The annual price curve for nylon FDY is tracing a clear upward path. Industry public data shows the benchmark price reached 18,350 yuan per ton in early October, up 7.94% from the same period last month, placing it in the upper-middle range of the annual band between 14,175 and 19,950 yuan, just 1,600 yuan shy of the yearly high. This position signals that over the past twelve months, the price center for nylon filament has shifted systematically upward, and the window for digesting low-priced inventory has essentially closed.
Price Structure: Cost Push and Demand Tug-of-War
Looking at annual statistics, the average nylon FDY price stands at approximately 16,100 yuan per ton, with the current price exceeding the mean by over 2,000 yuan and the floor gap reaching 4,175 yuan. This spread structure indicates the current rally is not a short-term pulse but the result of combined cost-side and supply-side pressures. Upstream caprolactam prices remain firm, and chip costs stay elevated, directly squeezing the margin room for spinning mills.
What does this mean for weaving enterprises? The answer depends on order structure. Factories producing sportswear fabrics and outdoor functional textiles have rigid demand for nylon FDY, making it difficult to switch raw materials in the short term, so cost pressure will directly erode processing profits. Factories making conventional lining, umbrella fabric, and other low-value-added categories may shift to polyester filament as a substitute, causing nylon usage to contract in certain niche markets.
It is worth noting that while the current price still has 1,600 yuan of headroom before reaching the annual high, it has already opened a gap of over 4,000 yuan from the low point. This asymmetric spread distribution reflects insufficient supply-side elasticity—even at elevated prices, new capacity release is constrained by raw material supply and equipment commissioning cycles, making it difficult to smooth prices in the short term.
Industrial Belt Response: Diverging Procurement Rhythms in Keqiao and Shengze
From a regional perspective, the two major chemical fiber weaving clusters of Shaoxing Keqiao and Suzhou Shengze are responding differently. Keqiao, which focuses on polyester-nylon blended fabrics, has seen some enterprises adjust their blending ratios, reducing nylon FDY usage in grey fabric and increasing procurement of high-count polyester or differentiated fibers. In Shengze, functional fabric orders remain relatively stable, with nylon FDY procurement maintaining a rigid demand rhythm, but acceptance of high-priced supply has clearly declined, with more price-pressing inquiries.
Behind this divergence lies the difference in order visibility. Export orders have long cycles and are difficult to price-lock, so weaving mills tend to wait and see when raw material prices rise rapidly, postponing restocking until prices pull back. Domestic quick-response orders have shorter cycles and lower tolerance for raw material volatility, favoring small-batch, multi-batch procurement to reduce single-restocking risk.
From an upstream-downstream transmission perspective, nylon FDY price increases have not yet fully passed through to the fabric end. Grey fabric price adjustments lag behind raw materials, and intermediaries and weaving mills are absorbing part of the cost pressure. If prices remain elevated for more than a month, fabric quotes will be forced upward, and apparel brands and export buyers will face a recalculation of their cost budgets.