Co., Ltd. ("SHIG").  SHIG is an entity controlled by our Chairman and is a record owner of approximately 11.9% of our common stock. SHIG, together with the Chairman and his family, owns in the aggregate approximately 38.5% of our common stock.

We have been informed by Chairman Yang that, on February 20, 2012, SHIG did execute an LOI with Ocean Bright regarding a potential investment program in China's bromine exploitation industry, with the objective of consolidating those investments under SHIG and ultimately seeking a stock exchange listing for SHIG in China. We have been told that the LOI is highly preliminary and conditional, being subject to, among other things, due diligence and the commitment of definitive funding for potential PRC bromine investments. The Company is not a party to the LOI, but the Chairman has informed us that SHIG and Ocean Bright are considering the Company as a potential principal component to their strategy of consolidating the bromine industry in China, and, accordingly, as a potential candidate for a privatization in order to satisfy the listing requirements for SHIG in China.

As of this time, the Company has not received from either SHIG or Ocean Bright any formal or informal offer as to any type of investment or acquisition transaction, or any other inquiry seeking negotiations or due diligence. The Company's Board of Directors will take appropriate steps in the best interests of the Company's shareholders to evaluate fully and independently any such offer or inquiry that may be received from SHIG or Ocean Bright in the future.

"We will continue to focus on our daily operations, exploring strategic alternatives where appropriate, and creating value for our shareholders," said Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources. "If negotiations between the Company and SHIG and Ocean Bright begin and progress to a definitive point meriting shareholder disclosure or consideration, then we will of course update the market at that time.  We however cannot give any assurance as to the timing of any of these negotiations, and, if they do begin, whether they will progress to any definitive agreement."

The Company follows a policy of not commenting on market rumors and takeover speculation, but has made an exception in this limited situation.  We do not expect to have further comment on this matter at this time.

The reports that, to our knowledge, appeared in the Chinese language press referencing the LOI are set forth below.  The Company makes no representation as to the accuracy of these reports or the statements or quotations included therein.

SHANDONG, China, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the Company has discovered underground brine water resources in Daying County, Sichuan Province, after more than a half year of drilling, and it has provided preliminary concentration results after the testing by a third-party independent testing expert, Centre Testing International Corporation ("Centre Testing").

According to the third-party independent testing report, the bromine concentration in the underground brine water resources is 1.53 grams per liter, which is approximately six to seven times higher than the average bromine concentration from its brine water resources at the Company's bromine factories in Shouguang City, Shandong Province.  Brine is used for bromine and crude salt extraction and the Company expects to continue drilling in order to further determine the total brine water resources reserve and exploitable amount in the area.

"We are pleased to discover high bromine concentration in the sample underground brine water resources," stated Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources "We plan to continue to cooperate with Daying County and further explore this resource area, which is consistent with the Company's long-term growth strategy to access more bromine and crude salt resources."

The testing results from the third-party independent testing corporation and its translation can be found in the Company's 8-K which is expected to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 19, 2012.

SHANDONG, China, December 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") has signed an agreement to acquire manufacturing assets involved in bromine production from Liangcai Zhang, an individual resident of the People's Republic of China.

"The acquisition will result in additional annual production capacity of approximately 3,000 tons of bromine based on the company's own assessment and expand the consolidated annual production capacity of SCHC to 44,547 tons of bromine, based on the annual production of 41,547 tons of bromine evaluated by a third-party independent international appraisal firm, Grant Sherman Appraisal Limited, in November 2011 before the acquisition. We expect the additional production of bromine from these new assets to add approximately$2.2 to 2.3 million in incremental gross profit before tax annually," stated Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources "The company will continue with its acquisition strategy and look for appropriate targets."

Consideration for the asset purchase is approximately $10 million (RMB 63 million) in cash and upon the closing of the transaction, no later than10 days after receiving the satisfactory assessment report, SCHC will acquire the buildings, wells, machinery, equipment, pipelines, and power circuits owned by the sellers, and any warranties associated therewith, located at 3 kilometers west of the Yangkou Village, south of Youyi road in Shouguang City Yangkou Township. The Company expects to resume production with the newly acquired assets by the end of first quarter 2012 after repair and adjustment.

SHANDONG, China, Dec. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") has signed an agreement to acquire manufacturing assets involved in bromine production from Liangcai Zhang, an individual resident of the People's Republic of China.

