UK recovered fibre exports suffer first drop in three years

United Kingdom – In reaching 4.732 million tonnes in 2017, UK exports of recovered paper fell exactly 200 000 tonnes short of the record set in the previous year. However, the total was still the third-highest of all time, exceeded only in 2015 and 2016.

Latest figures from the Confederation of Paper Industries and HM Revenue & Customs reveal that the UK – Europe’s largest exporter of recovered paper – shipped out 1.441 million tonnes of mixed paper last year for a sharp decline of 10.5% from the 1.61 million tonnes dispatched in the previous year.

The UK’s overseas shipments of OCC were also lower year on year, albeit by just 0.3% to 2.698 million tonnes.

While its overall exports were 4% down on 2016, UK mill usage of recovered paper climbed 4.3% last year to 3.147 million tonnes from 3.018 million tonnes in 2016. UK paper and board production jumped 4.8% to 3.855 million tonnes in 2017 from 3.678 million tonnes in the previous year.

UK recovered paper collections were 0.7% lower last year at 7.772 million tonnes versus 7.825 million tonnes in 2016.