Insight
Coronavirus and collapse in polyester – will PX and PTA markets recover?
Report summary
The fibre and textile industries – by far the largest consuming segments for polyester – have continued to be battered by the impact of the coronavirus. The recovery is likely to be protracted with the pandemic continuing into the summer months and beyond. The production lost in 2020 could take at least two years to be restored. The PX and PTA markets were already grappling with reduced operations and margin compression due to global over-capacity and this corona-driven collapse in demand casts further gloom on these markets. With large capacity additions still to come, operating rates for both commodities will be forced down to historic lows. This Insight highlights some of the key takeaways from our recent quarterly supply-demand update, as well as explores some of the implications that the collapse of polyester demand is having on the paraxylene and PTA markets.
Table of contents
- Introduction
- PX and PTA markets – how low can it go?
- Margin uplift – how long will it last?
- Further risks and future implications
Tables and charts
This report includes 5 images and tables including:
- China’s polyester production
- World’s polyester polymer production 2019
- Revision of global PX and PTA demand growth rates, Q1 vs Q2 supply-demand update
- PX and PTA capacity additions, net of closures
- PX production margins from the Paraxylene Asset Cost Tool – January vs May 2020
What's included
This report contains:
