Recycled prices stabilize after downturn in the last quarter.

* Recycled resin prices have seen a bit of a downturn in the last three months, primarily due to excess supply over demand. Some oversupply was due to the great amount of wide-spec on the market and the slowdown of exports to Asia. But recyclers warn that prices may be ready to turn back upward.

R-HDPE firms up

Recycled HDPE pricing has mirrored virgin pricing with a 14- to 30-day delay, industry observers say. After a downturn in wide-spec and virgin HDPE prices in late May, recycled HDPE prices took a dip in June. But in mid-August, prices were almost back to spring levels.

"Once virgin prices go up, the people that sell the bales ask more for them and we've ultimately got to sell our product for more," says one reprocessor. "I expect prices to go up again in August. Business is good. We're sold out, and there is not a whole lot of scrap out there."

R-PS prices soft

During the last quarter, recycled polystyrene prices fell at least a nickel in most markets. Recyclers say that fall is due mostly to prime-resin manufacturers, which dropped a lot of wide-spec material on the market. "Prices of wide spec went from the mid-seventies to the low sixties in 30 days," says one recycler. "The market is a lot softer than it was three months ago. Back then, I was getting calls from China every day from people looking for material. Those calls have stopped."

Peak demand for recycled PS is usually September through March, but recyclers were unwilling to predict where the market was headed.

R-PET: firming up?

Demand for recycled PET has dropped. With supplies plentiful, prices fell 3cents to 5cents/lb in the last three months. A glut of off-spec material was one factor. Reprocessors say virgin suppliers drove down prices in an effort to shrink their inventories. However, most observers expect PET prices to begin stabilizing this month.

RECYCLED RESIN PRICES

                        Pellets    Flake
                        cents/lb   cents/lb

PET Bottles (Clean)
Clear Post-Consumer     62-65      52-55
Green Post-Consumer     52-53      45-48

HDPE (Clean)
Natural Post-Consumer   50-55      34-39
Mixed Colors            42-49      33-38

Polystyrene
Post-Consumer
 High Impact
  Black                 58-63      43-47
  Natural               55-60      --
 General Purpose
  Black                 40-42      25-30
  Natural               50-55      37-41

Polypropylene
Post-Industrial         34-40      30-32
Post-Consumer           30-32      --

Polyethylene Film
Post-Consumer
 Stretch                28         --
 Printed/Mixed          13         --
Post-Industrial
 Printed                20         --
 Not Printed            24         --

PVC
Post-Industrial
 Flexible               55-65      --
 Rigid                  60-73      --