Chinese Recovered Fiber Imports Registered 39% Decline

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The latest trade statistics published by China’s General Administration of Customs suggests significant decline in imports of recycled paper by the country in 2019.

The country imported 11.4 million short tons of recovered fiber during the entire year 2019. This is significantly down by 39% when compared with the prior year. The Chinese imports of the material had totalled 18.8 million short tons in 2018. Since 2015, the country’s import volume has witnessed steady decline, Customs data said.

ALSO READ: Tariffs on Recovered Fiber Imports Continue Despite U.S.-China Trade Deal

Meantime, the permits for recovered paper imports issued in 2020 suggest that the import volumes are likely to see further compression. The combined approved permits in two rounds so far this year amounted to 3.5 million tons of recovered fiber. Durign the similar period in 2019, the country had approved approximately 6.1 million short tons of recovered fiber for import.

The yearly recovered fiber import permits are likely to be restricted to around 7 .7 million short tons in 2020, said research firm RISI. The reduced permits are in line with China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s plan to ban all recovered fiber imports by end of the current year.