Polyester fibre: Production route
Melt to yarn without ever cooling down
What this tab covers How it is made: the main production routes or, for product families, the main product types and technologies, compared on share of supply, inputs per tonne, plant scale, yield, co-products and unit cost.Almost all polyester fibre is made by continuous polymerisation of PTA and MEG, with the melt pumped directly to spinning machines. Large Chinese and Indian plants run 0.5-2 Mt/yr sites. Product forms differ by spinning step: partially oriented yarn (POY) for texturing, fully drawn yarn (FDY), staple fibre (PSF) and industrial high-tenacity yarn. Recycled fibre is spun from washed bottle flakes. Textile-to-textile chemical recycling and bio-based MEG are the emerging lower-carbon routes.
Routes compared
| Route | Share of supply | Inputs per tonne | Typical scale | Yield | Co-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filament yarn (POY, FDY, DTY) by direct melt spinning | about two-thirds of polyester fibre (indicative) | about 0.86 t PTA, 0.335 t MEG, and about 0.3-0.5 MWh for polymerisation and spinning plus more for texturing (indicative) | 0.3-2 Mt/yr sites | about 97-99% (indicative) | acetaldehyde and oligomer waste, recycled | conversion cost about $150-250/t over PTA and MEG in large plants (indicative) |
| Polyester staple fibre (PSF), virgin | about one-third of polyester fibre (indicative) | same polymer inputs as filament | 100-500 kt/yr lines | high | waste fibre recycled | PSF sold at $0.90-0.95/kg in 2024 (Grasim, international CCF prices) |
| Recycled PSF and filament from PET bottles | about 12% of polyester (9.3 Mt in 2024) | about 1.15-1.25 t bottle flake per t fibre (indicative) | 20-200 kt/yr; Reliance aimed to double bottle recycling to 5 billion bottles a year (Apparel Resources, 2022) | about 80-85% from bales (indicative) | caps, labels, fines | often near or above virgin PSF when oil is cheap (indicative) |
| Textile-to-textile chemical recycling (glycolysis, methanolysis, enzymatic) | below 1% of all fibre comes from recycled textiles (Textile Exchange, 2024) | not published | pilot to first commercial (tens of kt/yr) | not published | dyes, cotton fraction from blends | well above virgin (indicative) |
| Industrial high-tenacity yarn and bio-based polyester | industrial yarn a few per cent; bio-based below 1% (indicative) | same PTA; bio-MEG via ethanol | tens of kt/yr | high | n/a | premium for bio-MEG (indicative) |
How each route works
Filament yarn (POY, FDY, DTY) by direct melt spinningPET melt from continuous polymerisation is extruded through spinnerets, cooled and wound at 3,000-5,000 m/min as POY, then draw-textured into DTY; FDY is drawn in line. Most fashion and home fabrics use these yarns.
Lowest-cost fibre at scale; thin margins in oversupply.
PTA and MEG tiles; indicative Polyester staple fibre (PSF), virginMelt is spun into tows, drawn, crimped, heat-set and cut to 32-64 mm for blending with cotton or viscose in ring and open-end spinning, or to fibrefill lengths.
Blends well with cotton and viscose; competes directly with cotton.
Grasim Q3 FY2025 Recycled PSF and filament from PET bottlesPost-consumer bottles are collected, sorted, washed and flaked, then melt-filtered and spun into staple or filament. Bottle-to-fibre is cheaper than bottle-to-bottle but is a one-way step.
Lower carbon; competes with bottle-to-bottle for flake under recycled-content mandates.
Textile Exchange 2025; Apparel Resources 2022; indicative Textile-to-textile chemical recycling (glycolysis, methanolysis, enzymatic)Post-consumer polyester garments are depolymerised to monomers or oligomers, purified of dyes and finishes, and repolymerised to virgin-quality PET.
Closes the loop for textiles; costly, and blends complicate sorting.
Textile Exchange 2025; indicative Industrial high-tenacity yarn and bio-based polyesterSolid-state polymerised high-viscosity chip is spun into high-tenacity yarn for tyre cord and belts. Bio-MEG from sugarcane or molasses ethanol can replace up to about 30% of PET mass (indicative).
High value for industrial uses; bio-based limited by MEG cost.
indicative Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs move with feedstock and energy prices, plant size and region.