The weekly price report for mid-July 2026 reveals a clear transmission line along the textile supply chain: upstream chemical raw material acrylonitrile surged 5.11% in a single week, pulling up PTA and polyester staple fiber, while cotton yarn and raw silk—products closer to end consumption—edged down. This is not a balanced rally but another visible rift between cost push and demand pull.
Chemical Fibers: Strength with Underlying Risks
Acrylonitrile jumped from 9,133 yuan/ton to 9,600 yuan/ton within the week, with a year-on-year increase of 22.29%. The spike is attributed to a concentrated maintenance season for global acrylonitrile plants and regional supply tightness, yet downstream demand for acrylic fiber and ABS resin has not expanded accordingly. PTA rose 1.48% to 5,986 yuan/ton (up 25.68% YoY), and polyester staple fiber gained 1.30% to 7,469 yuan/ton (up 12.73% YoY).
Polyester filament yarns such as DTY and POY increased by 0.75% and 0.69% respectively, while nylon POY and DTY rose 0.74% and 0.25%. These modest weekly changes, combined with YoY comparisons—polyester POY up 19.74% and nylon DTY up 9.27%—indicate that chemical fiber prices have been operating at elevated levels for an extended period. For spinning and weaving mills, this means persistent raw material cost pressure, while fabric price hikes face strong resistance from downstream garment brands and buyers.
A critical signal is that polyester yarn and viscose staple fiber prices remained flat, while rayon yarn and spandex showed zero movement. When upstream raw materials rise broadly but midstream yarn prices stay unchanged, it typically signals margin compression in the intermediate sector. If this pattern persists, it may force some small- and medium-sized spinning mills to reduce operating rates or delay purchases.
Cotton and Silk: A True Reflection of Weak End Demand
In stark contrast to chemical fibers, cotton yarn and raw silk prices retreated. Cotton yarn 32S fell 0.60% to 24,725 yuan/ton, and 21S declined 0.57% to 23,333 yuan/ton. Although the drops are small, the fact that cotton yarn prices failed to follow the slight 0.13% rise in cotton lint to 17,729 yuan/ton suggests weakening bargaining power in the spinning segment.
Raw silk fell 0.14% to 425,100 yuan/ton, with a YoY decline of 10.34%—the only monitored variety with a negative annual change. This directly reflects persistently weak global silk consumption, especially in the European and American high-end apparel markets under inflation and consumption downgrade. For silk reeling enterprises and satin fabric mills in Guangxi and Zhejiang, prolonged low raw silk prices mean extreme margin compression and likely accelerate industry consolidation.
This divergence—chemical fibers up, cotton and silk down—essentially reflects two different demand curves: the chemical fiber upstream is driven by petrochemical dynamics and global supply chain events, while cotton and silk rely more on substantive recovery in garment orders. So far, no clear turning point has emerged for the latter.
Price Transmission: Time Lags and Tug-of-War
The average weekly change of 0.54% masks sharp divergence among varieties. From a procurement and inventory strategy perspective, the core contradiction is whether upstream price increases can be successfully passed downstream.
The rise in acrylonitrile has started to influence acrylic yarn price expectations, but actual transaction follow-through remains to be seen. The rally in PTA and polyester staple fiber is constrained by high polyester plant operating rates and accumulating inventories—if textile and apparel export orders fail to improve significantly in Q3, chemical fiber prices may face downward pressure in August-September.
The decline in cotton yarn offers a rare window for textile enterprises: with relatively stable cotton lint prices, cotton yarn procurement costs have edged down. For garment and home textile factories with export orders, now may be a good time to lock in cotton yarn purchases, provided downstream clients can accept modest finished product price adjustments.
Notably, spandex prices have remained flat for several weeks at 29,667 yuan/ton, still 22.34% higher YoY. As a key raw material for elastic fabrics, spandex price firmness means cost pressure on sportswear and innerwear will not ease in the near term.