Just 10,828 tonnes of UK OCC was sent to China in November – the lowest we have seen since we began collecting these records, according to the latest HMRC export data.
While November also showed the impact that an Indian effective ban on mixed paper imports will have.
Overall, global exports from the UK were down in November from October.
Mixed paper exports actually increased, but news & pam exports fell.
OCC – Commodity code 470710
At 156,699 tonnes, exports of OCC fell in November from October’s 189,172 tonnes.
Compared to November 2018, this was a massive fall when 287,812 tonnes was exported.
Exports to China fell to 10,838 tonnes in November, down from 55,499 tonnes in October. This was easily the smallest amount since we began collating these records in 2012.
The true scale in the decline of China as a major buyer of OCC is revealed when you compare this to November 2018, when 187,172 tonnes of cardboard went there. Obviously, this was more to China alone than all UK exports in November 2019.
Exports to China appear unlikely to ever reach those levels again.
India was the biggest purchaser of UK OCC in November taking 29,945 tonnes, broadly equivalent to October’s 29,475 tonnes.
Vietnam was the next largest destination with 21,171 tonnes heading there, up from 14,036 tonnes in October.
China of course was the next biggest, followed by total exports to the EU with 9,218 tonnes – a fall from 12,076 tonnes in October. With 6,271 tonnes going to the Netherlands, this appears to be mostly transitional tonnage.
Indonesia’s 8,533 tonnes was down from 21,357 tonnes a month earlier.
Malaysia was next with 7,607 tonnes, again lower than October’s 13,744 tonnes.
Thailand’s 6,310 tonnes was an increase on 4,455 the month before.
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
Exports of mixed paper increased to 134,267 tonnes in November from 129,525 tonnes in October.
India was the main buyer by far taking 75,352 tonnes in November up from October’s 70,418 tonnes.
With India no longer taking mixed paper, that is a huge gap to fill and reflects why prices have slumped to become a charge now.
Overall, the EU was the next biggest destination with 23,777 tonnes, lower than the 26,943 tonnes that went there in October. Germany continues to be the main destination with 8,831 tonnes up from 8,168 tonnes a month earlier. France with 6,107 tonnes (3,551 tonnes in October) was next best, followed by Netherlands which was down to 6,872 tonnes in November from October’s 12,514 tonnes.
Indonesia was next best with 12,946 tonnes, up from 5,606 tonnes. However, with Indonesia bringing in new import rules at the end of November, it seems likely these numbers will fall in future months. At least after a temporary halt to imports, Indonesia is taking material again.
Thailand’s 8,575 tonnes was up significantly on October’s 5,282 tonnes.
While exports to Vietnam also increased with 3,350 tonnes going there in November compared to just 950 tonnes the month before.
Taiwan fell to 2,700 tonnes from 4,021 a month earlier.
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
Exports of this commodity fell in total to 28,861 tonnes in November, from 39,036 tonnes a month earlier.
Indonesia was the main destination with 10,026 tonnes, up from October’s 7,919 tonnes.
This was followed by India whose 7,635 tonnes was lower than October’s 13,544 tonnes.
Just a touch below this was the whole of the EU with 7,631 tonnes, up from 6,907 tonnes a month before. Germany took 2,465 tonnes of this up from 1,387 tonnes in October. France was also up at 2,257 tonnes from 1,675 tonnes a month earlier. Spain took a significant 1,482 tonnes, again larger than October’s 711 tonnes.
Malaysia’s 1,235 tonnes was up a touch on October’s 1,136 tonnes.
OCC historic data – all destinations
Mixed paper historic data – all destinations
N&P historic data – all destinations
