Malaysia could follow the example of Vietnam and Thailand and halt imports on recycled plastic scrap.
Fukutomi Company managing director and China Scrap Plastics Association executive president Steve Wong said there are believed to be 30,000 containers “idle at the ports of Thailand due to port capacity or import problems”.
He added that in Vietnam ports “thousands of containers have failed to be cleared by consignees for months”.
In a blog on the Fukutomi website, he wrote: “The massive flow of plastic scrap shipments to these countries after the market shift from China, has far exceeded the permitted import volumes and the operation capacities of their main ports. This has resulted in thousands of containers being stuck at the ports for months and causing many containers to be abandoned due to negative values. If the situation continues to spiral further in the current direction, more and more shipping lines will revert from shipping plastic scraps to these countries.”
With Thailand planning to ban plastic imports, and the material temporarily suspended for import into Vietnam, he warned that Malaysia could be next.
He said: “Though Malaysia is still accepting plastic scrap shipments, market players are worried that problems similar to that of the other two countries will arise in the near future.”
