Crude oil falls 9.6% over 2 months; PSF drops 2% in China, 6% in India

WTI crude oil prices have decreased by 9.62 per cent over the last two months, reaching $75.39 per barrel in the final week of August 2024. Prices have declined in six of the past eight weeks. Starting at $82.13 per barrel in the first week of July, prices eased by 0.54 per cent to $81.69 per barrel in the second week, fell by 4.91 per cent to $77.68 per barrel in the third week, and dropped by 2.60 per cent to $75.66 per barrel in the fourth week of July 2024, according to an analysis of price data from Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro.

This downward trend continued into August, with prices slipping a further 1.03 per cent to $74.88 per barrel in the first week. Prices then rebounded by 4.22 per cent to $78.04 per barrel in the second week, before falling again by 5.87 per cent to $73.46 per barrel in the third week. Finally, prices rose 2.63 per cent to $75.39 per barrel in the last week of August.

According to TexPro, the price of polyester staple fibre in the Chinese domestic market fell from $1.06 per kg at the beginning of July 2024 to $1.04 per kg, with a further decline of 2.83 per cent to $1.03 per kg in July. The price then recovered to $1.04 per kg in the second half of August 2024, marking a total decline of 1.88 per cent over the last two months.

The Chinese FOB price of PSF also decreased, falling from $1.10 per kg at the beginning of July to $1.08 per kg in the last week of August 2024, a decline of 1.81 per cent over the same period.

In India's domestic market, PSF prices were recorded at $1.26 per kg in the last week of August 2024, down from $1.31 per kg in the last week of July 2024. Prices further decreased to $1.27 per kg in the first half and $1.26 per kg in the second half of August 2024. Overall, PSF prices in the Indian market have declined by 5.97 per cent since July 2024.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)