U.S Exports of Plastics Rose Marginally Through October

The single largest importer of US plastics was Mexico. The exports to Mexico were valued at $1.401 billion during Jan-Oct ’17, accounting for nearly 22% of all shipments by the US during this period.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The exports of Plastics by the US have increased slightly during the initial ten-month period of the current year. According to the latest trade statistics published by the US Census Bureau data, the exports of plastics increased marginally by 1% to total $6.39 billion during Jan-Oct ’17. The imports had totaled only $6.34 billion during the corresponding ten-month period in 2016. The yearly exports had registered 5% year-on-year decline to total $7.52 billion in 2016.

The single largest importer of US plastics was Mexico. The exports to Mexico were valued at $1.401 billion during Jan-Oct ’17, accounting for nearly 22% of all shipments by the US during this period. The exports to the country dropped sharply by over 14% when matched with the corresponding ten-month period in 2016. The second largest foreign market for US plastics was Canada. The Canadian imports of US plastics totaled $1.185 billion, rising sharply by nearly 15% over the previous year. In third place was China with a total market share of approximately 11%. The exports to China surged higher by 50% to $698.374 million during this period. The other main importing countries were Brazil ($439.200 million) and Belgium ($390.93 million).

Almost 64% of all plastics exported by the US during the first ten months of 2017 was to the above five countries. The combined exports to the top five foreign markets totaled $4.11 billion out of the total $6.39 billion.

Among Customs districts, Houston topped with exports valued at $2.67 billion, followed by Laredo ($1.25 billion) and Detroit ($850.7 million).

Meantime, US imports of plastics increased modestly by 5% over the previous year during the opening ten-month period of the current year. The imports totaled $3.63 billion in Jan-Oct ’17 as compared with $3.44 billion during the year-ago period.

The top five exporters of plastics to the US were Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan and South Korea. Canada continued to be the top exporter, shipping $2.997 billion worth plastics to the US. Almost 83% of all plastics imported by the US during Jan-Oct ’17 were from Canada. The imports from Mexico and Germany increased significantly to $110.3 million and $79.7 million respectively. Nearly 91% of all US plastics import were from these five countries.

Duluth, Minn. Customs District accounted for shipments worth nearly $1.029 billion. The shipments by Pembina, N.D. and Detroit Customs Districts totaled $871.4 million and $671.4 million respectively. The other two districts that accounted for a major share of imports were Seattle and Great Falls, Mont. Around 79% of all plastics imports were through these five Customs districts.

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