Recovered Fiber Import Permits Declined 13%: China Customs

The Chinese permits for recovered paper imports till date 2019 are down significantly when compared with 2018. The permits issued so far this year totaled 8.6 million short tons, which is 13% lower upon comparison with the permits of 9.9 million short tons during the same period last year.

The country’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the fifth round of import permits last week, approving nearly 2.5 million short tons of recovered fiber. The permits spiked when compared with the prior three permits which totaled 11,000 short tons, 67,000 short tons and 476,000 short tons. The initial permit for 2019 had totaled 5.6 million short tons of recovered fiber.

Meantime, the latest import statistics published by the Chinese Customs authorities indicate that the actual imports continue to remain much lesser than the amount permitted for import. During the initial two months of 2019, only 1.7 million short tons of recovered fiber were imported by Chinese companies, which correspond to only 26% of 6.1 million short tons that were permitted for import during this period. The actual imports stood lower than the 2.8 million short tons imported during Jan-Feb ’18.

The Chinese officials announced that the government plans to put an end to all “solid waste” imports by the end of 2019, contrary to media reports which hinted at easing up of restrictions on foreign trash by the country.