By Judith Russell
Led by a drop in prices in Western Europe, global synthetic fiber prices continued to slide in August compared to a year ago for all major world markets. Price reductions in Western Europe and Asia continue to have the greatest impact on overall price movements.
A measure of the weighted basket of prices for acrylic, nylon, polyester and polypropylene filament yarns and staple fiber for Asia on a C+F basis and the US and Europe on a delivered basic indicates that synthetic raw materials prices continue to decline from their ultra-high levels of early 2011.
The biggest decline was in the European index, which fell by over 21% since last August due to sluggish demand amid economic weakness in the region and a drop in intermediates prices.
The Asia index fell by 18%, less than July’s drop, but the biggest decline of any of the major regions. Double-digit price declines in the Asia index have occurred in each of the past seven months.
US synthetic fiber prices fell by almost 11%, their sixth consecutive monthly drop, and third month in a row of double-digit declines. However, US fiber prices remain well above their global counterparts, and about 42% higher than the world average.
