PSF Prices Stabilize in USA and Germany Amid China's Golden Week Celebrations

After witnessing the consistent rise in Polyester Staple Fibre (PSF) prices amid the peak season for procurement of the downstream textile industry, the prices of PSF in the USA and Germany admitted stability under the influence of the golden week of October celebrated in China. Due to the temporarily halted operation in China's domestic market, several units were kept at a planned shutdown to support the market values. Therefore, due to the underlying situation, contractual cargoes of PSF have been procured by USA and German traders, where the prices remained unchanged during the beginning of the October week of 2023.

While the German PSF market experienced a persistent rise in the prices during September due to supply curtailment, a different story unfolded in the next month, where the prices of PSF in Germany remained stable under the influence of unchanged priced cargoes from China to settle at 1285 USD/tonne PSF CFR Hamburg during the beginning of October 2023. China, the textile industry's hub, drove the international market by quoting the stable price of PSF cargoes due to the long holiday. As per the market sources, the holiday season in China has recently passed, which restricted procurements temporarily. Therefore, the demand-supply fundamentals have been stable in the given timeframe, and the gap between supplies and consumption has remained narrow enough to support this price trajectory. Likewise, a similar market trend has been observed in the USA PSF-priced cargoes as the US heavily relies on PSF imports from China; restricted activities for PSF in the Chinese market resulted in unchanged supplies in the global market.

In the current scenario, Golden Week is China's biggest travel week of the year, a week-long holiday in early October when people have time off to see their families and go on vacation. As the holiday season approaches, several manufacturers constrained their procurement activity momentarily. However, traders were cautious and expected sluggish procurement activities in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, despite expected less demand, the price trend will likely sustain overall stability, as the Chinese textile market has been tough for several months. Therefore, the PSF prices in the Chinese market remained unchanged during this timeframe due to a moderate supply situation amidst low demand from the international and domestic markets.

As per ChemAnalyst, after the golden week of October, the Chinese PSF market prices may end up on a softer note under the influence of anticipated low demand from the downstream textile industry, which may substandard the prices of imported cargoes from China to the USA and Germany in the upcoming weeks.