SunSirs: Supported by Favorable Costs, PTA Prices Saw a Strong Start to the Year

Price trend

As of 2:15 PM on February 24, 2026, the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange's main PTA contract rose by over 3%, reaching 5,390 RMB/ton. The spot market followed suit; according to SunSirs’ commodity market analysis system, the spot price of PTA in East China on February 24 was 5,333 RMB/ton, up 2.93% from the previous trading day.

Market analysis

Crude oil prices performed strongly during the holiday, providing support for costs. Market concerns about the uncertainty surrounding US-Iran relations, coupled with the lack of substantial progress in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, led to a rise in international oil prices during the Spring Festival. On February 19, WTI and Brent crude oil futures closed up 4.59% and 4.35% respectively; on February 20, both oils reached intraday highs of $67.03 and $71.66 per barrel, respectively, hitting nearly six-month highs, with a cumulative increase of over 5% in two days.

Regarding its own supply, Yisheng New Materials' 3.6 million-ton PTA plant was temporarily shut down on February 24th due to unforeseen circumstances during the Spring Festival holiday. It was temporarily resuming operations, and the industry's capacity utilization rate was around 70%, temporarily slowing the accumulation of PTA inventory. In 2026, there are currently no plans to put new PTA plants into operation in China, marking a "window of opportunity" for capacity expansion in the industry. Meanwhile, the expansion of downstream polyester continues, and a tighter supply-demand situation is expected.

On the demand side, in the short term, the cost support from the holiday is relatively good, and many downstream polyester factories have raised their prices to varying degrees. The end-user market is still in holiday mode. Before the holiday, the operating rates of texturing, weaving, and dyeing industries dropped significantly to 10-20%, and the polyester industry's operating rate also fell to around 76%. With the end of the Spring Festival holiday, the strong expectation of a "golden March and silver April" remains. In early March, domestic textile and apparel companies will see a concentrated resumption of work and production, and end-user orders are expected to gradually recover, thereby driving a steady increase in polyester operating rates and boosting PTA demand.

Market outlook

Analysts at SunSirs believe that crude oil prices continued to strengthen during the holiday, and most products in the PTA industry chain followed suit after the holiday. In the short term, oil prices will remain dominated by supply disruptions and geopolitical risks. Given that supply disruptions have not fully subsided, geopolitical risks continue to escalate, and there are strong expectations that OPEC will suspend production increases, oil prices are likely to fluctuate widely. In the downstream polyester market, as end-user companies gradually resume production and operations, operating rates recover, and there is some demand for raw material restocking, the continuous accumulation of PTA social inventories will be alleviated. The PTA market is expected to maintain a relatively stronger outlook in the short term.

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