"The acquisition will result in additional annual production capacity of approximately 3,000 tons of bromine based on the company’s own assessment and expand the consolidated annual production capacity of SCHC to 44,547 tons of bromine, based on the annual production of 41,547 tons of bromine evaluated by a third-party independent international appraisal firm, Grant Sherman Appraisal Limited, in November 2011 before the acquisition. We expect the additional production of bromine from these new assets to add approximately $2.2 to 2.3 million in incremental gross profit before tax annually," stated Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources "The company will continue with its acquisition strategy and look for appropriate targets."

Consideration for the asset purchase is approximately $10 million (RMB 63 million) in cash and upon the closing of the transaction, no later than10 days after receiving the satisfactory assessment report, SCHC will acquire the buildings, wells, machinery, equipment, pipelines, and power circuits owned by the sellers, and any warranties associated therewith, located at 3 kilometers west of the Yangkou Village, south of Youyi road in Shouguang City Yangkou Township. The Company expects to resume production with the newly acquired assets by the end of first quarter 2012 after repair and adjustment.

The closing of the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including a final assessment of the condition of the assets. Further details on the terms of this transaction can be found in the Company's 8-K which is expected to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 22, 2011.

The GeoTeam would like to alert investors of contradictory statements made by GURE.

Instance One implies that the company will no longer see a need to raise equity capital

SHANDONG, China, July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that it has requested the immediate withdrawal of its registration statement on Form S-3, which was declared effective on August 31, 2010 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The Company has not sold and/or distributed any of the securities registered in the filing.

"We decided to withdraw our registration statement because we think our share price remains undervalued and do not intend to sell any securities under the registration statement," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources. "To fund our current operations and future growth, we expect to mainly use cash on hand and cash generated from operations, in combination with debt. As of March 31, 2011 we had $87.9 million in cash and we believe our healthy balance sheet can sustain increased leverage."

The company was very clear in stressing that it would not need to issue equity to fund future growth.

Instance Two per the 2011 third quarter 10Q puts equity raises back on the table:

We believe that our available funds and cash flows generated from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated ongoing operating needs for the next twelve (12) months. However we will likely need to raise additional capital in order to fund the ongoing program of acquiring unlicensed bromine properties, increasing our chemical production capacity and developing new bromine and crude salt production line in Sichuan province, PRC. We expect to raise those funds through credit facilities obtained with lending institutions. There can be no guarantee that we will be able to obtain such funding, whether through the issuance of debt or equity, on terms satisfactory to management and our board of directors.

In the future we intend to focus our efforts on the activities of SCHC and SYCI as these segments continue to expand within the Chinese market. We also intend to explore the possibility of cooperation with overseas large-scale bromine manufacturers for expansion into overseas markets. As a result, we may issue additional shares of our capital stock and incur new debt in order to raise cash for acquisitions and other capital expenditures during the next twelve months.

Make up your mind GURE!!!

Third Quarter 2011 Results

SHANDONG, China, Sept. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the Company has provided a verification from a Provincial government agency which is a higher level agency than the local government entities that validated the Company's market leadership and number of facilities as disclosed in a press release issued by the Company on September 20, 2011. The management has provided copies of the following verification and a translation in a Form 8-K filing:

Light Industry Office of Shandong Province has certified that the Company's subsidiary, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Co., Ltd, has 9 bromine production facilities. The company ranks first in its industry in Shandong Province by annual production capacity and volume.

Second Quarter 2011 Results

"Our performance in the second quarter was mixed. Bromine and crude salt prices were higher compared with a year ago levels, which helped us combat increased raw material costs. However, despite a favorable pricing environment and an increase in the number of our bromine production factories, we have experienced a decrease in sales volume mainly due to less bromine being extracted from brine water during the production process due to the decrease in bromine concentration of brine water, government restrictions related to the supply of electricity to industrial users during periods of peak usage and limited supply in May 2011 and continued enhancement of our production facilities," said Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources. "Our operating costs also increased significantly during the second quarter. In June 2011, we began exploring the brine water resources in Sichuan province, which resulted in exploration costs. We also incurred several non-cash impairment charges related to our bromine and crude salt business in Shouguang, which impacted our profitability for the quarter. Our cash balance and operating cash flow remained strong, which provides us with a healthy buffer in case of unexpected capital outlays."

SHANDONG, China, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GFRE, Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, announced today that the Company will change the trading symbol of its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market to "GURE" effective at the open of the market on June 30, 2011.

"We believe our new trading symbol is a better reflection of our name and will strengthen our corporate identity. The decision to change our trading symbol was voluntarily approved by the Company's Board of Directors and not due to any amendments in our stock or the market it trades on. We remain fully compliant with all our reporting responsibilities to the Nasdaq and the SEC," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources.

Please visit www.bedfordreport.com to sign up and view the full report.

