When selecting a supplier of industrial polyester yarn, price is a driving consideration. But is it/should it be the only consideration. The obvious answer is “no,” but what are the advantages and disadvantages of an overseas polyester yarn producer. We break these considerations down in this article, hoping that as a buyer, you will be more informed when making this important decision for your company.

Not a lot of time? Skip to what you need:

The Move to Overseas Yarn Production

During the 80’s and 90’s, the vast majority of yarn supply was localized. Americans purchased from American companies (or at least from a North American producer), Europeans purchased from Europeans and so on and so forth.

This began to change in the late 90’s and accelerated rapidly in the first decade of the 2000’s.
Asia entered the market in a big, BIG way. Korea began exporting to the world with the likes of
Sam Yang, SK Chemical, Kohap, Kolon, Hyosung and a few others. Prices plunged as extra
over-capacity flooded the market.

At first, quality was questionable and the threat was not as “real”. After all, a cheaper price
doesn’t provide an advantage if a company cannot convert it into a high quality end product.
Over time (and it was a relatively short period of time), quality improved to the level of the
incumbents and the threat materialized in a big, BIG way. 

AlliedSignal (which later became Honeywell, Performance Fibers and eventually Durafiber)
entered into a JV with Sam Yang, SK Chemical and Kohap in an attempt to stabilize the market.
The JV became SYSKO (obvious and clever abbreviation for the 3 companies listed above) and
AlliedSignal began selling their products throughout North America.

The JV eventually came to an end and the Korean companies sold directly into North America. Hyosung rose as the Korean market leader. Later in the 2000’s, the Korean economy had advanced so rapidly that Korea was no longer a low cost leader. 

Enter the Chinese producers……And they entered with furious and rapid success. This caused
dramatic consolidation within North America. Eventually, four US producers (Performance
Fibers, Invista, Diolen and Hoechst Celanese) unified under the insatiable acquisition appetite of Durafiber (formerly Performance Fibers).

Durafiber ceased operation in the late twenty teens and then there were none. Indorama
purchased the domestic Diolen assets but capacity is extremely limited and highly targeted to
the airbag industry. The Chinese and other Asian companies had free reign.
The modern North American industrial polyester industry had no domestic options. They were
dealt a final blow when Akra (smaller producer located in Mexico) ceased operations in the early 2020’s.

With no other options, domestic producers were forced to source from, primarily, China. China
now operates 70% of global industrial polyester yarn manufacturing. There have been many
advantages but it is not all positive.

Advantages of an Overseas Polyester Yarn Supplier

Price, price, price: Asia installed so much capacity that economies of scales of this
magnitude have never been seen in the modern polyester world. Not only polyester
yarn extrusion, but basic raw materials required to lower costs back up the chain, all the
way to the barrel of oil. PTA, MEG, Paraxylene….. All chemicals required to produce
polyester are made in China at extremely low costs.

Quality: With declining margins, the former domestic producers lacked enough capital to reinvest in modern equipment. They didn’t even have enough capital to properly maintain their older equipment. This led to a quality decline. Asia, however, installed state of the art technology (TMT from Japan and Barmag from Germany) that produced the best polyester our world has ever seen. China also continuously invests in maintenance, even more modern equipment when expanding capacity and the list goes on and on……

Innovation: Near the end of domestic production, dealing with a lack of capital/profit,
R&D budgets were slashed. No new products entered the market unless Asia
developed them. Ultra high tenacity products, new functional finishes, ultra high quality for airbag and seatbelt, new polymers…..

Disadvantages of an Overseas Polyester Yarn Supplier

Distance: Of course, all domestic customers now had to import their highly important raw material. This increased lead times dramatically. Early in the transition, you could no longer pick up the phone and get a delivery the next day if you had a spike in demand. 

Transportation Costs: During the times of low cost ocean freight (ie. $2500 to the
East Coast and $1500 to the West Coast) prices were still held relatively low. Recently, ocean freight costs have been highly volatile. During Covid, some containers cost upwards of $30,0000, which is $0.60/lb.! That’s higher than the Asian polymer cost. Unbelievable. It subsided back to “normal” levels but as of January 2024, ocean freight began its long march upwards and, at the time of this article, is $10 – 11,000!

Cultural Differences: The West and East approach business extremely differently.
Not good, not bad, just different. This cannot be overstated. It can, however, be
overcome but requires a great deal of time to understand one another and develop
common ground. These relationships can be “outsourced” by relying on local distributors, whether they are owned by Asian producers or independent. With the death of a domestic industry, new life arose.

 

Final Thoughts

These disadvantages created a burgeoning broker/distribution market. Many customers do not have the scale to import on their own. Many do not have import licenses or the vast international logistics departments required to handle a supply chain located on the other side of the globe.

A few Asian companies established local subsidiaries in North America to service the market and sell their goods. Others partnered with independent distributors or brokers. Regardless,
the lead time disadvantage was overcome by stocking inventory in local warehouses throughout the country.

Today, the actual production location is transparent to much of the market. They can now pick up the phone and get a truckload the next day if they have a reliable partner that is willing to carry safety stock.

Ocean freight volatility, which greatly impacts cost, remains. It appears to be the new “normal”.
If this continues and persistently adds tens of cents per pound to the cost, a domestic producer
may arise again. It’s the circle of life.

Ready to speak with an expert in polyester yarn production? Reach out to Hailide below to speak with a consultant today.