Disperse Dye Prices Hit Year High as Intermediate Costs Surge 380%

Disperse dye prices hit a year high in August 2026. Zhejiang Longsheng raised prices for its disperse black products three times from July to early August, lifting quotes to RMB 30,000 per tonne, a year high. On August 8, the entire disperse dye range saw a broad increase, with the market price of Disperse Black 300% approaching RMB 30,000 per tonne. Reactive dyes saw one price increase in August, with gains exceeding RMB 5,000 per tonne.

The price increases were mainly driven by tight intermediate supply. Reducer prices rose from RMB 25,000 per tonne at the end of 2025 to RMB 70,000-100,000 per tonne in March 2026, stabilising above RMB 100,000 by mid-year, with some quotes reaching RMB 120,000 per tonne, a surge of nearly 380%. Effective H acid capacity is below 60,000 tonnes, leaving a supply gap of over 10%. Effective compliant reducer capacity is only 50,000-60,000 tonnes, stably produced by three companies: Zhejiang Longsheng, Runtu, and Ningxia Zhongsheng.

Integrated producers' advantages expanded. Zhejiang Longsheng's comprehensive gross margin rose to 33.85% in Q1 2026, up 5.24 percentage points year on year. Jihua Group's net profit attributable to shareholders increased by over 1,272% in the first half. In terms of industry concentration, disperse dye capacity utilisation rose to 79.31% in 2025, with CR3 at 60.34% and CR5 at 77.59%; reactive dye capacity utilisation rose to 67.77%, with CR3 at 50.61% and CR5 at 75.91%.

On the demand side, China's chemical fibre output has grown at a compound annual rate of 6.48% over the past decade, while disperse dye output has grown at only 0.6% annually. India experienced a heatwave in 2026, causing some textile clusters to halt production, but Zhejiang Longsheng said the impact on global reactive dyes is limited.