Viscose staple fiber: The turning point of prosperity is coming, and the industry is expected to usher in a rise in volume and price

1, viscose staple fiber basic introduction

Viscose staple fiber is a regenerated fiber of natural cellulose. It is based on natural cellulose (pulp) as the basic raw material, through the alkalization, aging, sulfonation and other processes to make soluble cellulose sulfonate, then dissolved in dilute lye to make adhesive, by wet spinning and made of.

The characteristics of viscose staple fiber are similar to cotton, also known as artificial cotton. Among the main spinning fibers, the moisture content of viscose fiber is most in line with the physiological requirements of human skin, with smooth and cool, breathable, antistatic, colorful dyeing and other advantages, both the comfort of natural fibers and the functionality of synthetic fibers, often blended with cotton, wool or various fibers, interwoven, used in all kinds of clothing and decorative textiles. In recent years, with the upgrading of viscose staple fiber's own products and the improvement of downstream textile technology, the characteristics of viscose staple fiber "better than cotton" have become more obvious, and it is widely used in high-end clothing. In 2020, viscose staple fiber will account for 7% of China's total chemical fiber production, which is one of the three major cotton spinning raw materials along with cotton and polyester staple fiber.

Viscose staple fiber, as an important raw material in China's textile industry, is in the middle of the industrial chain. Upstream main raw materials include dissolved pulp made from wood chips, cotton pulp and bamboo pulp, etc. Downstream products mainly include rayon yarn, blended yarn and nonwoven fabric, mainly used in clothing, bedding, dust cover, wet face towel, diaper and other consumer fields. The chemical composition of viscose staple fiber raw materials and finished products is cellulose fiber, only the shape, structure and physical and mechanical properties have changed.

Viscose staple fiber production is to make short fiber dimensions in pulp into fiber products suitable for various uses through chemical and mechanical methods. The production process is divided into two stages: one is the glue making process, that is, the preparation of viscose and preparation before spinning; The second is the spinning process, that is, the molding and post-processing of the fiber. According to the different structure and properties, viscose staple fiber can be divided into viscose cotton type staple fiber and viscose wool type staple fiber. Viscose cotton type staple fiber can be blended with cotton to make muslin, valitin, gabardine, etc. Viscose wool type staple fiber can be pure spun or blended with wool to make tweed, overcoat and so on.

2, downstream demand continues to recover, the price spread cycle ushered in an inflection point

Downstream demand continued to recover, and viscose staple fiber inventories remained low

Viscose staple fiber downstream is mainly used in spinning and nonwovens (nonwovens) two categories. In 2020, the apparent consumption of China's viscose staple fiber industry is about 3.3 million tons, of which about 83% is applied to the field of yarn and about 17% is applied to the field of non-woven fabrics. Spun spun rayon yarn is the main source of demand for viscose staple fiber, its use is very wide, can be used as woven yarn, such as bed sheet, quilt cover, curtain and other home textile series; It can also be used as knitting yarn, especially the combed yarn in spun rayon yarn can be used to produce textiles with higher quality requirements, such as high-grade undershirts, fine poplin, etc. It can also produce special industrial cloth, thread, etc. In addition, the proportion of viscose staple fiber in the non-woven industry has increased year by year, from 5% in 2018 to 17% in 2020; Compared with 2019, the consumption of viscose staple fiber for non-woven fabrics in 2020 has increased by about 44%. The non-woven field has higher requirements for the whiteness index of viscose fiber, usually called "high white viscose fiber", due to performance constraints, its products are used in spunlaced non-woven industry.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has stimulated the demand for protective materials, the price of non-woven viscose staple fiber has risen, and traditional spinning is still the demand support. Affected by the epidemic, the demand for non-woven viscose staple fiber has increased significantly in the first half of 2020, and as of April 26, 2020, the domestic non-woven viscose staple fiber and rayon staple fiber for spinning have expanded to 3,800 yuan/ton. Before the epidemic, the domestic production of non-woven viscose staple fiber enterprises mainly include Lanjing, Sateri and Tangshan three friends; After the epidemic, the number of non-woven viscose staple fiber manufacturers has increased rapidly to 9, including Yamei, Aoyang, Bora, Zhongtai and Silya and other enterprises have been put into production, and the price difference between textile and non-woven viscose staple fiber has narrowed again due to a substantial increase in supply. After the second half of 2020, the domestic epidemic has improved, and the demand in the traditional spinning field has gradually increased, becoming the main driving force to support the demand for viscose staple fiber.