Caught off guard, the price of spandex, an important chemical fiber raw material for downstream elastic fabrics, has increased again!
According to price monitoring, domestic spandex market prices have continued to rise since mid-to-early May. On June 2, the spandex market in Jiangsu continued to rise, and the current 40D specification The average price is above 69,400 yuan/ton, an increase of more than 2.66% from May 13, and a year-on-year increase of 117.55%.
As of June 1, the latest quotations of 40D specifications from some domestic spandex manufacturers:
At the same time, benefiting from the continuous improvement of the spandex industry’s prosperity, which has led to the skyrocketing price of spandex stocks, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber, a domestic listed chemical fiber company engaged in the production and sales of viscose fiber and spandex fiber, is currently in The production capacity of 100,000 tons is all new production capacity after 2015, accounting for about 11% of the national production capacity. In the recent two consecutive trading days on June 1 and June 2, the closing price increase reached a cumulative 20.78%.
Support from the cost side has become an important factor in the early spandex price increase, but this time the rise in spandex is an exception. On the contrary, it is supported by the spandex market. But it has become a guarantee for the strength of upstream raw materials.
It is understood that the current trend of the upstream raw material market is relatively flat, and the raw material PTMEG market has a narrow profit margin. The mainstream factory offering 1800 molecular weight supply is around 41,500 yuan/ton, and the actual order negotiation reference is 40,000- 41,500 yuan/ton, the industry started operating at 7.8%; pure MDI fell within a narrow range, and market discussions were around 19,600 yuan/ton for wire transfer barrels and self-pickup, and the overall wait-and-see atmosphere was strong.
Although the current cost-end support is insufficient, the downstream chemical fiber market is also purchasing on demand, so wait and see with caution. The weaving market in the downstream Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions has gradually entered the off-season, with few new orders and some circular knitting machines producing inventory. The off-season market coupled with high raw material prices has kept the gross profit margin of the industry being compressed. Circular knitting knitting factories are not very enthusiastic about production. The operating rate of most circular knitting knitting factories is at 50-60%, which remains weak and stable. The overall orders for warp knitting factories in the Haining area have declined, and some mainstream factories are under heavy pressure on receivables and have been forced to lower their operating rates, with operating rates around 6.80%.
In contrast, the supply of spandex companies themselves is the important factor that really makes spandex prices rise again.
Although spandex manufacturers are currently operating at a high level, their supply is still tight and inventory levels are reduced. Some manufacturers have expressed limited stocking and strong intention to increase prices. It is understood that the demand for elastic fabrics such as milk silk and German velvet in the downstream is still strong, and the supply of goods in the market continues to be tight, supporting their upward price. The start-up of spandex manufacturers has maintained a high level of around 90%. Some manufacturers said that the inventory is low and they will not accept new orders for the time being. The main supplier Mainly old customers.
In addition, statistics show that the domestic spandex production capacity is 870,000 tons, with a monthly output of 67,000 tons tons, a small amount of imports (about 2000-3000 tons of imports per month), a small amount of exports (about 6000-8000 tons of exports per month), and the export quantity is higher than the import quantity. It has a good import and export adjustment mechanism. It is expected that this mechanism will be used in the future It will also play a certain role in maintaining the price of spandex.
At present, the main leading domestic spandex companies are Huafeng Spandex, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber, Huahai Spandex, Taihe New Materials, etc. Their combined production capacity accounts for half of the country. The total effective domestic spandex production capacity will reach 890,000 tons in 2020. In 2021, only Huafon Chemical Q4 will put into production 40,000 tons. New production capacity after 2022 will also be concentrated in a few leading enterprises such as Huafeng Chemical, South Korea’s Hyosung, and Xinxiang Chemical Fiber.
From the demand side, domestic apparent consumption of spandex in 2020 was 670,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%. The overall demand for spandex in the spandex market is strong, and the application fields of spandex are constantly expanding, with huge room for growth in differentiated industries such as medical and automotive interiors. Although the current cost-end support is insufficient, the downstream market purchases on demand and is cautious to wait and see, which creates certain negative effects. Overall, spandex prices are expected to remain high and strong in the short term. </p
