For the Quarter Ending March 2023
North America
The first quarter of 2023 was marked by some volatility in the Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) market in the US. The initial price rise was driven by robust demand from downstream sectors. However, the second half of the quarter saw a decline in prices due to high stockpiles and weak demand from the downstream textile industry.
Despite having huge stockpiles of material, the downstream clothing sector continued to exhibit low demand for NFY material. As a result, companies were observed decreasing their margins to start sales, but even after some price easing, there was little change in demand. Overall, the NFY market in the US was unstable throughout the first quarter of 2023, with prices fluctuating due to shifts in demand from downstream sectors.
APAC
The market for Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) was somewhat volatile during the first quarter. As prices rose and fell, so did the processing margin for NFY. In the first part of the quarter, Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) prices increased due to rising demand from the textile industries. However, several additional variables, such as rising inventories, shifting dynamics of supply and demand, and negative market sentiment, affected pricing in the second part of Q1, which were to blame for the price drop. Overall, it appears that the Nylon Filament Yarn market in Q1 was impacted by a combination of supply and demand factors as well as fluctuating feedstock prices
Europe
The first part of the quarter saw an increase in price for Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) as a result of strong demand from downstream textile companies. The start of the off-season, particularly from the downstream consumer textiles sector, seemed to have decreased demand, nevertheless. The demand for Nylon Filament Yarn from this industry remained rigid and showed no signs of changing in the foreseeable future, despite producers purportedly having huge inventories of material and being willing to decrease their margins to start sales. As a result, the German market for Nylon Filament Yarn appeared boring at the conclusion of the quarter due to the decreasing demand and rising inventories.
For the Quarter Ending December 2022
North America
The cost of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) decreased in North America during the fourth quarter of 2022. Low feedstock costs and high inventory contributed to the product's price reduction. Even better, the traders had accumulated the stuff for the winter sales. However, little demand for clothing fabric kept regional prices in check. Due to the downstream industry's offtakes declining drastically and traders having access to enough merchandise to promote the sales of the product, manufacturers were compelled to maintain low prices. As a result, the rising inflationary fear in the US also decreased the demand for winter clothing, making it challenging for downstream firms to destock.
APAC
Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) prices dropped in the Chinese market amidst soft demand and rising inventories in the region. Unstable yarn prices, high power tariffs, and low procurement have been plaguing the textile industry, forcing it to down shutters. As a result, the manufacturers noticed a decrease in NFY demand, which led them to reduce their profit margins. In the second half of Q4, domestic sales of nylon filament yarn decreased precipitously. The increased inventory pressure faced by all textile manufacturers prevented them from piling up their inventories before the Spring Festival. Additionally, the Covid outbreak made it impossible to produce and distribute Nylon Filament yarn.
Europe
The manufacturing of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) in the Eurozone began a phase of contraction as output, and new orders for the material's use as a fabric in the apparel industry decreased at high rates during Q4. Consumer attitude towards bulk procurement has also declined. The region's depressed market is mainly caused by a decline in demand for fabrics for use in Apparel manufacturing. Manufacturers were also hesitant to raise their profit margins, though, due to rising worldwide inflation and an unprecedented market for feedstock. As a result, Eurozone continuously displayed a gloomy market outlook in the NFY market throughout the fourth quarter of 2022.
For the Quarter Ending September 2022
North America
The price of raw polyamide showed a mixed trend in the third quarter of 2022 since North America has a restricted supply of feedstocks like caprolactam and adipic acid. Although there was an increase in orders from the textile industries, downstream demand for Nylon filament yarn (NFY) remained constant throughout the quarter. Additionally, due to ample supplies and growing market uncertainty, the price of nylon filament yarn had also fallen. Later, the region's NFY prices increased due to the significant cost pressure brought on by the storm's effects.
APAC
In the third quarter of 2022, prices for Nylon filament yarn showed a mixed trend. As feedstock caprolactam was seen to be falling during the second half of Q3, the cost pressure subsided. The market remained stable as a result of the consistent demand for textiles, furniture, and upholstery from downstream textile companies. Additionally, run rates in the non-textile sector decreased by 60 to 70%. Limited order intakes were seen by downstream manufacturers during the off-season due to the muted demand for nylon yarn. In contrast, the demand for cord fabric, monofilament, and fishing-net yarn remained steady in non-textile industries. To sum up, the price for NFY varied during the quarter and stayed close to USD 3341/MT Ex-Depot Mumbai during September.
