H-acid jumped from RMB 150,000 per ton to RMB 200,000 per ton in less than a month. In the 2026 textile raw material landscape, that single number says more than any weekly market report. The price elasticity of dye intermediates is recalibrating cost expectations across the entire dyeing and finishing sector in a rather blunt manner.
The Price Driver Is Not Demand
According to publicly available industry data, the price of H-acid, a core intermediate for reactive dyes, has doubled within the year. On September 1, leading producer Yadong Longxing listed H-acid at RMB 150,000 per ton; by late September, quotes had reached RMB 200,000 per ton. Such a surge is unusual in the chemical intermediate space, especially when downstream orders have not shown explosive growth.
Zhejiang Longsheng's statement deserves close reading: the company raised prices for mainstream dye products in early September, but this round was driven by raw material costs, with little change in downstream demand. This means the current upward movement in dye prices is not pulled by a recovery in textile and apparel consumption, but pushed unilaterally from the cost side. For buyers, this kind of increase is often harder to pass through to end products.
Disperse dyes are currently priced at around RMB 33,000 per ton, a mid-to-upper historical level. Compared with the sharp rise in H-acid, the increase in disperse dyes appears moderate, indicating clear differences in cost transmission paths across dye categories.
The Real Reaction: Weak Stockpiling Appetite
After prices reached high levels, the overall willingness of distributors and dyeing mills to stockpile was not high. This detail is more noteworthy than the price increase itself. Under the traditional "Golden September and Silver October" restocking logic, the textile supply chain usually sees a round of concentrated purchasing in September. This year, however, prices are rising while buyers are watching from the sidelines.
The reason is not hard to understand. Although dyes do not account for the largest share of a dyeing mill's cost structure, a short-term doubling in prices directly squeezes processing margins. With no obvious surge in end-user apparel orders, dyeing mills prefer just-in-time purchasing rather than building inventory at high prices. Distributors face the dual pressure of capital occupation and price decline risk.
Yabang's response provides a useful comparison: its main anthraquinone dyes are used for dyeing chemical fiber and cotton textiles. Overall dye products have also been in a rising channel this year, but the increase is smaller than that of H-acid. This shows that price increases are uneven across different dye varieties, and anthraquinone products have relatively stronger downstream bargaining power and smoother price transmission.
Shanshui Technology's clarification reminds the market to note the boundaries of concept speculation: the company has no H-acid products. Its chloropyridine is mainly for pesticide intermediates, while 6-nitro, oxygen and 5-nitro bodies are dye intermediates. There is a clear information asymmetry between the capital market's pursuit of "dye concepts" and the actual product structures of enterprises.
Practical Impact on Buyers and Exporters
From a supply chain transmission perspective, H-acid price increases first hit the cost line of reactive dye producers, then gradually penetrate the dyeing and finishing segment. If H-acid prices remain at the high level of RMB 200,000 per ton for more than a quarter, reactive dye quotes are likely to have further upside.
For dyeing mills focused on cotton fabrics, reactive dyes are a core consumable, and cost pressure will first appear in processing quotes. For factories mainly producing chemical fiber and blended products, the impact of disperse dyes is more direct. Although RMB 33,000 per ton is not a historical extreme, combined with other auxiliary costs, overall dyeing costs are still rising.
The export side is more complex. Overseas buyers usually take longer to accept price adjustments, and cost increases within the contract period often need to be absorbed by suppliers. This means the profit margins of export-oriented dyeing mills may be further compressed in the fourth quarter of 2026.