It was a stable week for most grades this week, with only a small number of grades seeing price adjustments.
With haulage and shipping still causing challenges, much attention was on how to keep material moving.
A lot of focus in the paper market was on potential Malaysian inspections while in plastics there is hope that new regulation means it can become an export market again. However, the country has also been imposing tougher lockdown restrictions over the last week, which might make exporting there more difficult anyway.
This week saw the pound weaken against the dollar to reach $1.37 from $1.39 a week ago. Against the euro it was pretty much unchanged at €1.16.
Recycled plastics
The packaging market saw the PRN/PERN price drop again this week by approximately £10 per tonne after last week’s temporary rise.
This didn’t have much effect on physical prices though, with demand for packaging grades helping to keep them where they were last week. As we are now in July, there is good demand from Europe ahead of the quieter holiday period in August.
In recent weeks, demand for PP has improved, again from Europe.
With the news about restrictions easing from the end of this month on non-OECD exports and potential compromises on Turkish imports, this could yet provide some further impetus for the plastics markets in the second half of the year.
Forecast prices
| 1-week | 4-week | |
| PET | 300-306 | 298-304 |
| HDPE | 548-554 | 544-560 |
| LDPE 98/2 | 351-357 | 348-354 |
Recycled paper
It was a quiet week with most in the market having bought long for July last week.
European mills are starting to feel the heat, especially as they are filling up ahead of the quieter August, and were attempting to bring prices lower or at least keep them the same.
The problem is that South East Asia and India continues to provide competition and are happy to buy at the moment.
For the rest of the month, most expect the market to be quiet with some companies dipping in and out depending on their order requirements. However, some may be quite active and will set the benchmark prices for the rest of the summer.
Forecast prices
| 1-week | 4-week | |
| OCC | 160-164 | 156-160 |
| ONP | 150-154 | 146-150 |
| Mixed | 119-123 | 116-120 |
Recycled metals
Copper gained £100 per tonne this week in what otherwise was a pretty stable 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