Europe
Due to the mixed price trend of raw materials and constrained downstream procurement, the price of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) fell by 2%. The market for nylon chips and nylon filament yarn was supported by the fluctuating price of crude oil together with lower raw material prices. The operating cost was impacted by reduced caprolactam and nylon chip prices, which resulted in a decrease in prices. Textile yarn producers continued to reduce run rates due to a lack of consumer offtakes. Meanwhile, weak economic conditions resulted in low textile demand.
For the Quarter Ending June 2022
North America
Due to the limited supply of feedstocks like caprolactam and adipic acid in North America, the price of raw polyamide showed an increasing trend in the second quarter of 2022. Although Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) demand remained robust throughout the quarter as a result of high orders from the downstream textile industries. Furthermore, the price of nylon filament yarn has also increased as a result of the disrupted supply and rising transportation expenses. In the meantime, one of the feed benzenes was seen growing due to the volatile price of crude oil. Therefore, considering high-cost pressure and emerging demand from other automotive sectors, the demand fundamentals for NFY rose throughout this quarter, which ultimately added substantial firmness to NFY prices.
APAC
In China, Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) prices fluctuated due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in the regional market, but later it gained momentum when players were enthusiastic and stocked up yarn before the Chinese New Year, expecting a rise in the demand after the Chinese holiday. In contrast, the prices of nylon filament yarn in India increased in the second quarter of 2022 due to rising prices of benzene and caprolactam and high demand from the downstream industry. The filament price dropped in April 2022 due to an unclear price trend of raw materials and restrained downstream procurement. But it rose in the second half, supported by higher prices of benzene and caprolactam and increased crude oil prices in this quarter.
Europe
Market players in the European region reported a steady increase in Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) pricing during the second quarter, with a forecast largely centered on a consistent demand outlook. Some sources even predicted a strong demand from the downstream textile and automotive sector. The continuous increment also supported the pricing trend in its feedstock caprolactam and adipic acid value. While the global transportation crisis continued to impact the arrival of import volumes, some industries did better than others in terms of demand in Q2. Furthermore, fluctuating crude oil value continuously pressurized manufacturing units, forcing them to revise their profit margins. Thus, considering these factors, the price of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) rose in the European market.
For the Quarter Ending March 2022
North America
In North America, the nylon filament yarn market rose due to the rise in raw material polyamide values during Q1 of 2022 along with the limited availability of feedstocks like caprolactam and adipic acid. The demand from downstream textile and automobile industries were seen uplifted. In addition, the disrupted supply and rising transportation costs have further attributed to the rising cost of Nylon Filament Yarn in the regional market. meanwhile, due to the rising crude oil price, one of the feed benzenes was observed soaring, keeping the load on the product. Therefore, with the rise in the market trend for Nylon Filament Yarn, prices rose and settled at USD 2870/MT on an Ex-Location basis in March.
Asia Pacific
In the Asia-Pacific region, the market for Nylon filament yarn observed rise in the first quarter, which later sustained on the back of disrupted supply chain. The high rate of feedstock caprolactam amidst the hampered supply from Europe aided in the hike in price trend. Benzene prices in Asia rose with firmer demand amidst rising crude oil prices. Later Benzene supply in China was insufficient therefore supplementing in the hike in the price of Nylon Filament yarn in the regional market. This rise in benzene prices was observed on soaring strength in the energy market amid escalating geopolitical tensions. In the next half of Q1, Liquidity was low on higher crude oil prices. Therefore, the market for Nylon filament yarn 40/24D rose in Asia pacific fluctuated and settled at USD 2946/MT Ex-Depot Mumbai in February.
Europe
The Europe market observed a marginal rise in the prices of nylon filament yarn on the back of rising feedstock prices. Feedstock Caprolactam and Benzene observed fluctuations along with volatile crude oil prices. Later, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Nylon Filament Yarn market was observed rising with higher shipping costs. It was seen several manufacturers operated at a low rate observing the volatile prices of the raw material, especially Benzene. In contrast, downstream inquiries from the textile industry remained buoyant, contributing to the rising price trend of the product. Therefore, the price for the non-woven fabric was observed to be high, which settled at USD 2910/MT on an Ex-Location basis in March.
