After declining from the peak of 12,000 yuan reached by the end of October, prices of polyester staple fibers partly recovered in the past two weeks in China. .
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From a low of 9,000 yuan per ton at the beginning of December, PSF prices rose to about 9,500 yuan per ton (US$1.15 per kilo). .
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The rebound is mainly due to stronger demand from spun yarn makers. Since cotton prices are very slowly declining, cotton is still being replaced by polyester fibers. .
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With stocks relatively low, spinners were probably forced purchasing more polyester staple fibers rather than waiting for lower cotton prices. .
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The gap between cotton and polyester prices narrowed in the past two weeks, from a peak of US$1.02 cent per kilo on December 1st down to 93 US cents by mid-December. Cost difference remains relatively high, however.Prices of polyester filament yarns further declined 100 to 200 yuan per ton at the same time, in line with lower demand from downward processors. .
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Looms are currently running at about 75% of total capacity ahead of a long year end break in Western countries and in China. .
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Holidays will start on January 12th with nearly a majority of plants shutting down as a result.Boosted by higher demand from spun yarn producers and higher raw material costs, prices of polyester chips and polyester intermediates also rose in the past seven days. .
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Polyester chip prices ranged from 7,900 yuan up to 8,100 yuan depending on places.
Average price of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) slightly rebounded in the past week as a consequence of higher raw material costs, mainly paraxylene prices. .
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Average price of imported PTA was up about US$10 per ton to US$580-585 per ton. .
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In addition to a permanent lack of PTA in Asia, a few plants are currently stopped for repair or maintenance. .
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Taiwan DuPont Far Eastern Petrochemical suspended production at its T9 plant with capacity of 400,000 tons. Production could resume before the end of the year.MEG prices are also rebounding these days as a result of higher raw material costs. Ethylene price was up about US$20 to US$30 in the past week in China. .
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Spot prices for MEG ranged between US$675 and US$690 at the same time. .
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Contract prices nominated by major suppliers such as SABIC, Dow and Shell were lowered by US$10 to US$20 per ton for January shipments. December contracts at about US$700 were higher than spot prices, forcing MEG producers in offering discounts of about US$40 to US$50 per ton.Crude oil prices remained at a high level in the past seven days with spot Brent still exceeding the 30-cent level. The arrest of Saddam Hussein resulted in a short-lived rally on Monday, markets actually expecting suicide attacks to continue in the Middle East. .
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More important, oil consumption is currently jumping in the United States now at the heart of winter. US inventories are relatively low, in addition.
Date:12/25/2003
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