Waste Paper Imports by China Likely to Decline Substantially by 10%-20% in 2018

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A new research report predicts substantial decline in waste paper import volumes by China during the current year. According to the report titled “Research Report on China’s Waste Paper Import, 2018-2022” published by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the import volumes are likely to drop by 10%-20% in 2018, when compared with the previous year levels.

The sharp decline is mainly attributed to the recent import controls introduced by the Chinese administration including lowering of impurity threshold to 0.5% and new rules imposed on importing companies which makes it extremely difficult for small and medium-sized companies to obtain quotas. The reduced import levels may drive prices of waste paper to new high, as imports account for more than 30% of total waste paper requirement by Chinese papermaking industry. Incidentally, China is currently the world’s largest importer of waste paper, accounting for nearly 60% of the global trade.

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The Chinese paper and paperboard output will continue to increase during the period from 2018 to 2022. The production had increased sharply marginally by 3% to touch 125.42 million tons in 2017. Meantime, the import volumes are likely to increase from 2019 onwards, backed by strong rise in demand for waste paper and inability of domestic waste paper to meet the increased demand.

The import volume of waste paper had declined by 9.8% in 2017 to total 25.72 million tons, valued at $21.22 billion. The approved waste paper import quotas had totaled 28.1076 million tons during the year. The average price of import had reached $824.9 per ton, recording 36% surge over the previous year. The largest sources of waste paper imports in 2017 were the U.S, Europe, Japan and Canada.