Since the beginning of this year, the domestic spandex market has risen rapidly. As of March 7, 40D spandex has risen by nearly 70% compared to the beginning of the year, and then it has declined slightly. In mid-May, the market began to rise again and climbed to a 10-year high. As of June 28, the price was 75,000 yuan/ton, an increase of 9.65%, a year-on-year increase of 138.10%.
Supply continues to be tight, especially in June, the spandex industry started to maintain a high level near 90%. Although the production capacity remained stable, the inventory level continued to drop to a historical low. According to statistics, as of June 25, the spandex social inventory level was about 8%. Days, a decrease of 40 days compared with the same period last year, a drop of about 83%. Some manufacturers said they only had 3-5 days of goods, and some even said they have no inventory pressure for the time being. Some manufacturers said that only some batch numbers have a little spot, and other conventional batch numbers are not in stock, and there are even new customers that can queue for 1-2 weeks.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, consumers around the world have generally spent more time at home, and accordingly the demand for leisure and sports apparel products has increased. Spandex is an important raw material for weaving all kinds of lightweight and comfortable elastic fabrics. The spandex content of these garments is generally high, which drives an increase in the demand for spandex. According to statistics on start-ups of Zhejiang looms, as of June 24, the start-up levels of circular knitting machines and warp knitting were 61% and 87%, respectively, an increase of 11 and 17 percentage points from the same period last year.
At the same time, the export volume of spandex has increased. Because some foreign markets have not fully recovered due to the impact of the epidemic, the orders have been transferred to the domestic market. The export volume in the first five months was about 40,500 tons, an increase of 58% over the same period last year. The spandex industry is developing well.
In addition, the strong increase in raw materials is also an important reason for the price of spandex to go up all the way. Affected by environmental protection this year, the PTMEG industry chain has become very hot. The PTMEG market price is 1800 molecular weight sources and mainstream factories are bidding around 38,000 yuan/ton, while the mainstream price in the same period last year was 1,4000-15,000 yuan/ton. The mainstream negotiation of pure MDI in East China market is at 19600-20000 yuan/ton wire transfer barrels for self-pickup, and the price in the same period last year was 13600-14200 yuan/ton wire transfer barrels.
The tight supply of spandex itself is difficult to improve in the short term. Although the current raw material market has cooled somewhat, the price is still obviously high, and PTMEG is under pressure from the environmental protection management of coal chemical industry, resource output is insufficient, and cost support still exists. It is expected that the spandex market will continue to be adjusted at a high level in the short term, and attention will be paid to changes in the cost side and terminal demand in the later period.
