Price Levels
Nylon * filament yarn (DTY, FDY, POY): Prices moved up steadily between July ** and **, though at different speeds. DTY **D/**F rose from $*.*** per kg to $*.*** per kg, FDY **D/**F from $*.*** per kg to $*.*** per kg, POY **D/**F from $*.*** per kg to $*.*** per kg, and POY **D/**F from $*.*** per kg to $*.*** per kg, gains of roughly *.* per cent to *.* per cent over the fortnight, with POY **D leading and FDY lagging. The surge here is best explained as cost pass-through rather than fresh demand: converters were buying only against confirmed orders, so the increase reflects producers pushing higher input costs onto the yarn price, not stronger conversion demand pulling it up.
Caprolactam: Prices rose from $*.*** per kg on July ** to $*.*** per kg on July ** and then to $*.*** per kg on July **, a *.* per cent cumulative gain, the steepest move in the whole chain, and front-loaded in the first week (+*.*%). The short reason is upstream: caprolactam tracks benzene and cyclohexanone, both crude-linked, and crude carried a live war-risk premium through most of July as US-Iran tensions raised fears of disruption through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea corridor. That premium, not textile demand, is what pushed caprolactam higher.
Polyamide * / nylon * chips: Chip prices climbed from $*.*** per kg to $*.*** per kg to $*.*** per kg, up *.* per cent over the two weeks, also front-loaded (+*.*% in week one, +*.*% in week two). The reason mirrors caprolactam**;s, one step removed: chips are made directly from caprolactam, so the same crude-driven feedstock premium simply passed one link further down the chain. Because chip costs rose faster than most yarn grades could reprice, this is the layer that produced the margin squeeze seen in FDY and POY **D, the chip cost went up before the yarn price had fully caught up.
