Cotton yarn bucked the trend with slight gains, while acrylonitrile plunged nearly 7% and PTA fell over 5%—the bulk textile commodity price list for the 25th week of 2026 (June 22-26) reveals a clear 'temperature gap'. According to industry public data, among the 17 monitored textile products, only cotton yarn 21S and 32S recorded week-on-week increases, up 0.14% and 0.10% respectively; 13 products declined, including two with drops exceeding 5%, bringing the sector average to -1.65%.
Upstream Raw Materials Accelerate Decline, Chemical Fiber Chain Bears Heaviest Pressure
Acrylonitrile, the biggest loser, fell from 10,833 yuan/ton to 10,083 yuan/ton, a week-on-week drop of 6.92%, though still up 25% year-on-year. As a core raw material for acrylic fiber and ABS resin, the sharp decline reflects weak downstream demand and high inventory destocking pressure. PTA followed closely, dropping from 6,042 yuan/ton to 5,734 yuan/ton, down 5.10% but up 12.80% year-on-year. The rapid decline in PTA means cost support for the polyester chain is weakening, directly transmitting price pressure to products like polyester DTY, POY, FDY, staple fiber, and yarn.
The entire polyester series weakened: polyester DTY fell 2.60%, POY 2.36%, FDY 1.62%, staple fiber 0.91%, and yarn 1.79%. This collective decline is not an isolated event but a chain reaction of cost collapse from PX to PTA to polyester. For draw-texturing mills and weaving enterprises in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, falling raw material prices mean in-transit inventories face depreciation risks, likely slowing procurement further and creating a 'wait-and-see' cycle.
Cotton Yarn Stays Firm, Widening Price Gap with Chemical Fibers
Amid the broad decline, cotton yarn 21S and 32S rose 0.14% and 0.10%, closing the week at 23,400 yuan/ton and 24,725 yuan/ton, up 7.50% and 6.57% year-on-year respectively. This performance contrasts with a 1.23% drop in raw cotton, suggesting cotton yarn prices are supported by firm downstream orders rather than raw material costs. The price gap between cotton yarn and polyester yarn has widened to about 11,500 yuan/ton, the highest in nearly a year.
For buyers, this widening gap creates a clear substitution logic: if cotton yarn remains elevated while chemical fibers like polyester and viscose weaken due to falling raw materials, home textile and apparel orders may accelerate toward blended or pure chemical fiber products. Greige fabric markets in Keqiao and Shengze have already seen a shift in inquiry patterns, with growth in pure cotton fabric orders slowing while inquiries for T/C blends and pure polyester fabrics have picked up.
Nylon, Spandex Also Weaken; Raw Silk Deepens Decline
All three nylon varieties—DTY, POY, and FDY—fell 0.88%, 1.09%, and 1.21% respectively, a consistent downward trend. Spandex dropped 0.56% to 29,667 yuan/ton, still up 21.09% year-on-year, indicating that despite short-term correction, spandex prices remain high, keeping cost pressure on downstream stretch fabric mills.
Notably, raw silk fell 1.99% to 428,100 yuan/ton, down 10.12% year-on-year, the only product in negative territory on a yearly basis. The persistent weakness reflects sluggish silk end-consumer demand, especially a contraction in high-value overseas orders. Silk-reeling mills in Guangxi and Zhejiang have begun voluntary production cuts to support prices, but the supply-demand imbalance is unlikely to improve soon.