Polyester bottle flakes drop in volume and price

[168TEX News] Autumn is getting stronger in September, and the market for polyester bottle chips is as cool as the temperature in September. In early September, international crude oil was running at a low level. Under the drag of crude oil, polyester raw materials were also in dismal business. Due to the drag on raw materials, downstream purchasing power is insufficient, and the market for polyester bottle flakes has entered the off-season early. It is reported that in the past month, the internal price of polyester bottle flakes has dropped from 6,600 yuan/ton to 6,300 yuan/ton. Although the decline is not large, the profit of polyester bottle flakes has really dropped significantly.

As you can see from the picture above, the average monthly price of PTA in August was around 4,407 yuan/ton, while that of MEG was around 5,677 yuan/ton. The average price of these two raw materials in September was around 4,439/5,463 yuan/ton. According to the cost calculation of polyester bottle flakes = 0.86*PTA + 0.34*MEG, the cost of polyester bottle flakes only dropped by 46 yuan/ton in September, while the price of polyester bottle flakes fell by nearly 200 yuan/ton. This price drop has reduced the actual profit of bottle tablets. It is reported that the surge in crude oil in August brought opportunities for price increases for bottle flakes, so bottle flakes also won a short-term profit stage at that time. However, the good times did not last long. In September, the demand for polyester bottle flakes was sluggish. In order to control inventory, the bottle flake factory ran sales promotions. However, the factory’s efforts did not achieve the expected results, and the profit of the bottle flakes also entered a state of loss. On September 28, the profit of polyester bottle flakes had exceeded 100 yuan.

The domestic sales market has entered the off-season, so what is the situation in the export market? Judging from the export situation of polyester bottle flakes in August, the export market situation of polyester bottle flakes is still not optimistic. In August, the export volume of polyester bottle flakes hit a record low since February, only 141,500 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 5,900 tons, and a year-on-year decrease of 27,400 tons. The export volume of polyester bottle flakes continues to decline, causing headaches for the domestic bottle flakes export market. Domestic sales are sluggish, and export sales are weak. This has become the overall state of the polyester bottle flakes market in the near future.

The profit performance is poor and the domestic and foreign sales markets are weak. However, the load of the polyester bottle flake factory is still running at a high level. While supply is ample, demand is sluggish, causing inventories to accumulate at polyester bottle flake factories. The fourth quarter is usually the weakest time of the year for polyester bottle flakes. In the face of poor profits, some factories have already introduced maintenance plans. Specifically: in late September, Jiangyin Sanfangxiang’s 1.6 million-ton unit and Jiangsu Yizheng’s 390,000-ton unit had reduced production; in mid-to-late October, China Resources’ 300,000-ton unit, Wankai’s 400,000-ton unit, and Yi’s The 500,000-ton equipment will be shut down at the same time, and some production reduction or shutdown maintenance equipment will continue to reduce production. By then, the bottle flake load may be reduced to around 69%.
On the whole, the imbalance between crude oil supply and demand is still prominent, polyester raw materials are unable to rebound, and the downstream demand for polyester bottle flakes will become increasingly thin as the off-season deepens. Entering the off-season, the market for polyester bottle flakes is unlikely to rise sharply, and may be adjusted following the fluctuation of raw materials. <br /