Paper Scrap Exports by the U.S. Surged 4% in 2018

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests marginal increase in exports of paper and paperboard scrap by the country during 2018. The exports were up by 3.72% over the prior year. Meantime, the imports recorded decline of almost 8% year-on-year. The U.S. exports totaled $3.29 billion in 2018, as compared with the 2017 exports of $3.18 billion.

China continued to remain as the top export destination despite 21% year-on-year decline in export volumes. The exports to China totaled $1.35 billion. The other key importers of U.S. paper and paperboard scrap were India (530.45 million), Mexico ($367.97 million), South Korea ($190.68 million) and Canada ($166.15 million). Nearly 79% of all exports by the U.S were to the above five countries. The combined imports by the top five foreign markets totaled $2.61 billion out of the total $3.29 billion.

The U.S. paper and paperboard scrap imports totaled $140.7 million in 2018. The imports recorded 7.63% decline from the previous year. The country had imported paper and paperboard scrap worth $152.32 million during 2017.

The leading source of import was Canada, whose supplies totaled $132.86 million. The country accounted for 94.43% of all imports of paper and paperboard scrap by the U.S. in 2018. The imports from the country reported a decline of over 7% from 2017. The other primary suppliers were Mexico ($7.18 million), China ($424,216), Nepal ($51,655) and Brazil ($33,840).