Hike in fibre cost pushes yarn prices up

Pure cotton yarn prices were generally steady, though prices for sporadic specs were reduced. Market sentiment continued to deteriorate amid firming cost as cotton yarn prices failed to follow up, resulting in poorer margins among mills. In China, Jiangsu and Zhejiang market saw some specs priced slightly higher despite persistent declines in overall trade volume. In Pakistan some spinning mills were selling at low prices in a bid to withdraw fund. Hike in polyester staple fibre pushed polyester spun yarn producers to raise their offers. Sentiment was stable early in the week, and prices later jumped significantly on steep rises of futures and oil prices. Even with the increase in polyesters spun yarn prices, spinners were still facing loss-making situation with small-sized factories planning for holidays in China and demand is expected to shrink further next week due to New Year holidays.

Spun rayon yarn trading sentiment in Asian markets was tepid, and fresh orders were hard to come. Some yarn producers tried to push offers up on rising cost, but downstream buyers refused to accept. Blended spun yarn markets in Asia continued to witness uptrend in prices and this time supported by volume this week. Trading volume of polyester-viscose yarn of 40s proceeded to go up, and so did the prices. Transaction volume for polyester-cotton blended yarn went back, with prices for a few specs trending up. Upstream polyester and viscose fibre prices were also seen climbing rapidly, but cotton fibre prices were sobering, partially neutralising the uptick in prices of former fibres.