This Week, the Price of Polyester Bottle Chips First Increased and Then Decreased, Falling Within the Week

January 16th, news:

This week (2026.01.12-01.16), the spot price of polyester bottle chips in China first increased and then decreased, with a decline within the week; according to the commodity market analysis system, as of January 16, the average selling price in the East China region was 6,100 CNY/ton.

Reason for price changes

Cost end (dominant): At the beginning of the week, crude oil was strong due to the situation in the Middle East, driving up PTA and MEG, which supported the price of bottle chips. On Thursday, as the situation in Iran eased and the supply from Venezuela was expected to increase, crude oil prices fell, and the domestic PTA price dropped by 33 to 5047, weakening the cost support, leading to a decline in bottle chip prices. The polymerization cost is approximately 5,592 CNY/ton, with the cost end having a high weight in influencing prices.

Supply side: Weekly production totaled 334,700 tons, slightly down from the previous week; capacity utilization rate was 72.27%, down 1.01 percentage points from the previous week. Due to maintenance at certain plants—such as the 1.2-million-ton facility in Jiangyin, which was shut down from January to March—spot supply remains locally tight, thereby restraining price declines.

On the demand side: downstream soft drink production is operating at 65-75%, oil mills at 57%, and PET sheet production at 60%, all remaining at low levels. Before the Spring Festival, demand is primarily driven by urgent restocking needs, with no large-scale stockpiling taking place. There is little willingness to chase price increases, resulting in weak transaction activity and putting downward pressure on prices.

Industry Landscape: Annual production capacity is expected to increase by 11.2% to 22.28 million tons by 2025. Competition is intense, making it difficult to raise processing fees, and prices are prone to fluctuate with cost changes.

Future market forecast

We believe that short-term bottle flake prices will fluctuate weakly, following the trend of raw material prices, with a reference range of 5,900 to 6,200 CNY per ton. We’ll be closely monitoring the trends in crude oil and PTA prices, the progress of plant maintenance, and the pace of downstream inventory replenishment.