Polyester staple fibre (PSF) participants entered the second week of November with little to cheer about. Between November * and *, crude-linked feedstocks lost up to **.** per cent in just three sessions, while polyester yarn quotes eased far more slowly, leaving the value chain squeezed between falling costs and thin buying. PSF, which draws on the same PTA and MEG base as filament yarn, sits squarely inside this current.
What set off the slide at the top of the chain?
Naphtha led the retreat. Naphtha CFR Far East Asia dropped from $*.***/kg to $*.***/kg, a fall of **.** per cent, while Japan-delivered cargoes ended at $*.***/kg (-**.**%) and Southeast Asia at $*.***/kg (-**.**%). Paraxylene, the direct parent of PTA, followed with CFR Taiwan at $*.***/kg from $*.***/kg (-*.**%) and FOB Korea at $*.***/kg (-*.**%). Because aromatics respond quickly to naphtha, the cost relief travelled down the chain within days.
