[Weekly International Market Analysis of Recycled PC] Overseas Maintenance Concentrates, High-End Recycled PC Exports

During this period (July 3 to July 9), the international recycled PC market focused on overseas maintenance shutdowns, port arrivals, import costs, and downstream rigid demand. With concentrated maintenance shutdowns in South Korea and Taiwan, China, coupled with feedstock shortages in Southeast Asia, imports of overseas transparent PC pellets declined sharply, while offshore quotations for high-end cargoes strengthened.

Overseas device maintenance concentrated outbreak: The main recycled PC facilities in Incheon, South Korea, and Taoyuan, Taiwan, have entered a routine maintenance period, resulting in a significant reduction in capacity release. The import volume of transparent PC pellets from China decreased by 18.7% month-on-month. In Southeast Asia, the core raw material supply of waste optical discs for recycled PC factories is scarce, maintaining a low operational capacity of 50%-58% for an extended period, only able to produce ordinary industrial-grade recycled PC, with a supply gap for high-end transparent materials.

Import costs continued to rise. On the one hand, maintenance shutdowns in Japan and South Korea pushed up overseas spot prices; on the other hand, rising freight rates on Far East shipping routes increased logistics costs. The import window for recycled PC has completely closed, and domestic traders have reduced bulk overseas purchases, with only end-use companies making small replenishment purchases for essential needs.

This week, the operating capacity of domestic recycled PC inspection stood at 428,000 tonnes, with a weekly net capacity loss of 12,100 tonnes. The contraction in domestic supply, coupled with a sharp decline in overseas arrivals, has led to a visible supply-demand gap. Downstream demand from the new energy and precision electronics sectors remains stable, sustaining demand for high-end transparent recycled PC and driving steady increases in overseas spot quotations for premium material. In contrast, supply of ordinary industrial-grade recycled PC in Southeast Asia remains ample, keeping offshore prices at low levels and widening the price spread between product categories.

In the short term, the maintenance cycles in Japan and South Korea have not yet ended, and the supply gap for waste optical disc materials in Southeast Asia is difficult to quickly fill. The supply of high-end recycled PC overseas remains tight, and external quotations are likely to rise but hard to fall, with import arrival volumes expected to maintain a low level of operation.

(The data in this article is compiled from publicly available information and is for market reference only. It does not constitute any investment or trading advice.)