Exports of scrap plastics saw a sizable month-to-month bump in volume at the start of 2016, but most materials showed declines in comparison to 2015 levels.
In February, the most recent month for which figures are available, scrap plastics exports totaled 309.12 million pounds, an increase of 16.3 percent from January 2016 export levels.
When matched against February 2015 levels, the volume of plastic scrap exports in the month was also up, by 1.5 percent.
However, decreases were seen on the price front for recovered plastics. The weighted price of recovered plastic exports in February 2016 was 16.94 cents per pound, down 0.4 percent from its January standing. That price-per-pound figure was down 7.5 percent from the price level in February 2015.
With 574.90 million pounds of scrap plastics exported through the first two months of 2016, the volume was down 1.1 percent from the 2015 year-to-date (YTD) figure. At 16.97 cents per pound, the average price through February 2016 was down by 10.1 percent from its 2015 YTD standing.
As for other exported materials, recovered paper exports were up through the first two months of 2016. Through February, 3.25 million metric tons of paper were exported, a 12.4 percent increase from February 2015 YTD levels. At $148 per metric ton, the weighted average price of exported recovered paper through February was down YTD by 7.5 percent.
The 1.59 million metric tons of ferrous scrap exported through February 2016 amounted to a 21.8 percent YTD decrease. At $256 per metric ton, the weighted average price of exported ferrous scrap was down 26.8 percent from February 2015 YTD levels.
Finally, the 450.83 million pounds of aluminum scrap exported in 2016 through February equated to an 4.0 percent decrease compared with the February 2015 YTD figure. At 61 cents per pound, the average price of exported aluminum scrap through February 2016 was down by 18.6 percent compared with last year’s total through February.
