China Polyester Market Summary

PTA operating rate kept high and the demand for PX was maintained. PX spot prices continued to gain in the steep uptrend in the second half of Sep coupled with lower operating rate of PX units. Although from the PTA-PX spread, PTA producers still enjoyed good profit margin, firmer PX market still stabilized the market sentiment. PTA price increase also accelerated in the second half of Sep due to active replenishment of polyester plants before the holiday. MEG market quickly pulled up after Mid-Autumn Festival. Concentrated procurement of downstream polyester plants and sharp increase of ethylene prices drove the market prices continue to rise.

PET bottle chip market moved up steadily on strengthening feedstock, with average done level up 900yuan/mt during Sep 16-Oct 8. Bottle chips were talked higher after the long holiday, but the actual transacted prices only followed up slowly. In the short term, the market will hold firm. PET fiber chip market kept rising steadily and saw great leap of 600yuan/mt during the national day holidays. Meanwhile, most producers revised the Oct contract offers up to 10800yuan/mt.

Polyester filament yarn market generally maintained good sales during the reporting period. The fundamentals of polyester filament yarn market remained healthy, supply tight and end-user demand solid. As for external factors, inflation expectation as well as the surging crude oil provided extra momentum. The majority of polyester filament yarn varieties hit yearly new highs. PFY inventory decrease consequently. Besides, downstream run rates recovered a bit as power ration eased slightly. Generally speaking, polyester filament yarn market maintained a healthy performance.

Direct-spun PSF price hike speeded up in the second half of Sep due to hot sales and supply shortage as well as the extremely high cotton prices. The prices surged about 2500yuan/mt in the short term. Most PSF producers had no goods to sell.