For the quarter ending December 2021
North America
In North America, the price of raw material polyamide showcased an upward trend during Q4 of 2021 due to the limited availability of feedstocks like caprolactam, adipic acid. Consequently, these circumstances led to a significant increase in the price of NFY, while the demand of polyamide remained stable throughout the quarter on the back of stable demand in the downstream textile industries. Additionally, demand fundamentals for NFY in automobile industries also remained buoyant because of the winter as well as due to Christmas festivities in North America which eventually injected significant firmness in NFY during fourth quarter of 2021.
APAC
During this quarter, overall Polymer market remained weak due to dual energy policy related restrictions in China. The commissioning of new coal mines under the Chinese authorities ramped up efforts to ensure energy supplies eased the operation cost at several facilities in China during late December. The demand of Nylon Filament Yarn from the downstream Industries remains low due to production halts from downstream textile sector in Chinese domestic market during October-November timeframe. In India Nylon price is increased during the Q4 due to higher price of feedstocks and increased demand from automotive, fibre and textile industry. Conclusively, NFY prices assessed around USD 3526/MT in India during this quarter.
Europe
During this quarter, the price of Nylon Filament Yarn increased on the back of rise in the price of raw material polyamide. In Europe, price of natural gas and electricity showcased exorbitant rise, that led to an overall increase in the price of nylon derivatives including NFY. Additionally, the demand from the downstream textile industry has been rising due to winter demand throughout the European region. Due to consistent rise in the omicron cases in Germany, productivity from various downstream sector remained slow because many nations were planning to go under partial lockdown.
For the Quarter Ending September 2021
North America
In the third quarter of 2021, the domestic NFY market noted improvement across the North American region. The prices of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) observed a significant rise in the US market during Q3 backed by the robust demand from textile industries. Increased cost of feedstock benzene and caprolactam resulted in surges in NFY prices. The occurrence of Hurricane Ida led to the sudden turnarounds of several production units in the US Gulf coast thus further affecting the pricing trend across the region.
Asia Pacific
The prices of Nylon Filament Yarn rose effectively in the 3rd quarter of 2021 across the Asia Pacific region. Soaring freight costs and limited availability of feedstock led to the increased prices of NFY in the Chinese domestic market. In the Indian market, NFY prices were witnessing consistent rises for a long time on the back of various factors like high freight cost, supply reduction from neighbouring countries, domestic scarcity, and improving demand. Following an uptrend, NFY (40/24) prices in India escalated from USD 3250/mt to USD 3371/mt during the third quarter. It was observed that recent improvement in demand from the domestic market amid the festive season supported the overall price hike for NFY in India.
Europe
In the European region, Nylon Filament Yarn prices remained firm in quarter 3 due to a persistent shortage of upstream Caprolactam and Nylon chips. In quarter-on-quarter terms, the EU turnover showed signs of improvement across the downstream sectors. Demand from the textile industry noted an uptick with improved sectoral growth. Europe’s textile turnover increased by 3.3% in Q2 2021, after slightly contracting in Q1 2021. Similarly, the business activity in the clothing sector expanded by 7% in Q2 2021, after increasing by 1% in the previous quarter.
For the Quarter Ending June 2021
North America
Supply of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) in the North American region improved over the previous quarter but limited availability of the upstream commodities such as Benzene, Caprolactam and Adipic Acid induced production lags in the regional NFY market. With the restoration of the industrial infrastructure in the US Gulf coast, the demand outlook seemed to surpass the overall supply trends. Mass vaccination programmes supported the public movement as well as improved market activities which resulted in improved performance of the textile sector. As a ripple effect of the shortage in the domestic market, the prices of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) remained firm in the North American market.