Gulf Resources manufactures and trades bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical prod- ucts for manufacturing industries and in agriculture in China. Bromine prices are on the upswing this year. China is currently the world’s third largest bromine producer after the United States and Israel. The production of bromine is presently over 150,000 metric tons/ year in China, but bromine demand continues to outpace supply.

China’s largest bromine producer, Gulf Resources, says it expects year-on-year profit growth of 24.8 percent to 28.7 percent as a result of surging bromine prices. Gulf Resourc- es CEO Xiaobin Liu said that Gulf Resources reported bromine market prices of approxi- mately $4,500 per tonne, and says he believes that the price of bromine is expected to stabilize at a high level, and could reach a historic high this year. Gulf Resources operates through two subsidiaries, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Ltd. and Shou- guang Yuxin Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. The company produces bromine used in industry and agriculture along with chemical products that have a variety of applications, includ- ing oil and gas field exploration.

SHANDONG, China, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GFRE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced an update to the Company's Share Repurchase Plan, which was adopted onSeptember 23, 2010, under which the Company plans to utilize its cash on hand and operating cash flow to repurchase some of its issued and outstanding common shares.

As of the market close on June 22, 2011, the Company has acquired 100,500 shares of its common stock through open market transactions. The Company has also entered into a Rule 10b5-1 share repurchase plan with a registered brokerage firm in the United States, which will allow the Company to continue to repurchase shares throughout quiet periods. The additional repurchases will be made subject to restrictions on price, volume, timing, applicable legal requirements, and other factors.

The Company plans to update investors on the status of the repurchase program on a quarterly basis, in conjunction with the release of its financial results and filing of its quarterly and annual reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

First Quarter Results:

• Revenue was $45.4 million, a year-over-year increase of 52.8%
• Gross profit was $24.8 million, a year-over-year increase of 84.2%
• Gross margin increased to 54.6% from 45.3% for the first quarter of 2010
• Income from operations was $20.2 million, a year-over-year increase of 83.1%
• Operating margin was 44.6% compared to 37.2% for the first quarter of 2010
• Net income was $14.4 million, or $0.41 and $0.40 per basic and diluted share, respectively, an increase of 79.7% from $8.0 million, or $0.23 per basic and diluted share a year ago
• Cash totaled $87.9 million as of March 31, 2011

"Despite the usual challenging weather conditions in the first quarter, we are pleased to report a strong start to 2011 both in terms of top line growth and profitability, driven by the increase in bromine prices. For the three months ended March 31, 2011, our average selling price for bromine was approximately $4,596 per tonne compared with approximately $2,470 per tonne in the corresponding quarter last year. However, the remarkable increase in price was slightly offset by a decrease in production volume due to more frequent maintenance of our bromine production facilities due to stricter environmental and safety requirements from the government on production and a slight reduction in purchase orders due to high prices. Despite commanding a higher price per tonne compared to last year, crude salt sales volume increased year-over-year, thereby supporting our performance in the quarter," said Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources. "Our chemical business also experienced moderate growth in the first quarter of 2011, mainly from environmentally friendly oil and gas exploration chemicals and agricultural intermediaries."

The Company reaffirms guidance of revenue between $195 million and $198 million and net income between $64 million and $66 million for 2011 as issued on March 28, 2011.

SHANDONG, China, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. today announced that the Company provided final supporting documents in addition to the disclosure provided on April 28 and May 2, 2011, disputing certain allegations related to the reliability of its filings with the SEC alleged by Glaucus Research Group and distributed on Seeking Alpha on April 26, 2011 (the "Glaucus Report").

The Company further disputes or clarifies the following allegations raised in the report:

1. According to the report, Gulf Resources engaged in inappropriate self-dealing by overpaying for a business owned by its chairman and his family. The report also claims that according to the SAIC filings, SYCI was significantly less valuable at the time of the acquisition, compared to what the Company states in its SEC filings.

On February 5, 2007, SCHC acquired SYCI. Under the terms of the merger agreement, in exchange for transferring all of the equity interest of SYCI to SCHC, the stockholders of SYCI received consideration of 8,094,059 (restated for the 2-for-1 stock split in 2007 and the 1-for-4 stock split in 2009) shares of voting common stock of Gulf Resources, Inc. and $2.55 million in cash.  The management is providing a link of the Form 8-K filing at the time of the acquisition which includes pro forma financial results combining the historical information of the Company and SYCI.

(http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/885462/000119380507000279/0001193805-07-000279-index.htm).

Please note that management assessment of internal controls was downgraded to not effective as of the 2010 10K.

