Attached is your PO for deliveries of recyclables during March2023.

The value of recyclables is relatively flat this month.While most material grades did not change, a couple of grades moved up and a couple of grades moved down, counterbalancing each other in the overall market value.

In the Pacific Northwest (PNW), demand from domestic paper mills is picking up again this month as many mills have decent levels of box orders.  With consumer generation being down, there isn’t enough OCC to meet both export and domestic demand.  This supply shortage improved domestic OCC pricing a little.  However, the same is not true for export OCC pricing.  Export market demand dropped as the expected rebound in the Chinese economy did not happen.  So, export OCC prices dropped substantially.  As most of the produced OCC goes towards the domestic market, a small increase in domestic prices and large drop in export prices led to a marginal improvement in OCC value.  Mixed paper demand and prices did not move this month.

Again, this month, HDPE Natural demand is strong.  As a result, pricing for this grade improved slightly.  But, all other grades of plastic remained flat.  Consumer generation of all plastics is suppressed, but the corresponding demand for recycled plastics is also lower.  The supply and demand of most plastic grades is in equilibrium and pricing did not move.

As for metals, tin prices remained flat.  UBC value, however, dropped for the first time in several months.  China’s aluminum production is low again this month, and the Russia-Ukraine War still has many nations not buying aluminum from Russia.  But, the global consumption of aluminum has dropped substantially and created a lower demand for UBC.

In general, we see that domestic OCC and HDPE Natural values are up and export OCC and UBC are down.  All other grades being flat, the overall recyclables value didn’t move much.

In the last few months, we have experienced improvement in the recyclables market.  We believe that this month’s plateau in recyclables value is not a bad sign for our economic future.  Rather, the market is settling out.  All indications are that U.S. economic recovery should still occur late this year.

During these unpredictable times, we will always strive to obtain the best pricing available and to provide you with the best possible service.  It is our pleasure to work with you to recycle material and to protect our environment.  We appreciate you and thank you for your business.

Stay Safe!  Enjoy this Holiday season.

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