Due to the impact of the epidemic this year, the export volume of viscose staple fiber fell sharply from April to June. As of the end of June 2020, the export volume of viscose staple fiber fell by 20.4% year-on-year. The industry’s physical inventory reached a peak during this period. By the end of July, exports of viscose staple fiber had moderately increased, and then began to enter a state of continuous growth for five months. Until the end of November, the annual export volume of the viscose staple fiber industry finally turned positive year-on-year.
China’s viscose staple fiber is a trade surplus product. Since 2016, its annual export volume has been more than 300,000 tons, and its export dependence has remained between 9% and 11%. This year due to the epidemic, domestic demand was trapped, foreign trade was blocked, and the imbalance between supply and demand of viscose staple fiber caused a significant increase in finished product inventory during the year. Therefore, at the end of July 2020, the price of the viscose staple fiber industry hit a record low in exchange for volume.
While historically low prices have stimulated an increase in consumption, the export market has also begun to recover moderately. The recovery of two-way demand has driven the finished inventory of the viscose staple fiber industry into a continuous decline. The sharp increase in October once again caused the physical inventory of viscose staple fiber companies to fall to the lowest level in the year. Although subsequent industry players considered the Spring Festival holiday and held price-for-volume expectations for the viscose staple fiber contract in the first quarter of 2021, they purchased cautiously. Finally, with the price of dissolving pulp remaining high and the price of cotton yarn products continuing to rise, the company finally gave up on the sentiment of lowering the price of viscose staple fiber and made timely purchases. Viscose staple fiber was already supported by low inventory, so the market price rose again. </p
