I. Price Trend Overview

Corporate Actions: On March 11, 2026, Taihe New Materials raised spandex prices by CNY 2,000/ton, while Huahai Spandex increased prices by CNY 3,000/ton. Additional companies plan to raise prices by CNY 1,000/ton on top of February adjustments, primarily due to rising raw material costs.

Recent Price Trends: Entering 2026, spandex prices rebounded from their lows and stabilized. After hitting historical lows of 23,000–23,600 RMB/ton in mid-January, prices rebounded to a peak of 25,500 RMB/ton by late January. In March, prices remained within the 24,500–25,000 RMB/ton range. On March 5, the spot price for 40D spandex was quoted at 25,250 RMB/ton, accumulating a weekly increase of 500 RMB/ton, or 2.02%. On March 10, SunSirs' benchmark spandex price stood at 24,500.00 RMB/ton, unchanged from the beginning of the month. Prices varied across specifications, regions, and brands. For example, in February, 20D specifications were quoted at ¥28,500/ton in Zhejiang and ¥29,000/ton in Fujian, a ¥500 difference. Price differentials between brands for 40D specifications reached up to ¥3,000.

II. Market Analysis

Price Fluctuation Drivers

Cost Side: Rising raw material costs directly drove price increases. Concurrently, U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran pushed up global oil prices. Should Iran block the Strait of Hormuz, it would further elevate transportation costs for crude oil and chemical products. As a key supplier of energy and chemical products like methanol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Iran's instability would disrupt global energy supply chains, intensify crude oil price volatility, and consequently impact spandex raw material costs. However, the secure and stable supply of domestic coal has partially offset some cost pressures.

Supply and Demand Dynamics: On the supply side, capacity rationalization is accelerating. By 2025, 58,000–63,000 tons of outdated capacity will be phased out, with an additional 54,000+ tons expected to be eliminated in 2026. New capacity additions are limited and concentrated among leading enterprises. The industry's CR5 (concentration ratio of the top five players) has reached 84%, reflecting a pronounced oligopoly trend. Operating rates have rebounded to 85%, improving effective capacity utilization. Demand-side: Apparent consumption of spandex is projected to reach 1.06–1.09 million tons in 2025. Domestic demand is stabilizing and recovering as policies to expand domestic demand take effect. Overseas supply chains face disruptions from geopolitical conflicts, boosting export prospects. Traditional textile demand is growing steadily with consumption upgrades, while markets for high-spandex-content apparel like sportswear are expanding rapidly. Emerging sectors such as medical applications and smart wearables are injecting new momentum into growth.

Sentiment: Supplier inventories are projected to decline from 169,000 metric tons at the end of 2024 to 121,000 metric tons by the end of 2025, a 28.4% reduction, shortening the inventory digestion cycle to 0.5 months. In January 2026, “buying on the rise” sentiment intensified as weaving enterprises and traders proactively procured materials. The market widely anticipates further pricing potential for spandex in Q2–Q3 2026.

Industry Development Trends

Competitive Landscape: Leading enterprises solidify their market dominance through scale, technology, and cost advantages. Top players like Huafeng Chemical and Xinxiang Chemical Fibers actively expand high-tech, low-cost production capacity. Small and medium-sized enterprises face intensified competition, with some exiting the market. Survivors focus on niche segments and pursue differentiated development strategies—e.g., Taihe New Materials advances its dual-base strategy while extending upstream operations, while others concentrate on bio-based and biodegradable spandex R&D.

Future Outlook: The spandex industry has shown signs of bottoming out and stabilizing, with prices and profitability expected to recover. Market analysts project prices may rebound to over CNY30,000 per ton by the second half of 2026, though this hinges on capacity rationalization progress and downstream demand recovery. However, the industry's recovery still faces challenges including raw material price volatility, intensified environmental pressures, and competition from emerging alternative materials.

As an integrated internet platform providing benchmark prices, on March 11, SunSirs' benchmark price for spandex was 24,833.33 RMB/ton, an increase of 1.36% compared to the beginning of the month (24,500.00 RMB/ton).

Application of SunSirs Benchmark Pricing：

Traders can price spot and contract transactions based on the pricing principle of agreed markup and pricing formula (Transaction price=SunSirs price + Markup).

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