The polyester chain witnessed another bout of price advances in the week ended April 24. Polyester staple fiber and filament yarn prices zoomed past or almost at par with the previous high seen in the last week of November 2014.

This time the price push came from demand side rather than the cost side. Also helping were the rounds of maintenance shutdown in the upstream industry. Added to these factors were a couple of fire breakouts at petrochemical plants in China that feed the polyester industry.

In India, producers held stable offers amid limited enquiries as downstream have stocked up raw material while in Pakistan prices were basically stable and transactions followed up marginally.

Filament yarn producers also raised offers amid bullish sentiment as traders, holding cautious outlook, avoided purchasing in large volumes. In India, partially oriented yarn prices were unchanged amid modest trading as producers were producing for their own use. In Pakistan, draw texture yarn prices were stable amid modest trading. Downstream buying was mainly on rigid demand.

In the upstream, Asian ethylene prices rose for the twelfth consecutive week led by Southeast Asia where spot supply was tighter compared with north east Asia. European ethylene prices too rose on tight supply.