U.S. Exports of Paper and Paperboard Scrap Dropped 3%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The recent statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests marginal decline in exports of paper and paperboard scrap by the country during the initial eight-month period in 2018. The exports dropped just over 3%. Meantime, the imports recorded sharper decline of almost 14%, when compared with the previous year. The exports totaled $2.09 billion, declining by 3.27% over the previous year. The exports had totaled $2.16 billion during the corresponding eight-month period in 2017.

China continued to remain as the top export destination despite 35% year-on-year decline in export volumes. The exports to China totaled $838.94 million. The other key importers of U.S. paper and paperboard scrap were India (360.31 million), Mexico ($244.43 million), South Korea ($117.06 million) and Canada ($109.64 million). Nearly 80% of all exports by the U.S were to the above five countries. The combined imports by the top five foreign markets totaled $1.67 billion out of the total $2.09 billion.

The U.S. paper and paperboard scrap imports totaled $92.19 million in Jan-Aug ’18. The imports recorded 13.52% decline from the previous year. The country had imported paper and paperboard scrap worth $106.6 million during the initial eight-month period in 2017. Through May this year, Canada was the leading source of import. The imports from Canada totaled $87.26 million, accounting for almost 95% of the total imports of paper and paperboard scrap by the U.S.