Recycling prices and market commentary: 10 June 2022

June 10, 2022

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It was a mixed market this week affected by holidays last week in the UK and this week in Europe.

The Jubilee holiday in the UK on Thursday and Friday carried onto this week, with many still taking time off and many primary schools still closed.

In Europe, key markets such as France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain all had a public holiday on Monday, which led to reduced trading, especially as some buyers took the opportunity to have a week off with many schools closed all week.

For some materials, the last couple of weeks have led to little or no change due to this holiday fortnight. But for some (LDPE film and industrial metals in particular), strong price rises are seen.

Since the last report, the pound has dropped to $1.24 against the dollar, and compared to the euro has hovered either side of €1.17 for the past fortnight.

Recycled plastics

Strong demand for LDPE film was the key story of this week. Very good demand from some European, but also UK sources, helped push up prices to very high levels.

While not all of the market was reaching these levels, anything between £700 to getting on for £1,000 was being achieved for 98/2, especially if the PRN/PERN was added to the price.

Some though are beginning to resist these ever increasing prices for film, and are trying to talk the market down. But while those who are desperate for material keep paying whatever it takes, those wanting lower prices are not winning the argument with sellers.

In terms of the plastic PRN/PERN price, it has been a relatively stable couple of weeks. There is a perception that there is a shortage of PRNs and PERNs in the market, but traders want hard data before making decisions. The publication of the monthly data today may stimulate the market next week though.

Forecast prices

	1-week	4-week
PET	760-766	758-764
HDPE	1004-1110	1003-1009
LDPE 98/2	842-848	850-856

Recycled paper

It was a more subdued market for paper than seen with plastics and metals. With most trading monthly, much of this month’s buying and selling had been done at the end of May.

Demand from Europe was weak due to the holidays in key destinations, but generation was still low.

Mixed benefitted from a little more demand, seeing the price rise by a couple of pounds.

However, news & pams has seen strong demand from Europe in particular, helping to raise the price by about £20.

Forecast prices

	1-week	4-week
OCC	172-176	172-176
ONP	180-184	183-187
Mixed	138-142	138-142

Recycled metals

Higher prices on the LME helped push up the price of non-ferrous metals. Copper was up by £300 per tonne since last time, and aluminium by £150 per tonne.

Ferrous metals continued to weaken, losing £20 per tonne.