PET flake prices expected to rise after Chinese New Year holiday

Chinese Lunar New Year holiday is basically ended, and recycled chemical fiber plants start to resume operation successively from Jan 28, with some plants restarting late. The full recovery may be after Lantern Festival (Feb 5) or even around Feb 8.

For PET flakes market, a few large plants have restarted production around Jan 29 and Jan 30, while most small plants restart late, after Lantern Festival.

Before the holiday, bottle bales and PET flakes inventory in PET flakes plants was generally not high, and feedstock inventory in recycled chemical fiber plants was also low, partly lowly at around one week, mostly at half a month.

During the holiday period, though the consumption of soft drinks and bottled water was large amid hot travel data, it takes time from bottles to PET flakes. In short, the PET flakes in circulation on the market will be still the inventory before the holiday, and the volumes will not be very large.

Overall, virgin polyester product prices have increased apparently around the holiday, and some re-PSF plants also raise the prices after returning from the holiday, stimulating PET flakes producers to raise the prices. Meanwhile, with low feedstock inventory, recycled chemical fiber plants may also raise the prices to purchase. In short, PET flakes prices are likely to rise somewhat after transactions recover, mostly at around 200yuan/mt. The actual transactions are waited to see.