These are the latest HMRC export figures for February 2023 for key paper and cardboard grades. Only destinations of more than 1,000 tonnes per month are included.
OCC – Commodity code 470710
March saw a fall in exports of OCC, but it was still a reasonably strong month for this grade.
A total of 204,020 tonnes left the UK, lower than February’s 222,346 tonnes. Again, this was down on 273,556 tonnes in January, but this had been the strongest export month since November 2018.
To put March in context, only two months in 2022 had seen higher export numbers than this.
Exports to non-EU destinations were at 91%, compared to 92% in February. The EU represented the remaining 9% of course.
| March 2023 | February 2023 | March 2022 | |
| India | 57,410 | 58,091 | 64,791 |
| Malaysia | 38,086 | 59,447 | 18,004 |
| Indonesia | 31,338 | 28,215 | 4,204 |
| Thailand | 29,511 | 15,452 | 6,726 |
| Vietnam | 23,765 | 35,470 | 37,019 |
| Germany | 8,044 | 4,451 | 10,005 |
| Netherlands | 5,291 | 9,212 | 14,014 |
| Turkey | 5,218 | 8,105 | 31,463 |
| Belgium | 1,838 | 1,156 | 1,042 |
| France | 1,275 | 1,270 | 8,093 |
Mixed paper – Commodity code 470790
Exports of this grade reached 145,171 tonnes in March, up on February’s 129,782 tonnes and January’s 99,885 tonnes.
Non-EU exports represented 85.5% (EU therefore 14.5%) of this, compared to 86% in February.
| March 2023 | February 2023 | March 2022 | |
| India | 72,602 | 50,640 | 56,680 |
| Vietnam | 25,059 | 34,663 | 20,637 |
| Thailand | 16,016 | 11,735 | 16,158 |
| Netherlands | 9,028 | 8,437 | 27,088 |
| Germany | 7,875 | 6,745 | 9,017 |
| Turkey | 5,134 | 4,022 | 0 |
| France | 2,026 | 1,691 | 4,267 |
| Taiwan | 1,750 | 750 | 0 |
| Malaysia | 1,748 | 4,460 | 2,085 |
| Norway | 1,560 | 0 | 0 |
| Belgium | 1,427 | 821 | 646 |
| Indonesia | 1,174 | 3,472 | 5,024 |
News & Pams – Commodity code 470730
Exports of this grade dropped by around a quarter to 15,347 tonnes in March, from February’s 20,665 tonnes.
India imported 52% of this, with EU taking a further 34% on top of this.
| March 2023 | February 2023 | March 2022 | |
| India | 8,021 | 9,140 | 16,805 |
| Germany | 2,700 | 4,068 | 11,790 |
| Netherlands | 1,250 | 1,261 | 2,944 |
