Polyester filament price easy to rise but hard to fall with improving end-user demand

Following the official entry into force of the United States' reciprocal tariffs on countries worldwide on August 7 and the further 90-day delay of tariffs on China, the tariff war, which had been generating breaking news daily, has finally entered a brief calm period.

For importers, from now until November 10, import tariffs from various countries will remain basically unchanged, and they can finally settle their accounts properly. By mid-August, for goods that haven't been shipped for this year's autumn and winter sales season, importers should hurry to ship them, although most of the major shipments have already been completed. Currently, their main focus is on orders for next year's New Year and spring seasons. It is heard that many importers have finally breathed a sigh of relief, rushing to plan the shipment of spring orders before November 10.

With the increase in foreign trade shipments coupled with the gradual start of domestic sales stockpiling, according to on-site visits and research, downstream demand is improving, even slightly exceeding expectations. There will be some differentiation in market performance across various regions.

Water-jet mills in Wujiang and Northern Jiangsu: Grey fabric inventories are high, fabric prices have been falling all the way, and the shutdown rate of lining fabric mills is high.

Warp-knitting mills in Haining: The pressure from grey fabric inventories is not significant. Exports of home textile fabrics have increased; shipments of conventional products from large factories have rebounded, with production and sales reaching a balance, and operating rate has risen. It is heard that a major terminal buyer placed an order for leather base fabric over the weekend, with the quantity reaching ten thousand tons.

Circular knitting mills in Shaoxing: Recently, some scattered and small orders for domestic and foreign sales have been placed one after another, and the operating rate of circular knitting machines has gradually increased.

DTY plants: Sales of DTY have improved, but prices are hard to rise, and the operating rate has gradually increased.

In the next 1-2 months, downstream demand is expected to continue to show a seasonal improvement. The operating rate of downstream plants will enter a slow upward channel. The market players hold a cautious attitude towards the prosperity of the peak season, but it still needs time to verify. Downstream pessimism about raw materials has significantly weakened, and the prices of PFY may be hard to fall but easy to rise in short run.