Asia Pacific
During the second quarter of 2021, Nylon Filament Yarn supplies (NFY) in the Asia pacific region were reduced by significant percentage as buyers were reluctant to procure the high-cost feedstock Caprolactam amidst rising inflation rate in Chinese domestic market. The NFY short supply situation was exacerbated in June due restricted production rates amidst power cutbacks. Demand picked up with lift in travel restrictions except in India where demand slowed due to reduced offtakes from the downstream textile industries. NFY price in India stabilized with Ex-Works Mumbai prices assessing at USD 4161 per tonne in June. As per Chinese traders, export demand for Nylon resins from most of the downstream companies was high due to prevailing supply shortage from the key producers in the US.
Europe
The European Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) market continued to remain constrained in terms of supply as the region faced shortages in the availability of the upstream commodities, which forced several manufacturing units to announce the force majeure in the NFY plants in second quarter of 2021. Feedstock Caprolactam availability continued to remain constrained due to two maintenance turnarounds between May and June. NFY demand remained continuously buoyed by improved public movement which proportionally surged the market activities in the several parts of the region owing to the mass vaccination programmes. Enquiries and offtakes improved from the downstream textile industries, thereby pushing up the price trend in Q2.
For the Quarter Ending March 2021
North America
During the first quarter of 2021, Nylon supplies remained tight, as the several producers remained shutdown, due to the extreme freeze weather conditions in the US gulf region. Due to storm-led disruptions in the Gulf region, the feedstock Caprolactam prices surged which proportionally surged the prices of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY). Dented supply chains pushed up the regional NFY offers by a significant percentage while the demand remained healthy as the consumption from the downstream automotive, construction and textile sector surged with improved manufacturing.
Asia-Pacific (APAC)
NFY supplies in the Asia-Pacific region were constrained, as the several plants remained shut in China on account of Lunar New Year holidays. The feedstock supply tightened followed by decline in Caprolactam imports from Europe. Feedstock caprolactam was heard trading at uplifted rates, tracing price of feedstock Benzene and tighter global supply. NFY registered fresh hikes during the quarter due to escalating Caprolactam rates and reduced inventory levels. Southeast Asian traders announced positive price adjustment in response to the rise in Europe-based Capro costs. Tight supplies led to surge spot prices of Nylon Filament Yarn (NFY) in India with the prices in March crossing USD 4000 per tonne levels during the month.
Europe
NFY supplies were balanced to tight, in the European region during Q1-2021, as the major plant were on a force majeure and restarted the production in the second half of first quarter, which led to the shortage of both Nylon chips and yarns. The demand surged from the textile industries as the consumption from the downstream textiles surged. Concerns over surging freight and supply shortage increased the prices of NFY in the European market.
For Quarter ending December 2020
North America
Market sentiments of Nylon filament yarn (NFY) remained in a narrow range in the final quarter of 2020, as US’ imports of NFY significantly decreased from around 1075 tonnes in October to nearly 992 tonnes in December 2020 with China standing on the top among exporters in Q4 2020 although the figure remained relatively pressured over the previous year due to the US-China trade war. Towards the end of the quarter, textile market across the US improved significantly although the overall demand fundamentals are yet to pave normalcy.
Asia
The Asian textile market was booming in the final quarter of 2020 due to a significant drop observed in COVID-19 cases and sharp pick-up in industrial activities. Bangladesh, Asia’s second largest textile exporting country reported optimum textile production levels despite headwinds due to the pandemic and maintained the steady industrial growth till the end of December. Buoyed by recovering trade, India experienced a significant growth in its overall textile exports by around 6.3% in October 2020 compared to the previous year. Furthermore, festive season showed some further growth in the Indian textile industry in November that induced a direct impact on the demand of NFY. The Indian NFY industry witnessed increase in prices with soaring feedstock Caprolactam and tighter global supply as the key producer’s concerns. Ex-Depot price for NFY 40/24D grade was assessed around USD 3340 per MT in India during the first half of December.
Europe
Supply of Nylon 6 in the final quarter of 2020 in Europe remained significantly low because of force majeures declared by LANXESS, the largest manufacturer of feedstock Caprolactam in Europe in the October-end. The shortage of feedstock directly impacted producers’ margins compelling them to increase prices of NFY in the mid of the fourth quarter of 2020. Due to the second wave of COVID-19 infections faced by many European countries, the demand for NFY from the automotive sector showed a significant decline by 13.5% in November, on a year-on-year basis.
