Recycling industry information provider Recycling International announced that the growing demand for high-quality sorted clothing.
In Europe, premium and No 1 qualities are proving saleable to Eastern Europe and Africa in particular, with the result that many sorting companies have increased their capacities.
In North America, material generation has been affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita; there is currently a slight shortage of wiping cloth material and demand is quite firm.
Europe
Experts in Europe are broadly agreed on the current status of sorted used clothing sales, describing the market as somewhere between satisfactory and good. Overall, it would be fair to say that the used clothing business is considerably less tense than 12 months ago.
In late September and early October, premium and No 1 qualities have proved readily saleable in the European Union and in Eastern Europe.
Buyers in Africa have also been ordering considerably larger volumes as a consequence of the seasonal upturn in their domestic sales of secondhand clothing. In line with this rising demand, there has also been a slight improvement in the payment performance of many customers.
The majority of European sorting companies have increased their capacities and many are currently running at full tilt. As a result, the growth in demand for high-quality original material is expected to last until at least the end of October. It is hoped that, despite therecent onset of autumn collections, there will be no repeat of the huge over-supply witnessed in previous years.
Despite the rising prices of raw material, it has become virtually impossible to achieve higher returns on these grades.
Prices of wiping cloths are stable, with supply and demand appearing to be broadly in balance. A similar situation applies to the recycling grades whereas bed feathers are continuing to enjoy very strong demand.
North America
Business conditions in North America continue to be fairly strong partly because a considerable number of sorting companies have shut up shop over recent years and have
left more opportunities for those that remain. Jerry Usatch of Dumont Export Corp in Pittsburgh adds that customers do not have as many options when shopping for material as in the past. If you have good-quality merchandise, it has become easier to sell these days. Prices of original material from collections increased some months ago and have been stable ever since.
Material generation has been good although supplies are not huge - a factor which has affected margins. One of the reasons behind the lack of supply has been the impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on collections in the Gulf Coast region of the USA.
Sales of sorted clothing from the USA are currently good. ?t? a matter of numbers,?Mr Usatch continues. ?ince there are not as many goods available, it? easier to sell what
you?e got and currently no company has huge stocks. There simply isn? enough unutilised capacity around.
Recycling International reaches more than 6000 decision-makers within the international recycling community. Furthermore, research indicates that a further 12 000 people read the magazine when it arrives at their company offices, thereby pushing the total readership figure beyond 18 000.