We provided M&C with a copy of this disclosure before its filing with the SEC. We requested that M&C provide us with a letter addressed to the SEC stating whether or not it agrees with the above statements, and we received a letter from M&C, stating that it does agree with the above statements except for the following: as described in M&C’s annual report dated March 12, 2009 on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting included in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, that in M&C’s opinion the Company had not maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008 based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. A copy of such letter, dated as of February 10, 2010 has been filed as an Exhibit to our current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 10, 2010.

During the preparation of our financial statements contained in this Annual Report, the auditor identified that Mr. Zhi Yang, a shareholder and the son of the Chairman of the Company, had a 10% equity interest in one of our suppliers, namely, Shandong Shouguang Hongye Trading Company Limited (“Hongye”), for the period from August 4, 2010 to December 2, 2010. The Chairman explained that the supplier intended to maintain a long-term relationship with the Company and hence invited Mr. Zhi Yang to be a shareholder of the supplier, without notifying the Chairman or any of the Company’s officers and directors. After identified such relationship, management further investigated all transactions with this supplier during the year and concluded that the transactions during the periods of Mr. Zhi Yang’s equity ownership in Hongye were transacted at market prices with good product quality and that there was no impact on the Company as a whole.

Accordingly, management concluded that the Company did not maintain, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010 because of one material weakness as stated above.

SHANDONG, China, May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. today announced that the Company provided supporting documents in addition to the disclosure provided on April 28, 2011, disputing certain allegations related to the reliability of its filings with the SEC created by Glaucus Research Group and distributed on Seeking Alpha on April 26, 2011.

The Company further disputes or clarifies the following allegations raised in the report:

1.  According to the report, Gulf Resources engaged in inappropriate self-dealing by overpaying for a business owned by its chairman and his family. The report also claims that according to the SAIC filings, SYCI was significantly less valuable at the time of the acquisition, compared to what the Company states in its SEC filings.

On February 5, 2007, SCHC acquired SYCI. Under the terms of the merger agreement, in exchange for transferring all of the equity interest of SYCI to SCHC, the stockholders of SYCI received consideration of 8,094,059 (restated for the 2-for-1 stock split in 2007 and the 1-for-4 stock split in 2009) shares of voting common stock of Gulf Resources, Inc. and $2.55 million in cash. The management is providing a copy of the SAIC filing for SYCI for 2006 as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K it is filing today. The exhibit shows SYCI's earnings and profitability at the time of the acquisition.

2.  According to the report, Gulf Resources' bromine factories appear smaller than indicated in its SEC filings. According to the report, a representative from the Land & Resources Bureau confirmed that Gulf Resources' production is substantially smaller than it claims in its public filings.

The Company discloses both mining and production area for each factory in its SEC filings, while the report only seems to consider an estimate of the production area. The Company confirms that the locations of each factory is correctly described and identified on the maps provided in its filings with the SEC. Gulf Resources' management is providing a notarized legal opinion letter from Guangdong ZHI & XING Law Firm as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K which it is filing today. This opinion verifies the size of each of Gulf Resources' factories. Guangdong ZHI & XING Law Firm is a registered law firm with the Ministry of Justice of The People's Republic of China (PRC), Mr. Ni Yi is a registered attorney with the Ministry of Justice of The People's Republic of China (PRC).

3.  According to the report, Gulf Resources commissioned two contractors to perform two capital expenditure projects: a sewage treatment project in 2009 and a production line for wastewater treatment chemicals, which was completed in June 2010 and started trial production later that year. The report claims that neither of the contractors involved in the projects, Xuzhou Bishui Environmental Science Technology Co., Ltd. ("XBE Tech") and Shouguang City Shengkun Construction Co., Ltd. ("SCS Construction"), are a working business. The report further claims that management may have used these capital expenditure projects as a vehicle to transfer money out of the Company.

Gulf Resources' management is providing a copy of SCS Construction's business license and management and shareholder list as exhibits to a Current Report on Form 8-K which it is filing today.  These documents verify the operation of SCS Construction and that it is not a related party to Gulf Resources.  Management will provide relevant supporting document for XBE Tech in a separate filing.

SHANDONG, China, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GFRE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the Company provided additional disclosure disputing certain allegations related to the reliability of its filings with the SEC created by Glaucus Research Group and distributed on Seeking Alpha on April 26, 2011.

The Company disputes or clarifies the following allegations raised in the report:

1. According to the report, a privately held Chinese company, Shandong Haoyuan Group, owned by the founder and chairman of the board of Gulf Resources, claims to own and operate all of the Company's assets and business.

Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") and Shouguang Yuxin Chemical Industry Co., Limited ("SYCI"), Gulf Resources' two wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, were previously owned by Shandong Haoyuan Industry Group Ltd. ("Haoyuan Group"), of which Mr. Ming Yang, the Chairman of Gulf Resources, is the majority owner. In December 2006, Gulf Resources acquired SCHC in a reverse merger transaction. On February 5, 2007, SCHC acquired SYCI from the stockholders of SYCI. Haoyuan Group holds a significant equity interest in Gulf Resources (approximately 11.9%), but has no direct ownership of SCHC and SYCI. The corporate structure charts displayed on Haoyuan Group's website (http://www.haoyuangroup.cn) are outdated and Haoyuan Group intends to update the website to remove any misleading references. Ming Yang and his affiliates are the largest shareholders of Gulf Resources and have never pledged or sold any shares.

Ownership verification for each of SCHC and SYCI are included as Exhibits A and B respectively, in the Form 8-K filing.  These confirm that SCHC is 100% owned by Hong Kong Jiaxing Industrial Limited, the Company's Hong Kong subsidiary and that SYCI is 100% owned by SCHC. 

2. According to the report, Gulf Resources engaged in inappropriate self-dealing by overpaying for a business owned by its chairman and his family. The report also claims that according to the SAIC filings, SYCI was significantly less valuable at the time of the acquisition, compared to what the Company states in its SEC filings.

On February 5, 2007, SCHC acquired SYCI. Under the terms of the merger agreement, in exchange for transferring all of the equity interest of SYCI to SCHC, the stockholders of SYCI received consideration of 8,094,059 (restated for the 2-for-1 stock split in 2007 and the 1-for-4 stock split in 2009) shares of voting common stock of Gulf Resources, Inc. and $2.55 million in cash. The management is currently retrieving relevant documentation regarding SYCI's valuation at the time to demonstrate that the Company paid a fair price for the acquisition.

3. According to the report, Gulf Resources has failed to disclose that its largest customer is a related party.

The management confirms that Shouguang City Rongyuan Chemical Co. Ltd. ("Rongyuan") is not a related party to Gulf Resources and has provided a copy of Rongyuan's shareholder list as Exhibits B and C, in the Form 8-K filing, which confirms the names of management and shareholder of Rongyuan. Gulf Resources has excellent relationships with its major customers, including Rongyuan. From time to time, Rongyuan utilizes Gulf Resources' name in its marketing materials to demonstrate the supplier-customer relationship.  Rongyuan's office is located in the same business park as Gulf Resources together with several other businesses. However, the two companies do not share the same office.

4. According to the report, Gulf Resources' bromine factories appear smaller than indicated in its SEC filings. According to the report, a representative from the Land & Resources Bureau confirmed that Gulf Resources' production is substantially smaller than it claims in its public filings.

The Company discloses both mining and production area for each factory in its SEC filings, while the report only seems to consider an estimate of the production area. The Company confirms that the locations of each factory is correctly described and identified on the maps provided in its filings with the SEC. Gulf Resources is currently retrieving documentation as evidence to confirm the size of the Company's factories.

5. According to the report, Gulf Resources financials as reported to the SEC are significantly smaller compared to what its two operating subsidiaries are reporting to the SAIC.

The management has provided copies of SAIC filings for both SCHC and SYCI for 2009 as Exhibit E and F, respectively, in the Form 8-K filing, which show the Company's SAIC filing is not significantly smaller as stated in the report.  The Company has not yet made its filings for 2010 with SAIC.

6. According to the report, the Company's inventory turnover ratio is high compared to its competitors and its shipping costs are low.

Bromine is an extremely volatile and corrosive chemical, and therefore the Company does not accumulate inventory but instead produces most of its bromine on demand. Most of its competitors produce bromine derivatives, and the inventory turnover ratios are therefore not comparable. The Company also produces most of its chemical products on demand.

Gulf Resources' shipping costs are low because the vast majority of its bromine and crude salt is picked up directly by customers directly from the Company's production facilities.

7. According to the report, in the Company's SEC filings there are errors in the biography of Gulf Resources' CEO and the filings omitted the fact that Mr. Liu was formerly the CFO of China Finance Inc. The report also states that Mr. Liu was appointed CEO of the Company only seven days after Gulf Resources issued shares equal to 15% of its outstanding equity to China Finance Inc.

During 2004, the Company's CEO, Xiaobin Liu, acted as a contact in China for China Finance Inc., which was a public company based in the U.S. In this role Mr. Liu was available to speak with persons in China who had an interest in China Finance's business.  During this period Mr. Liu was employed by Saige International Trust and Investment Corporation ("Saige").

