In the past two years, under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s nylon filament export has been changing greatly. In the past 5-6 years, the majority of new nylon 6 filament capacity still concentrated in Chinese mainland, China’s export has been on a gradual uptrend, as the supply was sufficient and more differential products were added, and the industrial chain was more complete thus supporting filament production stably. 1. Nylon filament exports sharply fluctuated under the impact of the pandemic When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, the supply and demand of nylon industry were both impacted globally, and the year-on-year decline in nylon filament exports was the most obvious. In 2021, the production and sales gradually recovered as people were getting used to the pandemic, and China’s production of nylon filament was almost not influenced by the pandemic. With the obvious cost advantage, substantial growth was witnessed in nylon filament exports. During January-October 2021, the accumulated exports for nylon 6 filament (HS code 54023111 & 54024510) increased by more than 30% year-on-year. Even compared with the same period in 2019 when there was no pandemic influence, the export of nylon 6 DTY (HS code 54023111) increased by 34.5%, but the growth of nylon 6 non-elastic filaments POY, FDY and HOY (HS code 54024510) was only 2.5%. 2. Different trends in export origins (province) With the strong recovery in export in 2021, exports of nylon filament had some changes from previous trend. Exports of nylon 6 non-elastic filaments POY, FDY and HOY (HS code 54024510) from Fujian province continued declining in 2021. It was because that the major destination of Fujian’s exports was India, who adopted anti-dumping duty against China since 2019. So export volume from Fujian continuously fell. But export of nylon 6 DTY (HS code 54023111) basically stabilized in 2020 and was repaired up in 2021, with the growth rate higher than the national average rate. Exports of both nylon 6 non-elastic and elastic filament from Zhejiang province were growing vigorously in 2021, as the non-elastic filaments POY, FDY and HOY (HS code 54024510) exports rose by over 120%, far above the total growth rate, and the DTY (HS code 54023111) exports increased by 51%, also higher than the national average rate. It was mainly due to the obvious increase in exports to Brazil and Pakistan, as non-elastic filaments exports of Zhejiang to Brazil sharply increased by 10 times, accounting for 55% of the provincial non-elastic filaments exports, and exports to Pakistan surged by 24 times, with the volume second only to Brazil. Nylon 6 DTY exports to Brazil also increased by 88% year-on-year, accounting for nearly 70% of Zhejiang’s DTY exports. In addition, exports of nylon 6 non-elastic filaments POY, FDY and HOY (HS code 54024510) from Guangdong grew largely, with an increase of 660% year-on-year, and the main growth point was in Asia. The export performance of Jiangsu was average, and the export of non-elastic filaments had been shrinking year after year, but the market share was small and it had limited impact on the total export of nylon filament. 3. Different trends in export destinations From the perspective of export destinations, export to Brazil was growing most significantly in the year of 2021, up more than 170% year-on-year, and the volume accounted for 23% of the total, doubling that of last year. In addition, exports to Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Mexico have also increased evidently. However, after the anti-dumping investigation was launched again, the export volume of nylon filament to India had declined year after year, and it has shrunk to basically negligible in 2021. In addition, exports to Vietnam had also been declining year after year. After a short period of growth in 2020, export to South Korea also dropped significantly in 2021, and the export volume was even lower than the same period of 2019. 3.1 Nylon 6 non-elastic filament: POY, FDY, HOY (HS code 54024510) The changes in export destinations of nylon filament (POY, FDY) mainly appeared in the past three years (2019-2021). The volumes to the top five export destinations in 2019 had all declined for two consecutive years in 2020-2021, and the volumes to Turkey, Vietnam, South Korea, and Sri Lanka in 2021 decreased by 53-72% compared with the same period of 2019, and India alone decreased by nearly 95%. In contrast, the exports to Brazil, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico and Italy increased rapidly. Export to Brazil increased by 10 times year-on-year, becoming the largest export destination of China’s nylon 6 textile filament, and it was followed by Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mexico, etc., as the volumes basically rose by 3-6 times. In the past three years of 2019-2021, the main export destinations of nylon 6 filament (POY&FDY) has undergone subversive changes. 3.2 Nylon 6 elastic filament: DTY (HS code 54023111) In contrast, the year-on-year changes in the exports of DTY were slightly smaller. Exports toward the 11 countries of the top 12 export destinations were increasing year-on-year, and only export to South Korea declined. The increase was most obvious in Brazil and Turkey. Above all, due to the rapid spread of the new mutant virus Omicron around the world, the resumption of nylon textile filament supply outside Chinese mainland is still under pressure. In 2022, the new capacity of nylon industry in Chinese mainland will be focusing on feedstock caprolactam link, while new polymer and filament capacities will be limited. It will lead to a cost advantage for filament and will be conducive to further export growth in nylon textile filament. From Chinatexnet.com