The long-awaited quarter three packaging export and recovery data has been released and allows us a glimpse of what the PRN market will do in the last three months of the compliance year.
Clarity’s PRN Trader, Chris Taylor, said of the latest data: “Plastic and glass have been the talking points in PRNs for the last 18 months or so now, and with this latest release of data that continues.
“In response to the shortfalls of plastic reported in the last two quarters, the grade has now risen to as high as £70 this year. Quarter 3 has provided a much stronger performance and moved plastic a little beyond the required levels in order to hit 2013 targets. But we still require a stronger performance for plastic in quarter 4 than we’ve had in the first two quarters in order to hit target.
“There’s also a worry that December tonnage may be bought as carry-over for 2014 and leave the 2013 compliance year short. If that’s the case, it would leave messy loose ends for those involved to tidy up.
“I expect Plastic PRN prices to fall a little in light of this data. In the last week, they fell by as much as £15 as concerned sellers looked to cash in before any possible price crash emerged.”
“Re-melt is performing adequately and looks as though it will hit its targets. Unfortunately, glass other is lagging behind and now requires over 40,000T more than it has managed in previous quarters to hit target in Q4.
“This situation should reduce the price gap between the two glass grades, as other prices rise. It’s likely that buyers will want to make sure they buy Glass Other PRNs to cover their obligations before they have to resort to the more expensive re-melt PRN.”
“Other grades are of little interest at this time as they’ve either hit targets or performed so well that quarter 4 requirements are easily obtainable without much fuss. Metals have largely over-performed this year despite concerns over steel exports.”
If you would like to find out more about our PRN trading service, or to discuss packaging compliance for your business, contact our team on 0845 129 7177.
