A huge amount of mixed paper was exported to the EU in March this year, according to the latest HMRC figures.
It was almost double February’s total in fact and helped to keep March’s global mixed paper exports broadly similar overall to how they were in the preceding month.
Exports of OCC to the EU were exceptionally strong too, although globally were weaker than in recent months.
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OCC – Commodity code 470710
A total of 191,028 tonnes of OCC was exported from the UK in March, down on February’s 220,705 tonnes. It was also the weakest month since November 2020.
Malaysia was easily the standout destination importing 44,228 tonnes from the UK in March compared to 42,154 tonnes in February. This meant March overtook February as the record holder for the most material sent to Malaysia in a month.
India was the next best destination with 37,899 tonnes, down from 40,837 tonnes in February.
Turkey followed with 32,309 tonnes in March, falling from February’s 42,282 tonnes.
Next came the EU as a whole with 26,689 tonnes compared to 16,020 tonnes in February. This was easily the best month for exports to the EU since we began collecting this data in 2012.
The Netherlands saw most material going there with 9,747 tonnes (6,475 tonnes in February), followed by Germany’s 5,758 tonnes (2,085 tonnes in February), France with 4,047 tonnes (3,889 tonnes in February), Spain with 2,787 tonnes (1,591 tonnes in February) and Belgium’s 2,114 tonnes (879 in February).
Indonesia was next with 18,939 tonnes down from 26,726 tonnes the month before.
Not far behind was Thailand with 18,837 tonnes, again lower than February’s 21,983 tonnes.
Vietnam saw a large fall to 10,798 tonnes from 24,955 tonnes a month earlier.
OCC key destinations (47071000)
| wdt_ID | Date | China | Vietnam | India | Indonesia | EU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01/12/2017 | 169,797,238 | 34,109,420 | 8,423,207 | 6,773,072 | 6,969,379 |
| 2 | 01/11/2017 | 141,195,914 | 24,491,024 | 13,601,647 | 8,683,621 | 6,358,291 |
| 3 | 01/10/2017 | 92,401,545 | 50,490,531 | 11,873,555 | 12,380,518 | 13,695,821 |
| 4 | 01/09/2017 | 220,831,969 | 22,871,385 | 12,628,455 | 3,961,079 | 8,304,184 |
| 5 | 01/08/2017 | 117,351,874 | 16,737,793 | 9,619,311 | 3,816,526 | 9,572,395 |
| 6 | 01/07/2017 | 145,445,005 | 7,086,910 | 5,253,257 | 2,246,658 | 7,136,389 |
| 7 | 01/06/2017 | 233,535,331 | 4,335,207 | 7,572,675 | 135,975 | 14,069,860 |
| 8 | 01/05/2017 | 181,070,651 | 14,451,740 | 14,406,892 | 818,736 | 5,455,701 |
| 9 | 01/04/2017 | 210,157,209 | 17,300,095 | 19,477,521 | 13,606,232 | 8,853,811 |
| 10 | 01/03/2017 | 232,512,036 | 10,464,640 | 10,429,028 | 8,800,361 | 3,825,716 |
Mixed paper – Commodity code 470790
Mixed paper exports were a touch stronger in March at 129,589 tonnes from 128,305 tonnes in February.
As mentioned above, the EU almost doubled its imports from the UK to 39,426 tonnes from 20,219 tonnes in February.
With 26,743 tonnes going through the Netherlands, this was a big increase on February’s 14,673 tonnes.
Germany doubled its UK imports to 8,178 tonnes from 4,015 tonnes in the previous month.
France jumped up to 3,396 tonnes in March, compared to just 468 tonnes a month earlier.
Just behind the EU was India with 38,533 tonnes, a significant drop on February’s 57,039 tonnes making it the weakest month for exports there since September.
With Thailand taking 30,266 tonnes in March, this was only a small drop on February’s 30,963 tonnes.
Indonesia was next with 10,845 tonnes, up from 6,996 tonnes in February.
Malaysia was up to 5,807 tonnes in March from 4,196 tonnes the month before.
Exports to Vietnam dropped to 1,725 tonnes from 6,075 tonnes in February.
Pakistan was the only other destination above 1,000 tonnes with 1,265 tonnes lower than February’s 2,133 tonnes.
Mixed paper key destinations (47079010)
| wdt_ID | Date | China | Vietnam | India | Indonesia | EU total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01/12/2017 | 22,529,805 | 5,767,421 | 16,168,213 | 28,701,760 | 15,069,808 |
| 2 | 01/11/2017 | 21,525,899 | 6,776,878 | 21,513,241 | 32,511,340 | 19,241,687 |
| 3 | 01/10/2017 | 9,593,975 | 4,340,760 | 14,774,368 | 54,498,670 | 24,596,269 |
| 4 | 01/09/2017 | 37,134,676 | 3,672,400 | 5,658,543 | 17,281,140 | 27,499,171 |
| 5 | 01/01/2018 | 19,743,449 | 5,635,360 | 26,605,749 | 18,178,619 | 22,555,181 |
| 6 | 01/02/2018 | 16,615,169 | 6,738,460 | 37,931,747 | 14,731,060 | 23,951,039 |
| 7 | 01/03/2018 | 9,506,604 | 3,401,120 | 62,254,124 | 18,293,150 | 30,951,364 |
| 8 | 01/04/2018 | 12,467,300 | 6,865,830 | 43,863,425 | 16,487,850 | 32,221,347 |
| 9 | 01/05/2018 | 20,530,708 | 7,271,480 | 31,540,048 | 8,371,720 | 31,144,679 |
| 10 | 01/06/2018 | 17,873,411 | 4,860,900 | 21,463,876 | 23,196,375 | 29,530,427 |
News & Pams – Commodity code 470730
News & pams exports in March were at their strongest since August 2020 with a total of 21,746 tonnes, up from 15,820 in February.
The EU as a whole was the best destination with 8,667 tonnes up from 3,276 tonnes the month before.
Like OCC and mixed paper, most went via the Netherlands with 3,708 tonnes headed there up from 1,225 tonnes in February.
France was next with 2,048 tonnes in March, compared to 1,091 tonnes a month earlier.
Exports to Germany were also up to 1,478 tonnes from February’s 141 tonnes.
India was the strongest non-EU destination with 7,327 tonnes up a touch from 7,077 tonnes the month before.
Indonesia though fell in March to 2,234 tonnes from 2,611 tonnes the preceding month.
Malaysia however was up to 1,978 tonnes compared to February’s 224 tonnes.
OCC historic data – all destinations
Mixed paper historic data – all destinations
N&P historic data – all destinations
