A 0.74% daily surge in nylon POY contrasted with a 0.51% drop in PTA on July 16, 2026, sending signals far more complex than the negligible 0.04% average gain across the textile commodity board.
Among 17 monitored raw material categories, four advanced, one declined, and 12 remained flat. While the surface appears calm, the structural divergence beneath is shaping vastly different price expectations up and down the supply chain.
Nylon Sector: Cost and Demand in Tandem
Nylon POY hit 13,600 yuan/ton, up 0.74% daily and 11.48% year-on-year; downstream nylon DTY rose 0.25% with a 9.27% annual gain. This rally is directly tied to tight caprolactam supply. Industry data shows concentrated plant maintenance in H1 2026, providing strong cost support for nylon chips.
Notably, nylon FDY held steady at 16,250 yuan/ton. The divergence between POY/DTY and FDY suggests the upward pressure originates from spinning stages rather than full-blown end-order recovery. For buyers, this means near-term nylon fabric quotes may follow, but long-term price-lock windows remain open.
PTA: Correction Amid Chain Bargaining
PTA fell 0.51% to 6,012.25 yuan/ton, yet its year-on-year gain stands at 26.96%. As the pricing anchor of the polyester chain, this slight dip is not isolated. Polyester staple fiber edged up 0.12%, while polyester POY, DTY, and FDY all flatlined—a clear sign of price resistance from polyester mills.
This "PTA down, polyester flat" pattern reflects mills' active price support amid manageable inventories. Since Q2 2026, Jiangsu-Zhejiang loom operating rates have hovered around 75%, and polyester filament inventories remain at moderate-low levels. Mills are in no rush to follow raw material declines. PTA's drop owes more to profit-taking in futures than to fundamental deterioration.
Cotton and Viscose: Stillness Beneath the Surface
Cotton edged up 0.05% to 17,733.67 yuan/ton, up 15.97% YoY; cotton yarn 21S and 32S were flat, with annual gains of 6.71% and 6.23%, respectively. Price transmission along the cotton chain lags significantly behind man-made fibers. NBS data shows a slight reduction in Xinjiang cotton acreage for 2026, offset by higher yield expectations, keeping annual output stable. This explains the high-level sideways movement—no supply surprises and no demand catalysts.
Viscose staple fiber and spandex both held flat, but spandex's 22.34% YoY gain was the largest among all categories. This reflects sustained demand growth for elastic fabrics in sportswear and yoga wear, supporting capacity utilization in spandex clusters in Jiangsu and Fujian.
Regional Cluster Ripple Effects
Nylon's price rise directly impacts the warp-knitting clusters in Changle (Fujian) and Yiwu (Zhejiang), where raw materials account for over 60% of fabric cost. A 0.74% daily increase in nylon POY could translate into adjustments of 0.1-0.2 yuan per meter for elastic fabrics.
PTA's minor dip is a short-term positive for polyester fabric clusters in Shaoxing and Wuzhen. While mills' price support will squeeze fabric makers' margins, the slight raw material easing at least provides a psychological anchor for procurement negotiations.