Hyosung TNC Corp. of South Korea expects textile sales of above 1 trillion won ($890 million) in the second quarter, due to higher demand for its primary spandex product, which is used in protective face masks and sportswear.
Hyosung TNC, the world’s largest spandex supplier, earned 831.8 billion won, or more than half of its first-quarter sales of 1.6 trillion won, from textile business. Market experts estimate the company’s revenue from textile business to top 1 trillion won in the second quarter on a surge in spandex exports amid the global economic recovery.
The months of April to June are also the peak for spandex sales, as sportswear and garment firms start planning new product launches for the next seasons.
“Spandex orders have surged from clothing companies preparing for the 2021 fall/winter and 2022 spring/summer seasons,” said a Hyosung TNC official on Monday.
The global demand for spandex is expected to increase by 12.7 percent this year compared to the previous year.
The explosive demand has also hiked the global spandex prices rapidly. The benchmark China spandex yarn 40D is trading at estimated 70,000 yuan ($10,919.73) per ton now. That is more than doubled from the second quarter last year when the price hovered below 30,000 yuan.
There has been a shortage of supplies as well. Inventory days have decreased from a typical average of 40 days to 15 days.
Hyosung TNC has already taken steps to fulfil the rapidly increasing demand. Last year, the business began increasing the capacity of its spandex yarn plants in Turkey and Brazil.
The augmentation of capacity is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.
