The global market update from the BIR comes as “many countries move into a new phase of their response to COVID-19″.
Asia
The BIR said China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were slowly returning to normal and customers had begun purchasing normally, with non-ferrous metals volumes appearing to climb 20-30% compared to the previous week.
“The buying mood is being greatly impacted by the prospect of China’s reclassification of ‘recycled material’ which is scheduled to come into effect for brass, copper and cast aluminium alloys on 1 July ,”, the BIR said.
Plastics
According to the BIR, there remains “a feeling of uncertainty” in Europe’s plastics recycling industry.
“European plastics recyclers have little idea themselves how supply will develop in the coming weeks”
This comes as a result of the low prices brought on by the slump in oil prices and “huge excesses in stock”.
However, there are “some glimmers of hope” as companies are being allowed to restart production with the cancelling of some lockdown restrictions, and demand is slowly increasing. Among those to restart is the car industry, a major consumer of recycled raw materials.
The BIR reports that there are “glimmers of hope” as companies are being allowed to gradually restart production.
“European plastics recyclers have little idea themselves how supply – and thus the entire pricing structure – will develop in the coming weeks. In China, factories are resuming production and, as a positive sign, prices of polypropylene and styrenics have increased over the last two weeks,” the update explained.
Textiles
The BIR confirmed that the textile recycling sector is still being hit with low demand, although Eastern and Western European markets are beginning to show signs of improvement, as some graders have restarted production.
However, the update says collections of used textiles in Western Europe remain below normal levels but are also increasing.
Subscribe for free