Introduction: The prices of polyester staple fiber and filament yarn continued to rise during the National Day holiday. After the holiday, futures were launched, and the price of short fiber soared. The production and sales of these two polyester products are booming, which has stimulated a rebound in PTA prices. After a short-term stalemate, the polyester bottle flake market has finally seized the opportunity of this rise due to the boost from the cost side.
Since October, the polyester bottle flake market has risen within a narrow range; as of the close of October 15, The market price of polyester bottle flakes in East China is 4,875 yuan/ton, an increase of 125 yuan/ton, or 2.63%, from the closing price on September 30; a decrease of 200 yuan/ton, or 3.94% from the price on September 15; although short-term prices have improved. , the price is still low compared to before. Due to weakening demand, the current price of polyester bottle flakes continues to be weak.
Polyester bottle flakes market price trend chart in East China/South China
Source: Longzhong Information
In October, some manufacturers of domestic polyester bottle flake devices began to reduce production for maintenance. As of October 15, the operating load of domestic polyester bottle flake devices was 79.44%. A decrease of 3.41 percentage points from September 30.
Specifically, Zhejiang Wankai’s 550,000-ton unit was inspected as scheduled on October 5; Yizheng Chemical Fiber’s 150,000-ton unit was inspected as planned on October 15. Other polyester bottle flake factory units are operating normally. After the National Day holiday, the inventory of bottle flake factories is generally high. In order to quickly relieve inventory pressure, some factories ship goods at low prices, with the additional requirement to pick up the goods immediately. However, downstream consumption is slow, especially since October, when the weather in East and North China has cooled significantly, and the demand for soft drinks has dropped significantly, thus restricting the sales of bottle tablets.
This time the market rose, the mainstream soft drink manufacturers performed calmly. Most of the trading is dominated by traders filling short orders, and a small amount of orders are just needed. Looking back at history, the price of polyester bottle flakes is absolutely low at less than 5,000 yuan/ton. Small and medium-sized processing enterprises have once again locked in the supply in advance on the premise of existing raw material inventory. There are too many orders left in the market, which poses great negative risks.
The fourth quarter is the off-season for the demand side of bottle tablets, and it will take a relatively long period of time to digest the inventory in the future. The overseas epidemic situation continues to worsen, and some European countries have tightened control. There is still no sign of improvement in foreign trade in the short term; the demand side is generally weakening.
The PTA industry on the raw material side has started stably, and supply and demand were basically balanced in October. In the short term, driven by polyester staple fiber and filament, the main PTA contract fluctuated strongly. However, high inventory pressure still exists, and the processing range is acceptable, which restrains the increase in PTA.
The only positive thing about polyester bottle flakes at present is cost-side support. If PTA lacks sustained upward momentum in the later period, the price of polyester bottle flakes will fall quickly. Inventory and demand are both negative influences. It is recommended to remain cautious in pursuing the rise and wait and see. </p
