US scrap plastics exports on the rise

United States – US scrap plastics exports totalled almost 175.5 tonnes in August, Resource Recycling has reported. This represents a rise of 8.8% from July 2016 export levels and 9.5% up from the August 2015 levels. Meanwhile, paper and metals saw declines.

The weighted price of scrap plastic exports also saw an increase. At 17.27 dollar cents per pound, the price was up 2.3%from its July standing.

However, with 1.035 million tonnes of scrap plastics exported through the first eight months of 2016, the year-to-date (YTD) volume was down 10.5% from the YTD figure this time last year. As for other exported materials, recovered paper exports were down slightly through the first eight months of 2016, reversing a trend of volume growth that played out through the first half of the year.

Through August, 13.15 million tonnes of paper were exported, a 1.3% decrease when compared with August 2015 YTD levels. At US$ 154 per tonne, the weighted average price of exported recovered paper through August was down YTD by 1.5%.

The almost 8 million tonnes of ferrous scrap exported through August 2016 amounted to a 9.4% YTD decrease. At US$ 279 per tonne, the weighted average price of exported ferrous scrap was down 17% percent from August 2015 YTD levels.