This surge in demand is being influenced by a busy period of manufacturing as the Far East prepares plastic toys for Western retail markets in time for Christmas.
The demand, if seasonal, may be short lived and is expected, according to some experts, to lull after the Christmas period with the Far East returning to importing less plastic bottles and film again. The return to pre-Christmas import patterns of last year started about eight months ago and has stung plastics prices until about two months ago, when turn-around helped to stabilise plastics prices.
The Far East has been a popular location for secondary plastic imports such as bottles due to sorting procedures being a labour intensive process – in countries such as China, labour costs are cheaper than in the West.
According to Liz Parkinson of Preston Plastics Recovery, no particular grade or type of plastic was affected more than another, with all types suffering a slump in prices up until the last month or so. This slump, she says, reduced plastics prices by as much as 10 to 20% in cases.
“This period always sees an increase in demand from the Far East as manufacturing increases. Before now, there wasn’t much demand for plastics in the Far East,” confirmed Ms Parkinson.
As the Far East is back in the market now, consumption of plastics seems to be growing faster than supply.
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