2024 Top 100 Importers & Exporters
the Chinese-owned Nine Dragons Group , which has several mills in the US , said Nick Halper , president of The Paper Tigers , a broker of paper and secondary fiber brokerage . “ For us , it ’ s a domestic sale ,” he said . Mainland China ’ s share of overall US paper and forest product exports grew to 32 % last year from 28.5 % in 2022 , but that was still down from 39.3 % in 2018 , according to PIERS . An exporter of paper and forest products who asked not to be identified said shippers also face fierce competition from South America , particularly Brazil .
“ US mills are all very old , and they ’ re not producing to where they should be at the moment ,” the source said . “ The Brazilians have taken customers from the US for hardwood products , but now they are coming after our core , the softwood pine , which is used to make a lot of feminine hygiene products and baby products like diapers . In Brazil , there is a lot of breakbulk and container capacity , and the ocean carriers provide service to Europe and Asia .”
Uncertainty around the Houthis targeting vessels in the Red Sea are also a concern because re-routing through the Cape of Good Hope gives a transit time advantage to Brazilian exports compared with the US .
Economics in China and the US also factor in forest product demand . US lumber exports are sent to China to build residential and commercial properties and to build furniture that is then imported back to the US . Weakness in China ’ s real estate market and tepid demand for furniture in the US has reduced demand for lumber exports , a multi-year headwind that shows no signs of reversing in the near term .
email : ari . ashe @ spglobal . com
Monthly paper and forest exports see first yoy growth since 2021
Monthly containerized US paper and forest product exports , in laden TEUs , with year-over-year percentage change
TEU volume
70,000 60,000 50,000 100,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000
Source : PIERS , S & P Global
10 %
-40 % -10 %
-20 %
0 -30%
Jan L 2022 Apr Jul Oct Jan 2023 Apr Jul Oct Jan 2024 TEU
Year-over-year % change
Paper and forest products
EXPORTS
659,912 TEUS ↓8.8 %
Change from 2022
↓8.2 %
5-year compound annual growth rate
Allan Company America Chung Nam
Central National Gottesman
CMPC Maderas Domtar Ekman Group Fibre Trade
Genesis Resource Enterprises
Graphic Packaging International
International Forest Products
International Paper Khanna Paper
Newport CH International
Potential Industries Vipa Group WestRock Winfibre
0 %
Year-over-year % change
© 2024 S & P Global
Out of the dumps
US recyclables exports snap three-year skid in 2023
By Bill Mongelluzzo
US exports of scrap paper , metals and plastics increased in 2023 after three consecutive down years , although exports of recyclables remained below the levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic levels .
Containerized recyclable exports totaled 1.4 million TEUs last year , up 6.9 % over 2022 but down 7.1 % from a peak of 1.5 million TEUs in pre-pandemic 2019 , according to PIERS , a Journal of Commerce sister product within S & P Global .
US exporters of recyclables have faced a number of economic and logistics challenges over the past four years , including plunging demand from Asia when numerous factories shut down during initial COVID-19
“ This definitely sets the table for export opportunities .”
pandemic lockdowns , congested ports and supply chain bottlenecks during the pandemic-induced trade boom of 2021 – 22 and stringent environmental restrictions in China as authorities clamped down on the import of adulterated recycled commodities .
China for years was the largest market for many categories of recyclables , but its imports are about onetenth of the 20 million tons of scrap products shipped to China in 2011 , according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries ( ISRI ). In 2023 , mainland China wasn ’ t even a top-five market for US recyclables , having been supplanted by India , which received 20.2 % of outbound shipments , Thailand ( 17.1 %), Malaysia ( 15.8 %), Taiwan ( 13.7 %) and Vietnam ( 11.4 %), according to PIERS .
Shippers of recyclables say volumes could increase slightly in 2024 , but the relative weakness of overseas economies compared to the US economy means US producers of scrap products will turn first to the domestic market . Through the first two months of the year , containerized recyclables exports have fallen 14.9 % from the same 2023 period , according to PIERS .
“ The shift in consumption favors the domestic market ,” said Nick Halper , president of scrap paper shipper The Paper Tigers .
50 Journal of Commerce | May 20 , 2024 www . joc . com