Shortage of raw materials in the Chinese chemical fibre industry has made the country depend on its imports to a very large extent. Again, fluctuation in the supply of these raw materials has severely limited the development of the Chinese fibre industry.
A comparison of the past and present import patterns of raw materials like PTA, MEG and CPL will better explain the case in hand. For example, import of PTA and MEG in 1996 was just 23.7 percent and 30.57 percent respectively.
In 2005, however, these figures underwent a drastic change. While the percentage of PTA imported shot up to 55 percent in '05, that of MEG went up to 78 percent. In addition to this, about 70 percent of CPL was imported in the same year.
These figures slanted slightly in 2006 because the chemical fibre industry slowed down a bit. Accordingly, 51 percent of PTA, 72 percent of MEG and 60.5 percent of CPL were imported last year.
Perhaps the most important drawback of this dependence on imports is the fact that while there are many buyers, there are not enough suppliers to fulfill the demand. This has given rise to instability in the market.
According to 2004 statistics, there were 16 direct suppliers of PTA in the market; however, the number of PTA purchasers stood at a massive 345. Similarly, while there were only 12 suppliers of CPL, there were 120 purchasers.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - China
marketing@alchempro.com
