U.S. Plastic Scrap Exports Surged in Q3 This Year

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The export figures published by the U.S. Census Bureau under the Department of Commerce indicates that plastic scrap exports continued to trend lower in the month of September this year. The exports in the third quarter of the year were up, in comparison with the same quarter a year before. However, year-to-date exports stood lower in 2020.

The U.S. exports of plastic scrap totalled 377 million pounds in Q3 this year. This is slightly higher when compared with the exports of 343 million pounds during the prior year quarter. The largest importer of plastic scrap from the U.S. was Canada. The country’s imports from the U.S. totalled 88 million pounds. The other key export destinations were Malaysia (76 million pounds), Mexico (44 million pounds), Vietnam (32 million pounds) and Hong Kong (19 million pounds).

Incidentally, Malaysia’s imports almost tripled during the quarter over the previous year. Also, they were the largest quarterly import volume by that country since mid-2018. Also, the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government have resulted in huge drop in exports to that country. The Chinese imports of U.S. scrap plastics totalled just 14 million during the quarterly period ended September 30^th, 2020.

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