Mr. Liu is identified as the CFO of China Finance in certain SEC filings made by China Finance in 2004.  However, Mr. Liu has confirmed that he never held the position of CFO of China Finance and never personally signed any of China Finance's SEC filings. The Company believes that Mr. Liu's previous relationship with China Finance did not impact his dedication and loyalty to Gulf Resources. 

On January 24, 2009, the Company issued a total of 21 million shares (before the Company's 1-for-4 reverse stock split) to three parties. Top King Group Limited, Billion Gold Group Limited and Topgood International Limited (collectively the "Holders") in lieu of paying off a loan in the amount of $21,287,493 from Shenzhen Hua Yin Guaranty and Investment Limited Liability Company ("Shenzhen Hua Yin"). On that date the closing price of the Company's common stock was $0.34 per share.  The price of the shares received by the Holders was $1.01 per share.  The Company also entered into a Lock-up Agreement with the Holders in May of 2009. In March of 2010, the Holders shares were subsequently pledged to War Chest Capital Multi-Strategy Fund LLC ("War Chest") as part of a loan transaction.  At that time War Chest's legal counsel provided a letter confirming that War Chest agreed to abide by the terms of the Lock-up Agreement with respect to the Holders shares.  The Company refers to its Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 16, 2011 for details related to pending litigation between the Company, War Chest and HAP Trading LLC.

The Company confirms that Mr. Liu served as Vice-President of a subsidiary of Shenzhen SEG Dasheng Co., Ltd. from 2005 to 2006 and that Mr. Liu served as Manager of the Securities Department of Saige, which was a State Owned Enterprise.  Saige declared bankruptcy the year after Mr. Liu left the company.  However, Mr. Liu did not have an ownership or senior executive position with Saige. With respect to Hainan Wanquanhe Development Corporation, where Mr. Liu worked from 1995 to 2000, the correct name of the company should be Qionghai City Wanquanhe Hot Spring Tourism Development Co., Ltd.

8. According to the report, Gulf Resources commissioned two contractors to perform two capital expenditure projects: a sewage treatment project in 2009 and a production line for wastewater treatment chemicals, which was completed in June 2010 and started trial production later that year. The report claims that neither of the contractors involved in the projects, Xuzhou Bishui Environmental Science Technology Co., Ltd. ("XBE Tech") and Shouguang City Shengkun Construction Co., Ltd. ("SCS Construction"), are a working business. The report further claims that management may have used these capital expenditure projects as a vehicle to transfer money out of the Company.

Gulf Resources' management will provide related documentation that verifies the operation of XBE Tech and SCS Construction and contracts with these two contractors in a separate filing. XBE Tech and SCS Construction are unrelated to Gulf Resources.

9. The report claims that Richard Khaleel resigned because of the findings of the internal controls assessment by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu ("Deloitte").

According to the resignation letter provided to the Company's Chairman by Mr. Khaleel, Mr. Khaleel resigned as a director of the Company because he took a new job which required him to resign as a director of any public company. Deloitte's internal control assessment did not find major issues in the Company's corporate governance and internal control system.

NEW YORK and SHANDONG, China, April 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GFRE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announced that the Company is aware of the allegations raised in a report prepared by Glaucus Research Group and published on Seeking Alpha today and intends to respond as soon as practicable.

"Although we are still in the process of finalizing a formal response and gathering all supporting documents, I would like to state that the report by Glaucus Research contains serious misstatements about our Company. We are working hard to provide clarifications on the issues mentioned in order to reassure investors," stated Xiaobin Liu, CEO of Gulf Resources.

NEW YORK and SHANDONG, China, Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc.  today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") has signed an agreement to acquire a crude salt field from the state operated Shouguang Qingshuibo Farm.

"The acquisition of additional crude salt fields will help us improve our utilization of bromine-related waste water, resulting in additional annual production of 70,000 tonnes of crude salt. With an estimated utilization rate of 90%, the added production capacity of approximately 78,000 tonnes will expand our consolidated annual production capacity to more than 600,000 tonnes of crude salt. We expect the additional production of crude salt from the new field to add approximately $2.8 million in incremental annualized revenue and $1.7 million in net income based on a price of $40 per tonne," stated Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources.

Consideration for the crude salt field purchase is RMB73 million (approximately $10.6 million) in cash, of which 50% was paid upon the signing of the agreement and the remaining 50% will be due within three days thereafter.

