COVERAGE NOTE: Proposed OCC Price Assessments for Export/Import to China – Consultation

In light of China’s planned 0.5% contaminant rule on imports of all recovered paper, RISI is considering the following proposal to expand its OCC coverage:

PPI Pulp & Paper Week:

• Launch new price assessments for US exports of Double-Sorted OCC to China FAS US ports;

PPI Asia

• Launch new price assessments for US exports of Double-Sorted OCC CIF main ports in China.

Double-Sorted OCC is grade No. 12 in the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) specifications.

Furthermore, RISI is seeking feedback on changing the destination of US OCC (11) assessments in PPI Pulp & Paper Week FAS US ports from China to Asia (Price IDs 1304, 1298, 1299, 1320), as well as discontinuing CFR China assessments (Price IDs 1042 and 1029).

RISI has contacted ISRI to request clarification on the definition of “Select” OCC (11), specifically what the specifications of “Select” OCC (11) would be and whether it should be treated as a separate grade to standard OCC. In the meantime, RISI will continue to reflect “Select” OCC (11) prices in our assessments of OCC (11) from the US to China.

Feedback is also welcome on whether to discontinue assessments in PPI Asia of OCC (11) from the US CIF main ports in China (Price ID 612), and to add new assessments for OCC imports elsewhere in Asia.

The timeline for the proposed change has yet to be fixed, and it would depend on market developments in 2018. RISI will communicate further on this following consultation with stakeholders. For more information on RISI’s assessment methodology, please see here.

Please send comments to pricing@risi.com, indicating “OCC to Asia Assessments” in the subject line of the email, by the end of April 2018. RISI will publish its final decision and timeline for any changes as soon as possible after this date.