Polyester staple fiber's 35.44% year-on-year gain is not an isolated case in China's textile raw material market. In week 39 of 2026 (September 28 to October 2), industry data showed PTA surged 59.46% year-on-year, while polyester POY, FDY and DTY rose 36.19%, 37.36% and 31.11% respectively. Nylon POY jumped 38.88%. These figures point to one fact: the cost center of the polyester and nylon supply chains has been significantly elevated over the past year.
Cost Transmission vs. Demand Resistance
On a weekly basis, the market displayed a pattern of "slight upstream gains, flat midstream, and downstream divergence." Polyester staple fiber rose from 8,635.08 yuan/ton to 8,690.58 yuan/ton, up 0.64%, while PTA climbed from 7,293.50 yuan/ton to 7,327.25 yuan/ton, up 0.46%. As the source materials of the polyester chain, their price increases directly raise the theoretical cost of downstream chips and yarns. However, polyester yarn, POY, DTY and FDY remained flat for the week, indicating that midstream players have not successfully passed on cost pressures.
What does this "raw material up, finished product flat" scissors gap mean for spinning and weaving mills? It means processing margins are further compressed. Pure polyester yarn producers, whose main raw material is polyester staple fiber, face mounting cash flow pressure as raw material edges up weekly while finished product prices stay put. Some mills may respond by cutting operating rates or adjusting blends, but the passive situation is hard to change in the short term.
Raw silk and cotton yarn offer another window. Raw silk rose 0.20% for the week to 445,500 yuan/ton but remained down 4.65% year-on-year, one of the few negative annual readings in the textile sector. Cotton yarn 32S and 21S edged up 0.20% and 0.14% respectively, with annual gains of 5% to 6%, far below chemical fiber products. This reflects a reshaping price relationship between natural and chemical fibers: chemical fibers are driven up by crude oil and PTA costs, while cotton and raw silk are constrained by supply-demand fundamentals, posting moderate gains.
Divergent Reactions Across Industrial Clusters
From the perspective of regional industrial belts, chemical fiber weaving clusters such as Keqiao and Shengze are more sensitive to polyester and nylon price swings. Shengze, dominated by polyester filament weaving, sees the high annual gains in POY, FDY and DTY translate into notably higher raw material inventory costs for local weavers compared with a year ago. If terminal fabric order prices cannot be raised in tandem, some small and medium-sized mills may face the dilemma of taking orders at a loss.
By contrast, home textile and apparel clusters in Nantong and Foshan pay more attention to cotton yarn and viscose staple fiber. Viscose staple fiber was flat at 14,580 yuan/ton for the week, up 11.13% year-on-year; spun rayon yarn also held steady, up 6.97% annually. These relatively stable prices mean a milder cost impact on downstream home textile enterprises, but the risk of subsequent price increases from wood pulp cost transmission warrants vigilance.
Acrylic fiber fell 0.46% for the week to 10,783.33 yuan/ton but still surged 35.07% year-on-year. As the main raw material for acrylic yarn, its high-level oscillation means cost support for acrylic yarn remains strong. Cotton edged down 0.07% to 17,408.33 yuan/ton, up 16.92% year-on-year. The limited decline suggests solid bottom support in the cotton market.
Implications for Procurement and Export
The core contradiction in the current textile raw material market is that costs, driven by crude oil and PTA transmission, show annual gains generally above 30%, while demand, hit by weak global consumption and fragmented orders, makes it difficult to raise finished product prices. This contradiction is unlikely to be resolved in the short term, meaning profit recovery for textile enterprises depends on product mix upgrading or procurement timing optimization.
For export-oriented companies, raw material costs have risen sharply year-on-year, but export quotations are constrained by exchange rates and competition, squeezing margins from both sides. Some companies may shift toward differentiated or recycled fibers with greater premium potential to offset losses on conventional products.