Upon the closing of the transaction SCHC will acquire approximately 568 acres crude salt field at Qingshuibo Farm. The sellers will sign a 30-year land lease with SCHC for the crude salt field, for which the Company will pay RMB172,500 (approximately $25,368) per year. Based on the development principle for the North of Shouguang City from Shouguang City Commission and Municipal Government, the Company is required to increase capital investment, increase the size of the crude salt field and standards, and build a pilot area for co-production of bromine and crude salt. The Company estimates such investments to amount to approximately $1 million. Following the successful closing of the acquisition, the Company expects to start production utilizing the newly purchased field in March 2011.

"We want to maximize the utilization of waste water resulting from bromine production, as crude salt is a high-margin by-product of bromine. Our factories 1 and 2 did not have adjacent crude salt fields, which has resulted in an underutilization of our waste water resources. If we are successful in acquiring surrounding crude salt fields in cooperation with the local government, we believe we will be able to reduce the environmental footprint from bromine production, while growing our revenue," concluded Mr. Liu.  

The closing of the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions. Further details on the terms of this transaction can be found in the Company's 8-K which is expected to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 4, 2011.

SHANDONG, China, Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Gulf Resources, Inc. today announced that the Company provided additional disclosure disputing certain allegations related to the reliability of its filings with the SEC that have recently been circulated in an anonymous report within the investment community.

The Company disputes the following four allegations raised in the anonymous report:

1.  that the Company may have overstated its 2009 revenues because the Company's State Administration of Tax (SAT) filings in China are not consistent with its 2009 Annual Report;

The Company's tax filings made with the SAT (http://www.chinatax.gov.cn) are not publicly available.  The report allegedly provides certain 2009 income statement figures from the SAT filings of the Company's operating subsidiaries, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") and Shouguang Yuxin Chemical Industry Co. Limited ("SYCI").  The figures in the report are completely inconsistent with and significantly lower than the actual 2009 SAT filings made by SCHC and SYCI.  On December 9, 2010, the Company was provided with a letter of certification with an official seal from the Yangkou Sub-bureau, Shouguang City Bureau of the SAT in which the SAT confirms that there are "serious discrepancies" between SCHC's and SYCI's actual tax filing and the figures provided in the anonymous report.

The Company confirms that its 2009 Annual Report is consistent with its 2009 SAT filings after taking into account the U.S. GAAP adjustments.

2.  that the Company may have overstated its 2009 bromine production volume because an alleged local Shandong provincial government agency's report on the Company states that the Company only produced 10,000 metric tons of bromine in 2009.

In the Company's 2009 Annual Report, it disclosed that it produced 34,930 metric tons of bromine in 2009.  The Company has attempted to identify and contact the agency referenced in the anonymous report, the Administration of Light Industry of Shandong Province.  However, the Company has not been able to identify this agency and believes that the agency has not existed for many years and could not have provided a report on the Company's 2009 bromine production volume.  

On December 3, 2010, the Company received a letter of certification with an official seal from the Bromine Industry Association of Shouguang City, which regulates and supervises Shouguang area bromine producers.  That certification states: "As shown in our statistics on production information, SCHC's total production volume of bromine for 2009 is more than 30,000 metric tons."  On December 3, 2010 the Company also received a letter of certification with an official seal from the Economic and Information Agency of Shouguang City.  That certification states "According to relevant statistics, SCHC produced more than 30,000 metric tons of bromine in 2009."

At the end of 2006, the Company only had one bromine production facility with a production capacity of 10,000 metric tons. By the end of 2009, the Company acquired seven additional bromine production facilities and increased its bromine production capacity to 43,300 metric tons. Currently the Company has a total of nine bromine production facilities with a total capacity of 46,300 metric tons.

3.  that the Company may have overstated its 2009 bromine production volume because alleged statements from representatives of two competitors of the Company question the Company's ability to generate the production volumes disclosed in the Company's 2009 Annual Report.

The report alleges that a Mr. Shan, a sales manager of Shandong Yuyuan Group ("Yuyuan"), questioned the Company's ability to produce bromine at the levels disclosed in the Company's 2009 Annual Report.  On December 9, 2010, Yuyuan provided the Company with a letter of certification with its corporate seal. In that certification Yuyuan states that it does not have a sales manager with the last name of Shan and that Yuyuan believes that SCHC produced more than 30,000 tons of bromine in 2009.  

The report also alleges that a Mr. Wu, a sales manager at Shandong Haihua Co. Ltd ("Haihua") questioned the Company's stated bromine production capacity.  On December 10, 2010 Haihua provided the Company a letter of certification with its corporate seal, In that certification Haihua states that it does not have a sales manager with the last name Wu.

4.  that the Company may have overstated its 2009 revenues generated from sales of bromine to its largest customer because an alleged statement from that customer saying that it purchased a smaller volume of bromine from the Company than the figure disclosed in the Company's Annual Report.

