ISRI reports end-of-year slump for US recovered paper exports

Recovered paper exports from the United States were down all last year and continued their decline through the end of 2023, according to the most recent data from the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. International Trade Commission.

U.S. exports of recovered paper were down 18 percent in 2023 compared with 2022, going from 16 million metric tons in 2022 to little more than 13 million metric tons last year—the lowest total over the past five years. Prior to 2023, the lowest recovered export total was 14.8 million metric tons in 2020.

India remained the top buyer of U.S. recovered paper but imported nearly 31 percent less in 2023 than it did in 2022—the largest decrease of any top 10 country—and of the top 10 destinations, only Thailand and Malaysia recorded year-to-date increases. In fact, Thailand and Malaysia are the only two countries in the top 10 to increase their imports every year since 2019.

India supplanted China in 2021 as the top importer of recovered paper from the U.S. In 2023, India took in 2.5 million metric tons—its lowest figure since 2020.

Thailand followed closely behind, importing 2.3 million metric tons of U.S. recovered paper in 2023, a more than 15 percent increase from its 2022 imports. Those 2.3 million tons also are the most exported to Thailand in five years. In 2019, Thailand imported 522,583 metric tons of U.S. recovered paper and by 2021, had jumped to nearly 2 million metric tons.

Mexico and Vietnam, the third- and fourth-ranked destinations, saw double-digit decreases year over year. Mexico imported 1.8 million metric tons of U.S. recovered paper in 2023, down 23.4 percent from 2022, while Vietnam imported 1.5 million metric tons, down almost 19 percent year to date.

Exports to Malaysia were up 13.3 percent in 2023 compared with 2022. Last year, Malaysia imported 1.3 million metric tons of recovered paper from the U.S.—a stark difference from the 181,930 metric tons imported in 2019.

Taiwan (742,835 metric tons), Canada (747,182), South Korea (619,608), China (643,992) and Indonesia (426, 347) round out the top 10 destinations for U.S. recovered paper.

ISRI notes that while U.S. recovered paper exports to China decreased nearly 13 percent year over year, some paper exports sent to surrounding Asian countries find their way to China “in one form or another.” By value, U.S. exports of recovered paper to China declined 45 percent to $153.6 million in 2023.

As of November 2023, the overall value of U.S. recovered paper exports had dropped nearly 30 percent to $2.29 billion.