Most recovered paper export destinations less hungry in 2023

After nine months of data, several leading export destinations for U.S.-generated recovered paper are showing double-digit declines in their appetites for material this year.

According to the Paper Stock Industries (PSI) chapter of the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), India remains the top importer of U.S. recovered paper this year, buying 1.9 million metric tons in the January-September period. That figure, however, represents a 27 percent decrease compared with what Indian buyers purchased in the first three quarters of 2022.

U.S. recovered paper exports totaled 9.9 million metric tons globally in this year’s first nine months, down 17.5 percent from the same period in 2022, according to data from the U.S. International Trade Commission. The value of those exports fell 32 percent year-on-year to $1.87 billion.

Of the 10 leading destinations for outbound U.S. recovered paper this year, only Thailand reports a net gain in imports. It has maintained its position as the second-largest importer this year, receiving roughly 1.7 million metric tons in the January-September period, an increase of nearly 26 percent from the comparable 2022 time frame.

A slight surge in imports during the summer months seems to have receded. On a month-to-month basis, U.S. recovered paper exports rose 0.6 percent in July and 9.4 percent in August , but declined 0.7 percent in September to just over 1 million metric tons, according to PSI. U.S. recovered paper exports were down 8.2 percent by volume this September year on year.

Other countries in top ten export destinations include Mexico, the third-largest importing country, accepting nearly 1.4 million metric tons of U.S. recovered paper in the January-September period, though that figure is down 21 percent year to date.

Almost staying even with its import levels has been Malaysia, whose nearly 810,000 metric tons of outbound U.S. material purchased so far this year is down by just 0.7 percent.

Thailand and Malaysia combined purchased around 965,000 metric tons of U.S. recovered paper in all of 2020. This year, that figure sits at more than 2.49 million metric tons already, representing a 158 percent increase in three years.

Although China has at times banned entire grades of recovered paper from entering through its ports and has placed tight specifications on the remainder, it retains a presence in the U.S. export picture.

U.S. International Trade Commission statistics show China in ninth place with its purchase of slightly more than 500,000 metric tons of U.S. fiber in the first nine months of this year. That total is down by 13.8 percent from last year and is a dramatic drop from the nearly 4.8 million tons of U.S. recovered paper purchased by Chinese mills in 2020.

With several China-based mill companies having expanded into Malaysia and Thailand, it is likely the increased totals purchased in those two countries are still being purchased by paperboard producers based in China but with growing output in Southeast Asia.

So far this year, the top 10 importing countries combined have decreased their purchases of U.S. recovered paper about 13 percent in the first nine months of this year.