Recycling export report: Paper (December 2018)

February 14, 2019

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Overall, figures from the latest HMRC export data showed that countries bought more mixed paper throughout December, while OCC and News and Pams saw a mixture of both increases and decreases.

OCC – Commodity Code 470710

Exports of OCC from the UK saw some major decreases throughout December with countries choosing not to import as much compared to November.

Globally, 180,313 tonnes of OCC was sent abroad from the UK. This is a significant drop from last month when 287,812 tonnes was exported, and is also the lowest figure since July 2018.

China remained the dominant buyer of this material, importing 120,854 tonnes. However, this is down on November’s figure of 187,172 tonnes and is the lowest quantity since April 2018. It is also a decrease from this month last year when 169,797 tonnes was exported.

India more than halved the amount it purchased last month, importing just 14,607 tonnes, down from 36,224 tonnes.

Indonesia was the only key destination to purchase more of this material, importing 11,025 tonnes, up from November’s 6,607 tonnes. It is also the highest figure imported by the country for 2018 and is higher than in December 2017 (6,773 tonnes).

Vietnam reduced the amount it purchased, buying 4,745 tonnes, down from 5,525 tonnes last month. This is a sharp decrease from this month last year when 34,109 tonnes was exported to the country. It is also the second lowest purchase for Vietnam in 2018.

The EU’s purchase of OCC slightly fell in December from 6,708 tonnes to 6,238 tonnes. Germany was the dominant buyer (2,869 tonnes), followed by the Netherlands (1,618 tonnes).

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

Globally, mixed paper increased from 105,101 tonnes in November to 122,666 tonnes in December. This is also up from this month last year from 100,682 tonnes was exported.

Surprisingly, China was the best buyer of this material, despite it being banned from the country. It purchased 36,532 tonnes and is up from last month’s figure of 21,179 tonnes. It is also up from December 2017 when 22,529 tonnes was exported.

India improved the quantity it imported this month, buying 33,227 tonnes, up from 25,404 tonnes. It is also double the amount of December 2017 (16,168 tonnes).

The UK exported 19,943 tonnes to the EU in December, a decrease from last month when it sent 35,268 tonnes. It is also the lowest figure for the year, but higher than December 2017 when 15,069 tonnes was purchased.

Vietnam slightly improved the amount it imported, buying 5,147 tonnes, up from 4,836 tonnes.

Indonesia purchased 14,000 tonnes, up from 10,882 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 and Pams – Commodity Code 470730

The UK exported a total of 25,097 tonnes, a decline from last month when 27,072 tonnes was sent abroad.

Indonesia was the key buyer of this material, purchasing 7,741 tonnes. This is double the amount imported in November (3,345 tonnes) and is the highest figure since May 2018.

Hong Kong bought zero amounts of N&P in December. The last time we saw the same occurrence was in April and May 2017. This is unsurprisingly down from last month when just 2,030 tonnes was imported by the country.

China decreased the amount it purchased by nearly a third, buying 2,517 tonnes, down from 6,694 tonnes. This is the lowest figure from the country in 2018, and also the lowest we have on our records.

The EU slightly reduced the amount it bought, as it imported 7,117 tonnes, down from 7,946 tonnes.

India bought 5,938 tonnes, down from 6,538 tonnes in November.

N&P key destinations (470730)

wdt_ID	Date	China	Hong Kong	India	Indonesia	EU total
1	01/12/2017	4,109,684	2,891,240	5,750,650	1,196,290	7,208,623
2	01/11/2017	22,701,293	854,064	6,427,402	2,439,980	6,360,676
3	01/10/2017	9,878,248	2,237,977	4,495,196	4,133,030	7,631,169
4	01/09/2017	10,441,460	593,225	1,422,481	2,950,660	7,715,215
5	01/01/2018	8,524,061	1,958,580	7,465,626	2,193,538	6,699,157
6	01/02/2018	8,068,680	1,397,100	6,475,890	3,724,600	6,653,235
7	01/03/2018	7,895,400	2,116,520	16,849,145	2,073,660	6,505,887
8	01/04/2018	7,804,741	2,645,300	14,271,690	8,301,805	6,904,991
9	01/05/2018	17,523,240	303,650	8,586,135	1,655,540	7,265,323
10	01/06/2018	13,436,260	3,619,580	5,707,480	2,799,660	2,028,904