Between January and September 2023, Chinese polyester staple fiber (PSF) exports surged 21.2 percent year on year to touch 904.4 kilotons, thereby touching a new high since 2020.
In September alone, PSF from China reached 99.7 kilo tons, up 14.5 percent from a year ago month, but down 1.8 percent over August 2023. In the first nine months of 2023, Vietnam remained the largest export market, with a volume of 157,715 kilotons, up a staggering 40.74% over the same period of 2022, accounting for a share of 16.8 percent.
Pakistan stood in second place, up 23.8 percent year on year, while the US and India saw a year-over-year decline of 5.57 and 3.71 percent, respectively. The share of PSF exports to Pakistan stood at 10.3 percent and that of Turkey at 6.5 percent, while that to the US was reduced to 4.4 percent.
Exports to India were affected this year mainly due to the new notification introduced by the Indian government requiring a BIS or quality certification for PSF imports. Since PSF exports have maintained a good pace in the review period, they are expected to keep a good run in the last quarter and also into 2024.