The report alleges that an unidentified employee of Shandong Morui Chemical Company ("Morui") stated that Morui only purchased 400 to 500 metric tons of bromine from SCHC in 2009.  On December 2, 2010, Morui provided the Company a letter of certification with its corporate seal, In that certification Morui confirms that SCHC sold 5,162.5 metric tons of bromine to it in 2009.  

The Company intends to file copies of the letters referred to in this press release as exhibits to a Current Report on Form 8-K.

"We firmly believe that these claims are completely without merit and we take any allegations related to the reliability of our financial statements and SEC filings very seriously," said Mr. Xiaobin Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources. "We also want to continue to confirm that: (i) our financial statements are accurate and we do not expect any adjustments to them, and (ii) our business has maintained its momentum and we do not expect any changes in business conditions in the foreseeable future."

"Given favorable market conditions and increasing bromine market prices, we are pleased to report another strong quarter with solid double-digit growth in both the top and bottom line.  The average selling price of bromine increased from $1,808 per tonne for the third quarter in 2009 to $2,708 per tonne for the same period in 2010, an increase of 49.8%, while sales volume of bromine increased to 10,408 tonnes in the third quarter in 2010 from 8,912 tonnes in the third quarter last year," said Xiaobin Liu, the Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Resources. "In the third quarter, we also raised our fiscal year guidance given strong market demand of brominated and chemical products and high bromine prices."

Business Outlook

"In the fourth quarter, we will continue to focus on production efficiency and R&D efforts to increase profitability and product offerings," said Mr. Liu. "We continue to evaluate acquisition targets to further expand our market share in bromine and crude salt production despite the challenges of elevated market prices.  With our strong balance sheet and capital flexibility, we believe we will accomplish our production capacity expansion plan and solidify our leadership in the bromine and crude salt markets in China."

In addition to increasing bromine production capacity through acquisitions, the Company continues to plan its move into the market for downstream brominated products in order to increase its competitiveness.  Pharmaceutical intermediates remain a sector that the management believes will garner the largest demand.

"We have seen market prices of bromine begin to stabilize in the third quarter after the fast increase in the beginning of the year.  As prices remain robust, we will leverage our strong client relationship to renegotiate contract prices with all of our major customers. Given the healthy demand from our major customers, we believe the favorable pricing environment will support Gulf Resources' growth momentum for the remainder of the year, said Mr. Liu"

In September 2010, the Company raised its 2010 fiscal year guidance to revenue between $151 million and $155 million, an increase of 37% to 41% over 2009 revenues of $110.3 million. The company also raised its net income guidance to between $48 million and $50 million, or between $1.38 and $1.44 per diluted share, an increase of between 57% and 63% over 2009 net income of $30.6 million. These figures do not take into account the impact of any additional potential acquisitions.

"While we recognize there to be upside to our current revenue and net income guidance in light of the positive outlook for the bromine market for the fourth quarter of this year, we are still in the process of assessing the magnitude of such change and will provide an update to our investors regarding our projected financial performance once we have completed this task," concluded Mr. Liu.

Due to the strong demand for bromine in China, especially from the application of the pharmaceutical sector, bromine prices have continued to rise and reached over RMB 23,000 per ton in the beginning of September 2010. Given the improved pricing environment, the Company is renegotiating contract prices with customers to incorporate the current market price, to be effective beginning in October 2010. In addition, the management conducted a restructuring of bromine factory employees in the beginning of July 2010 to improve production efficiency and continues to implement cost controls to maintain profit margins.

Gulf Resources has raised its 2010 full-year guidance for:

• Revenue from between $146 million and $150 million to between $151 million and $155 million, an increase of 37% to 41% over 2009 revenues of $110.3 million.
  
• Net income guidance from between $44 million and $46 million to between $48 million and $50 million, or between $1.38 and $1.44 per diluted share, an increase of between 57% and 63% over 2009 net income of $30.6 million.

This updated guidance does not take into account the impact of any additional potential acquisitions.

Gulf Resources possibly seeking capital despite:

• A March 31, 2010 cash balance of $55.6 million.
• A current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) of 6 to 1.
• No long-term debt.
• Annualized operating cash flow of $49.39 million
• The following comments from the 2010 first quarter 10Q:

"We believe that our available funds and cash flows generated from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated ongoing operating needs for the next twelve (12) months. For the immediate future we intend to focus our efforts on the activities of SCHC and SYCI as these segments continue to expand within the Chinese market. Our long-term strategic goal is to extend our market to overseas countries."

To be fair we do need to keep in mind that GFRE's business may be capital intensive as they spent $38.0 million on equipment in 2009.