As a cotton-based chemical fiber material and regenerated cellulose fiber, viscose staple fiber has experienced rapid growth in value in recent years. As the prices of polyester and nylon industry chains have jumped rapidly since December, some idle resources have paid more attention to viscose, which has brought viscose staple fiber back into the sight of factories and traders.
As we all know, the main raw material of viscose staple fiber is dissolving pulp or cotton pulp. Recently, there have been no new quotations for cotton pulp. Due to environmental pressure from haze in pulp mills, some production has been affected. Pulp mills have mainly completed preliminary contracts, and new quotations have been postponed. Short cashmere prices have consolidated weakly, and some oil plants in Xiajin, Shandong have not resumed operations, so quotations have been suspended. The actual negotiation price of Xinjiang long velvet is still loose to 5800-6000 yuan/ton.
After the concentrated transaction of domestic dissolving pulp at 7,650-8,000 yuan/ton in the early stage, most of the early orders have been completed, and there are no quotations for new orders. Some pulp mills have seen a sharp adjustment in the viscose market, and many are willing to increase prices. There are also no new quotes for dissolving pulp in the external market. Pulp mills are also willing to raise prices, and some new quotes may be released after New Year’s Day. In the early stage, the coniferous prices were around US$1,000/ton, and the broadleaf prices were around US$910-930/ton. There were concentrated orders.
Last week, the price of viscose staple fiber experienced a sharp jump. During the week, manufacturers’ quotations generally increased in two rounds, and each price increase was 300-500 yuan/ton. In the second half of the week, most mainstream manufacturers also closed their orders. The CCFEI price index was 15,650 yuan/ton at the beginning of the week and rose to 16,300 yuan/ton at the end, with a cumulative increase of 650 yuan/ton. As of today, the price of viscose staple fiber is 16,530 yuan/ton, a cumulative increase of nearly a thousand yuan!
At the beginning of the week, manufacturers’ quotations generally rose, with mid-range quotations at 15,800-16,000 yuan/ton, and actual orders sold at 15,800-15,900 yuan/ton. The high-end quotation is 16,000-16,100 yuan/ton. Some quotations rose again in mid-week, with mid-range quotations reaching 16,300-16,500 yuan/ton. The high-end quotation is as high as 16,500 yuan/ton. However, viscose factories generally over-book orders. The average level is one month, and some orders are already in February. Moreover, the production of many viscose factories is unstable and it is difficult to meet customer needs. At present, they are mainly completing early orders and adding new ones in the second half of the week. Single temporary closure.
The upstream domestic propylene market mainly rose slightly, and positive factors continued to promote it. As of now, the mainstream quotation in East China’s propylene market is around 7,750-7,800 yuan/ton, which is 200 yuan/ton higher than at the beginning of the week. The mainstream quotation of propylene in Shandong is 8,100 yuan/ton, which is 100 yuan/ton higher than at the beginning of the week. Although the rise in propylene will be difficult to sustain in the later period, the downside is expected to be limited. The current mentality of the propylene industry chain is quite optimistic, and most products have good profits.
On the downstream side, the ABS, acrylic and polyacrylamide industries are operating normally. Among them, the price of acrylic staple fiber increased slightly this week. According to price monitoring, as of December 23, the average price of 1.5D acrylic staple fiber was 12,730 yuan/ton, an increase of 0.32% from the beginning of the week. In the medium and long term, Jilin Chemical Fiber’s differentiated acrylic fiber unit with an annual output of 20,000 tons has been restarted, and manufacturers’ consumption of acrylonitrile has further increased. And as the New Year is approaching, downstream users are quite obvious in stocking up for the year, and market demand continues to follow.
Driven by the sharp jump in the viscose market, the price of rayon yarn has also increased. The price of ring spinning 30S is as high as 20,300-20,500 yuan/ton, and the price of Fujian siro spinning 40S continues to rise to 23,000-23,500 yuan/ton. The viscose factory was seriously over-subscribed in the early stage, and the market started to decline, and high-speed road closures in some areas hindered shipments. Under multiple stimuli, viscose factories will continue to rise strongly in the future, and it is expected to easily reach 17,000 yuan/ton next week.
Taken together, after the early concentrated shipments of viscose staple fiber, it is unlikely that low prices will appear before the Spring Festival, and the industry is generally optimistic about the market outlook. Under the expectation that the RMB exchange rate will promote the positive evolution of textile exports, the downstream demand for viscose staple fiber may steadily increase, and the industry’s prosperity will continue to improve.
</p
