Price Trend: Continued Downward Trajectory; Decline Unabated

Last week (May 18–22), the polyamide filament market continued its weak, downward trend, with prices for all mainstream products edging lower.

Polyamide DTY (Jiangsu, 70D/24F Semi-dull Premium Grade): Prices fell from the previous level of 17,200 RMB/ton to 17,020 RMB/ton—a weekly decline of approximately 1.05%—marking a cumulative drop of 3.08% from the early-May peak of 17,560 RMB/ton.

Polyamide POY (Jiangsu, 86D/24F Semi-dull Premium Grade): Prices retreated from 15,050 RMB/ton to 14,875 RMB/ton—a weekly decline of 1.16%—marking a cumulative drop of 3.72% from the early-month peak of 15,450 RMB/ton.

Polyamide FDY (Fujian, 40D/12F Semi-dull Premium Grade): Prices decreased from 17,775 RMB/ton to 17,575 RMB/ton—a weekly decline of 1.13%—marking a cumulative drop of 3.30% from the early-month peak of 18,175 RMB/ton.

Overall, polyamide filament across all categories completed a second round of price reductions last week. The downward trend maintained its previous pace; with the market lacking momentum for a rebound, the center of gravity for prices continued to shift lower.

Upstream Raw Materials: Limited Cost Support, Weakening Trend

Although the upstream spot markets for caprolactam and PA6 chips are showing signs of "gradual stabilization," overall support remains insufficient:

On one hand, the raw material market has not witnessed any significant upward momentum; consequently, cost-side support for polyamide filament remains weak. Manufacturers continue to face unabated cost pressures and are unable to establish a price floor through cost pass-through mechanisms. On the other hand, overall industry supply remains ample, and the supply-demand landscape for raw materials is relatively loose; this makes it difficult to generate cost-driven upward pressure on polyamide filament prices, thereby further amplifying the weak performance of the filament market.

Downstream Demand: Basic demand remained steady, but lacked incremental support.

Persistently sluggish downstream demand stands as the primary factor driving the weakening trend in the polyamide filament market.

Most downstream weaving enterprises are currently limiting their operations to fulfilling only essential, immediate orders, procuring raw materials strictly on an as-needed basis; consequently, there has been no significant bulk stockpiling or proactive inventory replenishment. With insufficient orders in the end-use market, operating rates among these enterprises remain stubbornly low, keeping their procurement volumes for polyamide filament at consistently depressed levels. As a result, the market lacks positive support from the demand side. Amidst this supply-demand imbalance, intensified price competition—driven by enterprises vying for a limited pool of orders—has further exacerbated the downward trajectory of market prices.

Market Outlook

In the short term, the polyamide filament market continues to lack clear upward drivers. The current landscape—characterized by insufficient cost-side support and a lack of significant improvement in demand—is unlikely to change in the near future. Consequently, the market is expected to maintain a relatively weak trajectory, with prices likely to continue fluctuating at low levels. Moving forward, key areas of focus will be price volatility in raw materials and changes in downstream end-user orders.

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