Because of the warm summer, there are "enormous” arisings of post-consumer single-use PET bottles from deposit systems in Germany. Even recyclers have been selling off bottles and briquettes in recent weeks in order to make room. All the storage facilities are full and external warehouses are now being rented to handle the deliveries, recyclers say. Sometimes, acceptance of contracted volumes is being postponed for up to a week so recyclers can get some breathing room. Supermarket chains and other collection points are also apparently looking for new ways of managing the large arisings.
Some recyclers reportedly now have stocks large enough to take them into new year. "With my current inventory levels, I will not need to buy any more bottles until January”, commented one recycler. Many respondents said they had never seen such a supply surplus.
Nevertheless, recyclers were only asking for moderate price reductions when purchasing bottles in August, as traders and waste management companies also confirmed. Theoretically, larger price cuts should have been possible, but recyclers feel they are walking a fine line. On the one hand, once winter rolls around and volumes become tighter again, the collection points might want to reverse any major price cuts that are pushed through now. On the other hand, it would be almost impossible to convince converters – who still have very good demand – to accept price hikes for flakes and regranulate if bottle prices collapse.
The full market report including the price changes in August appears in the new issue of EUWID Recycling and Waste Management on 5 September 2018. Online subscribers can already access the report here:
