During the 25th week of 2026 (June 22-26), the price trend of bulk textile commodities showed significant divergence: chemical fiber raw materials collectively slumped, while cotton yarn bucked the trend with modest gains. According to industry public data, among the 17 monitored commodities in the textile sector that week, 13 saw prices decline week-on-week, and only 2 rose, with an average weekly decline of 1.65%. Behind this data lies the dual squeeze of collapsing upstream costs and weak downstream demand, putting industrial belt enterprises under real pressure to shrink profit margins.
Chemical Fiber Chain: Squeezed by Both Cost and Demand
Acrylonitrile recorded the largest weekly decline of 6.92%, with prices falling from 10,833 yuan/ton at the start of the week to 10,083 yuan/ton at the weekend. PTA followed closely, dropping 5.10% to close at 5,734 yuan/ton. The sharp decline in these two major chemical fiber raw materials directly dragged down the polyester filament and staple fiber series. Polyester DTY, POY, and FDY fell by 2.60%, 2.36%, and 1.62% respectively, while polyester staple fiber dropped 0.91% and polyester yarn fell 1.79%. On a year-on-year basis, all varieties except raw silk still recorded positive gains, but the weekly sharp decline suggests that the nearly one-year upward cycle may be approaching a turning point.
The core driver behind the decline in acrylonitrile and PTA comes from upstream. International crude oil prices experienced a notable pullback in late June, and intermediate products such as naphtha and PX weakened accordingly, causing a rapid collapse in cost support. At the same time, the operating rates of downstream weaving and dyeing enterprises declined under the dual impact of the summer electricity peak and insufficient terminal orders, with procurement of chemical fiber raw materials mainly based on rigid demand, and speculative stocking almost disappearing. This pattern of "falling costs, weak demand" means that chemical fiber prices are unlikely to stabilize in the short term.
Cotton Yarn: The "Lone Brave" Under Cost Support and Low Inventory
In stark contrast to the chemical fiber sector, cotton yarn 21S and 32S rose slightly by 0.14% and 0.10% respectively during the week, closing at 23,400 yuan/ton and 24,725 yuan/ton. Viscose staple fiber and rayon yarn remained flat, with no price fluctuations during the week. The resilience of cotton yarn is mainly due to the support of raw cotton costs. Although the price of raw cotton fell 1.23% to 17,417 yuan/ton during the week, it was still up 16.08% year-on-year. Due to historically low cotton inventories, cotton spinning enterprises have high raw material procurement costs, making it difficult to lower yarn quotes.
However, it is worth noting that the increase in cotton yarn was extremely limited, only about 0.1%, indicating that downstream fabric and garment enterprises have limited acceptance capacity. The current cotton yarn price is more of a "passive rise" — upstream raw materials do not fall, and midstream is forced to maintain quotes, rather than being demand-driven. Once cotton prices show a trend decline, the risk of a catch-up decline in cotton yarn will be quickly released.
Nylon and Spandex: Following the Decline but with Moderate Magnitude
Nylon series products also fell this week, with DTY, POY, and FDY declining by 0.88%, 1.09%, and 1.21% respectively. Spandex fell 0.56%, closing at 29,666 yuan/ton. Compared to chemical fiber raw materials, the declines in nylon and spandex were relatively moderate, which is related to their respective supply and demand patterns. The raw material for nylon, caprolactam, was dragged down by benzene prices, but nylon itself has some demand support in the high-end sportswear fabric segment; spandex, on the other hand, is nearing the end of its capacity expansion cycle, with limited supply increments and relatively low price elasticity.
From a year-on-year perspective, spandex still recorded a 21.09% increase, acrylonitrile was up 25%, PTA up 12.80%, and polyester staple fiber up 10.12%. This suggests that the current weekly decline is more of a high-level correction than a trend reversal. However, if upstream costs continue to move down, the high year-on-year gains will quickly narrow, and textile enterprises need to prepare for inventory devaluation in advance.