Polyester yarn market stays in "winter" in such a hot summer

The sluggish end-user demand and large fluctuation of polyester feedstock put forward unprecedented challenges to polyester yarn mills. In terms of the raw material, direct-spun PSF experienced sharp ups and downs in the first half of 2019 and the market situation changed repeatedly. The price once broke through 2017’s low, and then rebounded quickly, but retreated again subsequently. It is rare to see in previous years. Both direct-spun PSF plants and spinners make efforts to survive amid the severe fluctuation. Based on the surges and slumps in last Aug, the selling prices of spinners are adjusted rapidly.

Polyester yarn price trend keeps consistent with that of direct-spun PSF from the chart below. In a period, the cash flow of polyester yarn plummeted driven by the frequent change of direct-spun PSF and once moved to negative side. At that time, it would be chronic death for the spinners who did not adjust price. Sales of polyester yarn started to slide from Apr, mostly affected by the decline of consumption and China-US trade war this year. From Apr to date, sales of polyester yarn mills have been stagnated, bringing enormous challenge to the restocking and sales operation of the spinners. Many spinners reported obvious impacts on normal operation, especially small and medium-sized ones.