Those recycling paper, plastics and metals this week will have had a relatively quiet week.
Many in the market will have taken Easter school holidays with their kids, or just decided to take time off while it is quiet. Next week should be even quieter with it being a short week and most schools shut.
In fact, without Easter, the markets would be quiet. Across the board demand is low, but prices are being aided by supply of material also being low.
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Some recycled paper grades are seeing weaker demand than supply that has stopped prices from falling further. Supply is still poor though.
Recycled plastics are seeing good demand from Europe as retailers and manufacturers want packaging grades, but other destinations are struggling.
Metals are steady on the whole.
The pound was unchanged at $1.30 this week, but against the euro weakened a touch to €1.15 from a cent higher last week.
Recycled plastics
Demand for packaging grades remains good into Europe, with some increased demand from UK recyclers too.
As mentioned above, retailers want manufacturers to use more recycled content, and this is keeping demand good, especially as supply is weak.
Both HDPE and LDPE saw price rises as a result.
Deep sea destinations remain challenging, although material is moving to countries that remain open.
Forecast prices
| 1-week | 4-week | |
| PET | 315-321 | 314-320 |
| HDPE | 570-576 | 570-576 |
| LDPE | 380-381 | 387-393 |
Recycled paper
Those recycling paper and cardboard found a sluggish market this week.
Prices to China fell, and elsewhere fell in response.
Chinese quota for OCC is low and so buyers are reluctant to purchase too much. Other Asian destinations also don’t seem to have much appetite for material.
European and UK mills also appear to be full, and don’t look set to have a post-Easter re-stock as would have happened traditionally.
Mixed paper also fell for the same reasons.
One reason that prices might not fall too much further is that availability of material is poor. However, with mills everywhere not wanting to buy or fully stocked, it could take a while for them to come back into the market and compete for this material.
If availability of paper and cardboard improves in the near-term, then the market could see severe price drops.
Forecast prices
| 1-week | 4-week | |
| OCC | 75-79 | 75-79 |
| ONP | 99-103 | 99-103 |
| Mixed | 25-29 | 25-29 |
Recycled metals
Copper grades increased by £50 per tonne this week in an otherwise quiet recycled metals market.
Recycling prices
For recycled paper prices, click here
For recycled plastic prices, click here
For recycled metal prices, click here
For recycled glass prices, click here
For PRN/PERN prices, click here
