It was another quiet week with low supply, low demand, but also some grades falling in price.
As we get closer to the summer holidays, many people are taking time off already, but the anticipation is that markets will remain challenging over this period.
There was also a lot of head scratching around PRN/PERN markets where paper/cardboard and plastics traders tried to get an idea around what is going on. Numbers look punchy and compliance looks good if the obligation ends up around the same as last year.
But the anecdotal evidence is that there isn’t much material being traded, so there is a lot of confusion around why the numbers appear so good.
The pound ended the week stronger against the dollar at $1.31 from $1.27 last week making deep sea exports more expensive. It was down slightly compared to the euro at €1.16 from €1.17 a week ago.
Recycled plastics
Markets remain tough with PET in particular continuing to struggle to find a home.
LDPE is also easing in price, although HDPE is managing to hold up a bit better.
However, the PRN/PERN came down this week again on the back of decent monthly data suggesting compliance will be easier. This helped to push the price of the certificate down £20 per tonne as the week progressed.
But with lack of market interest in physical material at the moment, many are wondering what this will mean for the PRN/PERN market for the rest of the year if not as much material is available and recycled.
As we head towards summer breaks and Europe not showing signs of stocking up before, it looks like the market might have to wait until September for more activity.
Recycled paper
Once again this week, there wasn’t much material collected and there wasn’t a huge amount of demand either.
With the PRN/PERN price coming off following the publication of the latest monthly data, and the figures looking strong, this helped to ease down the price of OCC by a couple of quid.
But there was also some surprise at this data, as anyone trading will tell you that there is low demand and low supply. There is a lot of speculation at the moment about this data, but nothing that has enough evidence to prove it as yet.
With the pound also strengthening against the dollar, this also made deep sea material more expensive for the buyer.
Recycled metals
Ferrous grades lost £10 per tonne this week, with non-ferrous all stable.
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
