With newly announced process, Chinese importers can apply for tariff exemptions beginning this week. | Sumrit Tesrumphun/Shutterstock
The Chinese government will consider exempting tariffs on OCC and other recovered fiber on a company-by-company basis. Meanwhile, a tariff on U.S. recycled paper pulp shipments into China has been lifted for one year.
Notable changes have taken place in markets for curbside recyclables over the past month, including an increase in OCC prices and a steep dive in natural HDPE prices.
During recent earnings calls, a number of fiber company executives touched on pricing trends they are seeing around OCC and other grades.
One major U.S. mill operator is actively shipping recycled paper pulp to China, and another is installing equipment to bring in lower grades of paper feedstock. Those were a few takeaways from recent earnings calls from publicly traded paper firms.
For MRFs in the Northeastern U.S., the average value of a ton of recyclables was $42.41 during the fourth quarter of 2019.
Curbside recyclables pricing in the Northeastern U.S. was fairly flat late last year, but processing costs for recycling facilities increased noticeably, according to a Northeast Recycling Council survey.
This year’s Resource Recycling Conference is providing much-needed insight on a range of critical recycling issues. And on the event’s first day, the National Recycling Coalition named its new executive director.
Recycling facilities are encountering both good and bad news on the fiber-market front: OCC prices have increased substantially, but mixed paper slipped further into the negatives.
U.S. recovered fiber exports fell by roughly 3 million tons from 2018 to 2019. | StockStudio Aerials/Shutterstock
In 2019, recovered fiber exports from the United States experienced their largest year-over-year decline on record. U.S. scrap plastic exports also continued a substantial fall.
Lower recovered metals prices hurt revenue at a waste-to-energy company, and a group urges a major magazine to use recycled paper.
Despite a year of market uncertainty, U.S. recovered paper exports increased in 2018, driven largely by OCC shipments. However, scrap plastic exports fell substantially as countries enacted stringent trade policies.
Recovered materials processors have received a little holiday cheer. The value of most recyclables moved higher at the start of this month.