UK recovered fibre exports post 41-month high

United Kingdom – Although many fibre exporting countries around the world have been reporting a decline in their overseas sales this year, Europe’€™s leading shipper – the UK – bucked the general trend in the opening half of 2015, closing the period with its highest monthly export figure for three and a half years.

The UK’s recovered paper export total of 505 116 tonnes in June was the best since the 505 539 tonnes dispatched abroad in January 2012. As a result, the January-June export total of 2.491 million tonnes was almost 8% ahead of the 2.308 million tonnes for the same period last year and the highest first-half figure since the 2.536 million tonnes sent overseas in 2008, according to latest data from the Confederation of Paper Industries and HM Revenue & Customs.

The increase should be viewed in the context of the 747 813 tonnes of recovered paper collected in the UK this June, which was the highest monthly tally since the 796 672 tonnes reported for January 2012. At the same time, domestic fibre consumption in the first half of this year was more than 10% below last year’s January-June total at 1.673 million tonnes.

Not least because of notable capacity closures such as Aylesford Newsprint, the UK’s overall paper and board production slumped 9.4% year on year to 1.984 million tonnes in January-June 2015.