A polyester filament sales ratio of 30-40% says more about weaving sentiment than any quoted price. The Shengze and Jiaxing raw material markets on September 12-13 sent mixed signals: quotes looked stable on the surface, but the transaction mix has clearly diverged, with low polyester plant inventories facing cautious downstream buying.
Structural Divergence Behind the Sales Gap
By category, POY texturizing saw small restocking, with 150D/144F quoted around 9,650 yuan/ton on cash terms, while intermingled POY stayed weak. FDY showed sharper divergence: 48D/48F rose to 10,650-10,800 yuan/ton as high-density polyester taffeta lining demand recovered, and the price gap between mills narrowed noticeably. 128D/36F moved on oxford fabric consumption, while 75D/36F was flat. Bright FDY fine denier, especially 30D/24F for polyester-nylon fabrics, picked up; semi-dull FDY outperformed semi-bright and bright.
What does this mean? Buyers can no longer judge cost by a single "filament up or down" call. Lining, oxford, and polyester-nylon fabric demand lines pull different specifications. Mills still running conventional coarse denier may miss premiums when demand returns.
DTY moved slightly better than POY, but bright multi-filament flat yarn traded quietly, conventional coarse network yarn was weak, and cationic differential yarn saw limited volume with stable quotes. Texturizers hold little inventory, meaning the midstream has no stocking appetite. Once orders cluster, restocking elasticity will quickly show up in prices.
Stability and Shifts in the Yarn Market
Cotton yarn sales were steady with prices adjusting mildly; 21s and 32s moved well, with 32s used in air-jet富贵纺. Poly-cotton 65/35 was stable, 80/10 and 90/10 edged up individually, and 80/20 45s saw decent volume. Poly-viscose was flat with limited trading, though 40s showed momentum.
Pure polyester yarn stayed firm-to-strong as polyester staple fiber center price edged up, with 1.56*38 cotton-type below 8,700 yuan/ton. Rayon yarn 10s traded notably better than other counts, prices adjusted steadily; viscose staple was stable around 14,500 yuan/ton. Rayon yarn is expected to adjust in the near term.
For mills, the signal is clear: conventional counts rely on volume, while differentiated specifications carry pricing power. For traders, the spread between staple fiber and viscose is shaping blended order quotes. If the 65/35 versus 80/20 spread keeps narrowing, order switching becomes more likely.
Short-Term Direction and Industrial Belt Response
Water-jet loom utilization is being maintained, but weavers and texturizers hold little polyester filament. Raw material uncertainty plus caution on chasing prices keeps downstream buying slow, while low polyester plant inventories limit downside. With these forces pulling against each other, an upward correction in filament cannot be ruled out short term.
Shengze and Jiaxing, as core collection and distribution hubs for Yangtze River Delta textile raw materials, often lead national weaving restocking moves. A 30-40% sales ratio is in the low range. If it persists beyond a week, polyester plants will firm up pricing; if weaving orders follow, low inventories will amplify gains.