The market for all of the residential paper grades declined significantly for August. The why feels like “deja’ vu all over again”. In the past two weeks the Chinese government has announced that they will no longer purchase Mixed Paper as well as all residential scrap plastics of all types by the end of this… Read more »
Market Conditions July 2017
The market for July, while a mixed bag among the grades, has continued to improve overall, primarily due to increases in MIX Paper and Newspaper. The increase in paper pricing is a continuation of the trend of the past three months where paper pricing is responding to mill demand after the disruption of National Sword… Read more »
Market Conditions June 2017
The overall yield value for ResMix has improved significantly in June due almost exclusively to an increase in paper pricing, most notably for cardboard. As usual the underlying causes of the improved pricing have both a local as well as an international story. Locally, domestic linerboard and medium mills have full order backlogs and are… Read more »
Market Conditions January 2017
The market for recyclables, especially for paper grades has continued to improve over the past four weeks. All of us want to know why and how long these improved prices will last. The why is straightforward but often misunderstood. It is misunderstood because the why is a series of actions (or a chain reaction) that… Read more »
Market Conditions December 2016
The market for recyclables, especially for the paper grades has continued to improve for January. The story here is demand, specifically a shift in demand. (In this case, a shift to the right). Given the vertical supply curve for co-mingled recyclables, when demand shifts the reaction from price will be significant which was certainly the… Read more »
MARKET CONDITIONS NOVEMBER 2016
Overall, pricing for November is improved from October. The improvement is based on a number of factors which are likely to be temporary with one notable exception, which is the overall strength of the US Economy. The temporary factors include Chinese importers competing with each other to expand their total imports in 2016 because their… Read more »
MARKET CONDITIONS OCTOBER 2016
Pricing for recyclables in October is down significantly, especially for all of the paper grades. The causal factors of this decline are both the normal seasonal drop in demand and the surprise bankruptcy of Hanjin Container Line, which was a large container shipping company based in South Korea. Hajin filed for bankruptcy in early September… Read more »
MARKET CONDITIONS SEPTEMBER 2016
The market for recyclable materials, especially the paper grades, has been impacted by the usual fundamentals but also emotion, drama and even political influence over the past few weeks. Pricing first moved up dramactically and then reveresed just as drastically to end up very near the pricing we enjoyed in August. To explain, the fundamentals… Read more »
MARKET CONDITIONS AUGUST 2016
Once again, the market for recyclable materials in August is mixed with the paper grades moving strongly higher, metals slightly higher and plastics lower. The decline in the plastic grades was modest which has allowed the overall yield value of ResMix to move significantly higher. The movement in price for the paper grades was… Read more »
Market Conditions July 2016
The market for recyclables materials in July is mixed with the paper grades moving higher and virtually all of the rigid grades (ALU, TIN, HDPE Natural, HDPE Color, Film and #3-#7 plastic) moving lower. The decline in the rigid grades has tempered the overall movement upward for the yield value of ResMix. Happily, when you… Read more »