Strong consumer demand for apparel, tight raw materials supply and fears of higher tariffs are driving fiber prices up around the world.
In addition, the gaps between price levels in Asia and the west continue to widen. So far in 2018, synthetic fiber prices have risen by more than eight per cent, on top of a 13 per cent spike in 2017. If the current pace persists, we can expect fiber prices to increase in 2018 by even more than they did last year.

In Asia, the world’s largest fiber-producing region, synthetic fiber prices rose by seven per cent in the January-July period, finishing July 19 per cent higher than the same month last year. The summer months in China tend to be a bit quiet for the polyester business, but demand has remained firm this year and inventories low.

In addition to stronger-than-expected demand for autumn/winter apparel, which is shifting toward synthetics thanks to consumer preferences, precautionary orders placed in anticipation of expected tariff increases have caused supply chain distortions and upward pressure on capacity utilization and fiber prices.

Asian synthetic fiber prices remain more than 21 per cent below the world average, down from 20 per cent below as of the end of 2017. European prices are nearly 18 per cent above the global average.