China depends on fibre imports

China accounted for around 50% of global recovered paper trading volumes last year. According to the China Technical Association of Paper Industry, the country produced around 64 million tonnes of paper last year and consumed some 35 million tonnes of recovered paper, of which nearly 55% was derived from imports.
Concern over quality is one of the reasons why China cannot rely on its domestic recovered paper supply, says the association. By contrast, imports from the USA are more easily recycled, more popular with the mills and, in many instances, cheaper than local recovered paper.
This reliance on imports has made China more sensitive to changes in the international market price and more exposed to global supply fluctuations, according to the association.
China is expected to publish its National Standards for Waste Paper Recycling in the near future. This will provide a management and classification mechanism which should lead to a significant improvement in domestic recovered paper quality, it is argued.