Page 85 from: May 2015

Paper

Textiles

85May 2015

equipment both domestically and for
export.
The news grades remain steady
although some upward movement
could be in store as mills prepare for
this summer’s demand for mulching
and insulation – both of which are pro-
duced with deink news.
Shipments of the bulk grades to China
have remained somewhat fl at. Small
mills in China have been closing
because of a combination of lack of
business and environmental issues, but
their capacity has been replaced by
new papermaking machines installed
by the larger Chinese players.
Deinking and pulp substitute grades
are enjoying steady movement domes-
tically, with the latter costing more
overseas owing to currency factors.
According to fi gures from the US Cen-
sus Bureau, Chinese imports of Amer-
ican-origin recovered paper fell more
than 6% year on year in January to just
under 1.22 million short tons; a drop
in orders for corrugated (-4.3%), mixed
paper (-6.4%) and pulp substitutes
(-76%) was contrasted by the sharp
upturn for ONP (+9.9%) and high-
grade deinking (+14.3%). In value
terms, US exports to China fell 9% year
on year to US$ 160.2 million.

Milestone for US textiles recycling
education package
The US-based Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association
(SMART) has reached more than 1 million students countrywide
through its education programme. Developed in partnership with
The Education Center, the no-cost curricula provide grade-appropri-
ate resources for elementary school teachers on the benefi ts of
giving used clothing and household textiles a second life, teaching
students that these can be recycled just like metals, paper, plastics
and glass.
Since its launch in October 2012, 20 257 teachers nationwide have
engaged in the programme, with more than 21 000 resource down-
loads reaching 1 093 878 students. Various learning resources are
incorporated, including a textile recycling fact sheet and infograph-
ics, as well as grade-appropriate lesson plans.
‘We understand the importance of engaging students at a young
age,’ says Jackie King, executive director of SMART. ‘Last year, we
saw overwhelming results of elementary school teachers utilising
SMART’s lesson plans, and this year we couldn’t be more excited to
have achieved the milestone of educating more than 1 million ele-
mentary students about textile reuse and recycling.’
While the offi cial three-year campaign ended on March 31 this year,
the resources can still be found at www.smartasn.org/educators-kids
and also remain searchable on The Education Center’s website (www.
theeducationcenter.com). Founded in 1973, the Education Center
was created by Marge and Jake Michel because they were frustrated
by the lack of practical, ready-to-use materials for the classroom and

so devised several products in their spare time. The
organisation now has a staff of former teach-

ers who produce such materi-
als for other elementary

school educators.

From all destinations combined, US
recovered paper revenues slid 8% to
around US$ 254 million in January
whereas volumes dipped 6% to 1.73
million short tons.

Asia
Aggressive purchasing
Although the Asian market had been
expected to remain stable, mills have
stepped up their efforts to procure
material, especially in the case of the
brown grades.
Following their New Year holidays, Chi-
nese mills had been very slow in
rebuilding their buying activity in the
hope of infl uencing the market. How-
ever, their Indian and Indonesian coun-
terparts started to buy very large quan-
tities, thus causing prices to jump.
Chinese mills soon realised that they
were not obtaining suffi cient fi bre and
so also embarked on an aggressive
purchasing programme. As a result,
prices gained US$ 15-25 per tonne in
the space of just four or fi ve weeks.
Even at the time of writing, demand
seems to be exceeding supply and
prices could move higher still. Grades
such as mixed paper and news & pams
have also recorded price hikes – but not
to the same extent as OCC.
India is offering good demand for the
middle and higher grades of recovered
paper but no price changes have been
made in markets that have been stable
for several months now.
For May, shipping lines have been try-
ing to increase freight rates by
US$ 200-250 per container but will
most likely settle for around US$ 50 per
box. The smaller shipping lines are
already at this level.

Contributing to the
Recovered Paper Market
Analysis:
• Melvin de Groot (Van Gelder

Recycling, the Netherlands)
• Mariëlle Gommans (Bel Fibres,

Belgium)
• Joel Litman (Texas Recycling/

Surplus Inc, USA)

RI 4-Analysis Paper&Textiles.indd 85 04-05-15 09:31