There was a slight softening in price for some grades this week, mostly it seems due to less trade occurring because of summer holidays.
Mixed paper came down, as did plastic packaging grades, although the PRN/PERN price helped these.
Some metal grades also eased back, although some even went up.
Moving material remains the biggest problem with lorries and containers hard to get hold of. Some operators are booking boxes a couple of weeks in advance (which in itself causes logistical problems), but are then finding that there are lots of cancellations. There is no sense this is going to get better anytime soon.
The pound was unchanged against the dollar at $1.39 and the euro at €1.17.
Recycled plastics
With the PRN/PERN coming off by just over £5 this week, the pressure of recent falls in certification was felt by packaging grades.
Bottles reduced in price by the same amount, while a small drop in demand and a catching up of recent PRN/PERN price falls saw film grades lose £10 per tonne.
Demand remains good, although some Europeans are on holiday, which has taken some of the interest away.
Underlying prices are holding up, especially as people are gearing up to the re-opening of Turkey for certain key grades.
Forecast prices
| 1-week | 4-week | |
| PET | 282-288 | 288-294 |
| HDPE | 530-536 | 525-531 |
| LDPE 98/2 | 330-336 | 331-337 |
Recycled paper
Haulage and shipping remained the biggest issue for those trading this week, as mentioned in the introduction above.
While demand remains really good, it is the logistics of moving material that is keeping people awake at night. It is challenging and appears to be getting worse rather than better.
Many however traded long last week or the week before, and so are either on holiday or devoting themselves to sorting out moving fibre to mills.
The expectation is that prices will stay steady for the rest of the month and then this strong demand should remain into September.
However, mixed eased off by around £5 per tonne this week, which was a reflection of slightly weaker demand from Europe where it is holiday season. It was also a case of catching up to the price fall that occurred for OCC a few weeks back.
Forecast prices
| 1-week | 4-week | |
| OCC | 146-150 | 146-150 |
| ONP | 142-146 | 141-145 |
| Mixed | 106-110 | 105-109 |
Recycled metals
Copper dropped by £200 per tonne and brass by £100 per tonne this week. However, aluminium grades increased by £50 per tonne, although cans remained the same.
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
