Plastic Imports by the US Surged 6% in Jan-Sep '17

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The exports of Plastics by the US have remained more or less flat during the first nine months of the current year. In accordance with the latest trade data published by the US Census Bureau data, the exports of plastics remained unchanged at $5.74 billion through September this year. The imports had totaled $5.74 billion during Jan-Sep ’16 too. Among the various export commodity groups, plastics were ranked 32 in terms of value of exports. It must be noted that the US had exported plastics worth $7.52 billion during the entire year 2016.

The single largest importer of US plastics was Mexico. The exports to Mexico were valued at $1.263 billion during Jan-September ’17, accounting for over 22% of all shipments by the US during this period. The exports to the country dropped sharply by nearly 15% over the corresponding nine-month period in 2016. The second largest foreign market for US plastics was Canada. The exports to that country totaled $1.046 billion, rising sharply by nearly 15% over the year. In third place was China with a total market share of approximately 11%. The exports to China surged higher by 52.94% to $635.8 million during this period. The other main importing countries were Brazil ($389.3 million) and Belgium ($356.0 million).

64% of all plastics exported by the US during the first three quarters of 2017 was to the above five countries. The combined exports to the top five foreign markets totaled $3.69 billion.

Among Customs districts, Houston topped with exports valued at $2.42 billion, followed by Laredo ($1.13 billion) and Detroit ($745.9 million).

Meantime, US imports of plastics recorded 6% jump year-on-year during the opening nine-month period of 2017. The imports were up from $3.08 billion during the previous year to $3.27 billion in 2017.

The top five plastics suppliers to the US were Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan and South Korea. Canada- the top exporter shipped $2.73 billion worth plastics to the US. The country accounted for 83.5% of all plastics imports by the US during the nine-month period. The imports from Mexico and Germany increased significantly to $93.1 million and $62.1 million respectively. These top five countries accounted for nearly 92% of US imports.

Duluth, Minn. Customs District was responsible for shipments worth nearly $918 million. The shipments by Pembina, N.D. and Detroit Customs Districts totaled $804.6 million and $622.2 million respectively. The other two districts that accounted for a major share of imports were Seattle and Great Falls, Mont. Nearly 80% of all plastics imports were through these five Customs districts.