Recycling prices and market commentary: 1 September 2023

September 1, 2023

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Certain grades of recovered plastic, paper and metal rose in value this week as the markets began to galvanise following the long summer slowdown.

OCC and mixed paper saw minor increases in price as Asian buyers continued to look for material to feed their domestic processes.

Copper, brass and steel values also edged upwards, while HDPE and PET sellers were enjoying greater returns. However some other grades of material lost value and it wasn’t a clear picture across the board.

While the industry will be glad to see the back of the summer period, which has been a damp squib in more ways than one, a sense remains that the underlying sentiment of the sector is relatively weak at present.

The pound was trading at $1.27 today, back to where it was a fortnight ago. It also edged back to €1.17.

Recycled plastics

A plastics PRN was worth a couple of pounds more in early September than mid-August as the market began to adjust to autumn trading patterns.

Recovered PET bottles were fetching higher prices as people packed away their holiday suitcases and dusted down school shoes.

HDPE grades also nudged up in value in a marginally better week for much of the sector.

However, LDPE prices dipped and many will be witholding any cautious optimism until they can see a more substantial trend of stronger prices and volumes across all grades.

Recycled paper

Demand for recovered paper continues to be driven from far afield with Indian buyers among those leading the charge this week.

This meant that despite a major lull in activity in Europe, prices of some grades pushed upwards.

However, with domestic and nearby demand subdued, many sellers found themselves without the material to take full advantage of the occasional valuable order.

With a scattered feel to the market over the summer, some have suggested that relationships need to be rebuilt over the coming months to ensure smoother trading.