Please note this report just focuses on the waste polymers of ethylene commodity code (391510), as exports of other plastics are relatively small in  volume
Exports of PE-based polymers fell again in January after they had also fallen in December, the latest HMRC data shows.
Just 17,117 tonnes was exported from the UK in the first month of this year, compared to 20,938 tonnes in December. January was also the lowest month since August 2021.
Of this total, 13,599 tonnes went to the EU, only a little lower than December’s 14,607 tonnes.
Almost unchanged at 4,918 tonnes in January was The Netherlands, compared to December’s 4,976 tonnes.
Next best was Italy with 2,836 tonnes, up from 1,850 tonnes in December.
Belgium was also up to 1,328 tonnes, from 1,208 tonnes at the end of last year.
Germany fell though to 1,076 tonnes in January, compared to 1,208 tonnes the month before.
Otherwise, the only significant non-EU destination taking material was Turkey with 2,477 tonnes, down from December’s 5,010 tonnes.
PE key destinations (391510)
| wdt_ID | Date | China | Malaysia | Vietnam | EU total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01/12/2017 | 1,593,325 | 8,154,599 | 5,185,643 | 2,356,480 |
| 2 | 01/11/2017 | 1,340,655 | 11,929,056 | 8,441,914 | 5,064,111 |
| 3 | 01/10/2017 | 3,937,218 | 8,448,893 | 9,224,031 | 6,378,656 |
| 4 | 01/09/2017 | 6,735,842 | 8,836,402 | 6,965,057 | 6,021,468 |
| 5 | 01/08/2017 | 12,986,863 | 8,042,469 | 4,297,452 | 6,436,902 |
| 6 | 01/07/2017 | 14,879,464 | 6,984,245 | 2,828,813 | 1,917,806 |
| 7 | 01/06/2017 | 13,836,510 | 5,912,876 | 3,276,369 | 6,344,826 |
| 8 | 01/05/2017 | 10,244,233 | 6,634,566 | 2,371,000 | 5,126,138 |
| 9 | 01/04/2017 | 16,314,413 | 5,812,466 | 1,722,387 | 3,563,463 |
| 10 | 01/03/2017 | 20,367,409 | 2,720,115 | 1,448,964 | 4,328,398 |
Full historic export data
