This week, the polyester bottle chip market as a whole showed a “narrow decline” trend. As of December 12th, the average selling price of PET was 5725 yuan/ton, a decrease of 0.61% from the beginning of the week. On the futures side, the main selling price of bottle chips fluctuated downward from the closing price of 5748 yuan/ton on the 8th, and the closing price on the 12th fell to 5616 yuan/ton, with a cumulative decrease of 132 yuan/ton for the whole week. The core driving factor is the sustained weakness in terminal demand, coupled with insufficient cost support.
The demand side is the main pressure: currently in the off-season of traditional demand, downstream industries such as soft drinks have low purchasing enthusiasm and mainly rely on replenishment for essential needs. The weak terminal consumption has led to a lack of effective driving force for bottle and tablet consumption, resulting in a sluggish market transaction atmosphere, which is the core reason for the downward trend in prices.
Cost support has weakened from strong to weak: Although the industry operating rate of PTA, the main upstream raw material, has remained at 73.81%, the fluctuation of international oil prices during the week has weakened the cost support for polyester raw materials and failed to provide a strong boost to bottle chip prices.
The supply side remains loose: the industry operating rate exceeds 73%, which is at a relatively high level, and the market spot supply is sufficient. Against the backdrop of weak demand, the loose supply pattern has further intensified downward pressure on prices.
Market sentiment cautious: Currently, the production gross profit of the polyester bottle chip industry is still negative, and the mentality of enterprises is cautious. Trading in the spot market is light, and although the trading volume in the futures market maintains a certain scale, prices continue to decline, reflecting a lack of confidence in the future market.
Overall, Business Society believes that the current market lacks strong upward momentum. In the absence of significant improvement in terminal demand and limited cost support, it is expected that the polyester bottle chip market will continue its weak and volatile pattern in the short term.