Weekly Operation Dynamics of Recycled PET Equipment: Bottle Flake Raw Material Tightens, Centralized Maintenance and Pressing Commences

This week, the overall operating rate of China’s above-designated-size recycled PET pelletizing and bottle flake enterprises stood at 47.2%, down 1.6 percentage points week on week. Affected by the summer off-season for waste bottle recycling, the circulation volume of bottle-grade recycled PET feedstock in the domestic market has contracted. In addition, concentrated maintenance of complete washing and purification equipment during the summer holiday period has led to a slight decline in the industry’s overall operating rate, while the production share of filament-grade recycled PET has passively decreased. Major planned domestic maintenance has been implemented: in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, a 135,000 tpy food-grade recycled PET bottle flake unit began a 14-day major overhaul on July 4, involving the replacement of its high-temperature washing line and color-sorting purification equipment, resulting in an estimated industry capacity loss of 2,130 tons this week; in Guangzhou, Guangdong, an 86,000 tpy fiber-grade recycled PET production line is undergoing alternating dual-line maintenance, bringing the plant’s overall operating rate down to 57%.

Temporary outages and regional production controls: A 73,000 t/y non-food-grade recycled PET pellet unit in Nantong, Jiangsu, was shut down for three days on July 6 due to an overload failure in its wastewater treatment system and resumed normal production on the morning of July 9, causing a short-term disruption to feedstock supply for recycled PET in the East China chemical fiber market. In North China, several small and medium-sized recycled PET clusters in Hebei and Henan have been temporarily forced to cut production due to summer environmental protection inspections, tightening the circulation of low-end mixed-color recycled PET supplies. On the operating-rate increase side, an 81,000 t/y bleach-grade recycled PET unit in Luzhou, Sichuan, completed maintenance and restarted at full capacity on July 5, mainly supplying spinning and chemical fiber enterprises in Southwest China, with plant shipments up 14% month on month.

Overseas and capacity commissioning update: In Southeast Asia, the recycled PET plants in Thailand and Vietnam have been hindered by the rainy season in waste collection, with average operating rates at 58%-65%. Shipments of food-grade recycled PET bottle flakes to China fell 12.5% month on month. In Europe and the U.S., recycled PET facilities are operating steadily, but customs clearance procedures for cross-border waste imports have tightened. Zhejiang Shaoxing’s newly built 112,000-ton/year intelligent green recycled PET project completed single-machine commissioning this week and is expected to begin feed-in and mass production in mid-August. This week, the recycled PET industry’s total capacity under inspection and maintenance stood at 468,000 tons. Combined with shortages of feedstock and maintenance disruptions, it will be difficult for short-term operating rates to recover. Downstream demand from fibers and packaging remains stable, while the spot market for high-whiteness recycled PET bottle flakes remains tight.