VFY export of China posts a y-o-y decline of 20% in Jan-Aug

VFY export of China this year does not perform as well as that in 2022. The export volume in the first eight months of 2022 averaged at 8,903 tons, exceeding 10kt in Mar and Aug and almost 10kt in Apr and May. However, the export of this year just surpassed 9kt in Jul, and the average volume as of Aug was just 7,087 tons, which was 20.4% lower than the comparable 2022 level.

Although there was a notable recovery in the export in Jul this year, the volume dropped again by 15% to 7,937 tons in Aug, representing a year-on-year decline of 21.6%. In the first eight months of 2023, the export amounted to 56.7kt, which was 20.4% lower than the comparable 2022 level of 71.2kt.

At the same time, the export price in Aug also fell by $230/mt on the month to $5,499/mt, especially lower price of filament exported to Pakistan and Indonesia that was below $5,000/mt.

India and Pakistan are still the top two destinations of China's VFY export, accounting for 75% of total from Jan to Aug this year. As for origins, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber, Jilin Chemical Fiber and Yibin Grace are the major exporters in China, taking up 92% of the total volume.

Chinese VFY companies now keep stable production without big changes in the inventory, and prices have been stable for months. The traders and downstream plants keep building up stocks with steady tempo and VFY producers are not under big cost pressure, despite rising prices of pulp and chemicals, so the profits still remained good. Exports as the support for VFY market start to decline in Aug, and whether it will further decline is worth noting.