October reversal for UK exports of OCC

United Kingdom – After scaling a 2017 peak in September, UK exports of OCC tumbled 31% year on year in October to 197 951 tonnes. The country’s overseas shipments of mixed paper, meanwhile, were 16.1% lower at 124 905 tonnes, according to latest statistics published by the Confederation of Paper Industries and HM Revenue and Customs.

As a result of these developments in October, UK exports of OCC were virtually unchanged at 2.254 million tonnes when comparing the first 10 months of 2017 with the same period last year. In contrast, outbound volumes of mixed paper dropped 9.5% to 1.215 million tonnes. Combining the figures for all grades of recovered paper, the UK shipped out 3.965 million tonnes in this year’s January-October period for a decline of 3.4% from the opening 10 months of 2016.

Making the same 10-month comparison, UK fibre collections retreated 0.9% to 6.502 million tonnes, domestic recovered paper consumption climbed 2.8% to 2.627 million tonnes and UK paper/board production jumped 4.9% to 3.237 million tonnes.