At the end of June, the yarn quotation sheet from Hutung market in Changzhou painted a telling picture: prices for pure cotton, polyester-cotton, and rayon yarns remained frozen, while pure polyester yarn declined across the board. All specifications of pure cotton yarn, from OE7S to J40S, remained unchanged at 15,800-27,000 yuan/ton compared to June 24. The T65/C35 polyester-cotton series also stayed flat, as did the 10S to 30S rayon yarns.
The pure polyester yarn trend was the opposite. 16S dropped from 10,200 to 10,000 yuan/ton, 21S from 10,700 to 10,500, and 32S from 11,900 to 11,600 yuan/ton, a decline of 300 yuan. This divergence is not accidental. The stability of pure cotton yarn reflects a short-term balance in the cotton spot market between import quota policies and low commercial inventories. Polyester-cotton yarn, with its high cotton content, also benefits from cotton cost support.
The decline in pure polyester yarn directly reflects weakness in the upstream PTA chain. Since late June, polyester staple fiber quotes have softened due to crude oil volatility and new capacity releases. More critically, downstream weaving mills show low purchasing appetite—terminal apparel orders have not delivered the expected 'off-season strength,' and greige fabric inventory buildup forces mills to shorten raw material procurement cycles. As a representative chemical fiber product, pure polyester yarn is most sensitive to demand changes.
From an industrial cluster perspective, the Hutung market, as a key yarn distribution hub in southern Jiangsu, serves as a bellwether for weaving mills in neighboring Wujiang and Shaoxing. The zero movement in pure cotton yarn indicates a 'wait-and-see stalemate' in the cotton supply chain: upstream cotton merchants refuse to cut prices, downstream mills refuse to add inventory. Meanwhile, the polyester yarn price cut may trigger a relative price adjustment among chemical fiber yarns, potentially shifting some blended orders toward pure polyester.
For buyers, the strategy should differ by category. Pure cotton yarn prices are stable in the short term; orders can be placed normally without panic buying or waiting. For pure polyester yarn, a 'small lot, high frequency' approach is advisable, using the downward price window to lock in batches and avoid a single large purchase. Attention should also be paid to July PTA unit maintenance plans; if maintenance intensifies, the price decline may halt.
Foreign trade companies need to monitor the linkage between exchange rates and overseas orders. If the pure polyester yarn price decline persists, it will help export-oriented mills lower greige fabric costs, boosting price competitiveness in Southeast Asian markets. However, caution is warranted: if polyester prices fall too sharply, it could trigger price pressure from overseas buyers or order delays. It is recommended to include raw material price adjustment clauses in export quotations to hedge against volatility.