US Plastics Exports Remained Stable Through August

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The exports of Plastics by the US have remained more or less flat during the initial eight-month period of the current year. According to the latest trade data published by the US Census Bureau data, the exports of plastics remained unchanged at $5.16 billion through August this year. The imports had totaled $5.16 billion during Jan-Aug ’16 too. By value of exports, the commodity was ranked 32 among the various export commodity groups. It must be noted that US plastics exports were valued at $7.52 billion for the last full year.

The largest export destination of US plastics was Mexico. The exports were valued at $1.120 billion during Jan-August ’17, accounting for nearly 22% of all shipments by the US during this period. The exports to the country dropped sharply by 15.72% over the corresponding eight-month period in 2016. The second largest foreign market for US plastics was Canada. The exports to that country amounted to $930.0 million, up sharply by 15.65% over the year. In third place was China with a total market share of 11.40%. The exports to China surged higher by 57.87% to $588.2 million during this period. The other key export destinations were Brazil ($347.2 million) and Belgium ($324.8 million).

The combined exports to the top five markets through August totaled $3.31 billion, accounting for 64% of all exports.

Among Customs districts, Houston topped with exports valued at $2.20 billion. The shipments from Houston accounted for nearly 43% of the total shipments and registered 2% year-on-year increase. Laredo accounted for 19.43% market share by shipping just over $1 billion worth of plastics. However, shipments from Laredo plunged heavily by almost 17% when matched with the previous year. By value of exports, Detroit emerged as the third biggest Customs district. The exports from Detroit surged higher by 12.33% over the previous year to total $664.34 million. Los Angeles and New Orleans with exports of $437.7 million and $232.5 million respectively were the other key ports to export plastics from the US.

The exports from the top five Customs districts constituted 88% of the total plastic exports by the US during Jan-August in 2017.

Meantime, the US exports of miscellaneous plastic articles during the initial eight months of 2017 reported 7% jump when matched with the year before. The exports totaled $4.51 billion as compared with $4.23 billion in 2016. The top three export destinations were Mexico, Canada and China. Laredo, El Paso and Detroit emerged as the top three Customs districts, in terms of total value of exports.