Introduction
This section of the data portal provides a summary of developments in the UK’s recovered paper market. The data presented here comes from respected, publicly available and regularly updated sources on the internet. By following the link(s) above the graphics, you can find out more details on the source of the data and visit the sites to access the full data.
The current highlights and trends are:
Recovered paper prices
• News & PAM prices have fluctuated over recent months and prices in December stood at around £95 per tonne, similar to prices at the start of the year. OCC also saw prices drop to £67 at the end of the year. Mixed paper and board prices have also fluctuated, fetching around £30 towards the end of the year.
UK / Trade
• UK exports of recovered paper increased over the last few months of 2018, rising from 342kt in August 2018, to 446kt in November 2018. This is 50kt more than levels seen 12 months prior.
• UK mill usage of recovered paper was estimated at 282kt in October 18 around 50kt more than usage seen 12 months previously.
Paper PRN prices
• Paper PRN prices were trading at around £15 per tonne in December 2018. They have seen strong growth throughout 2018, having started the year at £1.50 per tonne.
• Paper packaging recycling totalled 241kt in Q32018, a decrease of around 40kt on the previous quarter and almost 34kt less than the same quarter the previous year. Exports of paper packaging fell by around 50kt to 142kt between the second and third quarters of 2018 while UK reprocessing was broadly stable at around 95-99kt.
Pulp
• Pulp prices continued to rise, reaching £955 per tonne in early September