Board Converting News, March 1, 2021

Paper And Plastics Exports To China Drop Again In 2020

Box Shipments ( U.S. Corrugated Product Shipments) Industry Shipments In Billions of Square Feet Month December 2020

According to a report on resource-recycling.com , re- covered paper shipments from the U.S. to China slowed immensely in 2020, newly released figures show. Mean- while, scrap plastic exports decreased during the year, but shipments to certain countries grew sharply. The U.S. Census Bureau recently released trade data for December 2020, allowing for a full-year analysis of recovered commodity exports. Recovered fiber exports totaled 15.9 million short tons in 2020, down from 18.3 million short tons the prior year. That’s the lowest volume exported since 2003. It’s also down 27 percent from 2016, before China and other countries announced significant import restrictions on recovered commodities. China bought the bulk of U.S. recovered fiber in 2020, importing 4.8 million short tons; however, that’s an 18 percent decrease from the 5.9 million short tons China brought in during the previous year. December 2020 represented by far the lowest total for monthly recovered fiber shipments to China on record, and November was the second-lowest. Monthly shipments to China hit a peak in December 2007, when they totaled 1.9 million short tons. The December 2020 volume is just two percent of that peak. The Chinese government reduced its import permit approvals as 2020 progressed.

Year

Actual

Percent Change Avg Week Percent Change

2020 2019

34.916 31.332

11.4

8.729 7.833

11.4

Industry Total

Year-to Date

December 2020

Year

Actual

Percent Change Avg Week Percent Change

2020 2019

406.776 393.483

3.4

8.071 7.838

3.0

Industry Total

Containerboard Consumption (Thousands of Tons)

Year

Month

Percent Change Year-to-Date Percent Change

2020 2019

2.7727 2.5660

8.1

33.0739 32.3005

2.4

Container Board Inventory - Corrugator Plants (Thousands of Tons)

Corrugator Plants Only

Date

Percent Change Weeks of Supply

Percent Change

Dec. Nov.

1.8921 1.7912

5.6

2.7 2.5

8.0

Shipping Days

Year

Month

Year-to-Date

2020 2019

20 20

252 251

SOURCE: Fibre Box Association

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March 1, 2021

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