July 2023 Recycling | State of the Industry Update

As we start the month of July, the good news is that the West Coast Longshoremen have reached a tentative agreement with the ports. Though things are still running a bit rough at most ports, this can only be seen as a positive for our industry. Markets for most pulp subs and de-inked grades continue to fall and in many instances, fall by large amounts due to the flood of cheap Eucalyptus pulp. These low pulp prices have been pushing these grades down for months and though most believe we are nearing the bottom, we are not there yet. For brown grades, there seems to be conflicting information on demand with some saying they are still getting constant inquiries to those saying that it is slowing down due to high finished product inventories and lower demand for corrugated products. However, the supply side has been decreasing for a few months and as we enter the summer months this typically continues. I believe this is the only reason we have not seen much on price decreases so far on OCC. Transportation costs continue to move back toward more “normal” rates but we all await what will happen to the general economy in the months ahead.

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