U.S. Plastic Scrap Exports Collapsed 28%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The exports of plastic waste and scrap by the U.S. recorded sharp decline during the first ten months of the current year. The Jan-Oct ’18 exports collapsed by 28.17% over the previous year to total $392.36 million, said most recent trade data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. It must be noted that the exports had totaled $546.22 million during the corresponding ten-month period in 2017.

Canada emerged as the primary destination of U.S. plastic scrap exports. The exports to that country increased marginally by nearly 2% year-on-year to total $58.74 million. The U.S. exports to Malaysia and Hong Kong totaled $54.96 million and $46.28 million respectively. The other two major importers were India ($42.31 million) and Thailand ($39.9 million).

The combined shipments to the above top five foreign markets totaled $242.2 million of scrap plastics, accounting for almost 62% of the total U.S. exports.

Meantime, imports of plastic scrap witnessed notable jump by 12.13% during the ten-month period of the year. The country imported $203.09 million, higher by 12.13% when matched with the Jan-Oct ’17 imports of $181.11 million.

The top exporter to the U.S. was Mexico, whose exports witnessed nearly 19% jump over the previous year. The shipments from the neighboring country totaled $84 million, representing over 41% of total U.S. imports. The other main supplier was Canada with shipments of $40.18 million. The above two countries were responsible for more than 61% of the total imports of plastic scrap by the U.S.