The total value of US waste paper imports exceeds that of soybeans and computers

After an American primary school student finishes homework, he throws two pieces of waste paper in the trash. In fact, he may indirectly make a little contribution to Sino-U.S. trade. A month later, the two waste papers together with the several tons of waste paper in the container were transported to a paper mill in China. After processing, they will become new papers. Perhaps the newspaper you read in the morning will have “homework”. "The ingredients.

In recent years, when people talk about “foreign garbage,” people will resist. In particular, some foreign wastes cause serious environmental pollution. This is only one aspect of the problem. The same can not be ignored, in the Sino-US trade, the proportion of garbage trade is increasingly difficult to ignore. Waste paper imports are only a microcosm of the market.

The reporter recently learned from several domestic paper mills that the current price of imported waste paper has soared to the highest point in recent years due to the impact of the Iraq war. For example, the price of old newspapers imported from the United States is close to 160 US dollars per ton, and under normal circumstances, as long as more than 100 US dollars on the line. As the war came to an end, the price of waste paper also dropped.

It is understood that waste paper has become the main raw material for domestic paper mills, and most of them are imported from the United States. According to the “China Paper Industry Annual Report” issued by the China Paper Association, in 2002, China imported 18,748,800 tons of pulp and paper products, and the import value reached US$7,034 million, including 6,872,600 tons of imported waste paper, and the import amount was US$732 million. If it is converted into waste paper, more than half of the raw materials in the domestic paper industry are waste paper, especially in coastal areas such as Zhejiang, where the proportion of waste paper in the province's papermaking fiber raw materials exceeds 76%.

Like waste paper, there are more daily life waste products that have rapidly entered the country from the United States: metals, waste plastics, and soda bottles that have been removed from discarded cars and old home appliances. Every year, a large amount of rubbish is processed and sent to China as a raw material for paper mills, steel mills and other factories.

According to data from the US Department of Commerce, the value of the waste and waste that the United States exported to China last year was estimated at US$1.2 billion, which was only US$194 million five years ago. In this way, rubbish has now become the third largest U.S. export product to China, ranking behind only aircraft and semiconductors, and surpassing soybeans and computers.

"Do not underestimate foreign waste. It has a certain role in promoting the domestic economy." A professor who has engaged in international trade research for many years believes that the huge garbage trade between China and the United States is coming to the table step by step. It can be seen as An illustration of the efficient operation of the global economy.

Imported waste paper has become the main raw material of domestic paper mills

At the end of the Iraq war, domestic paper manufacturers gave a slight relief as the price of the main raw material, waste paper, finally began to fall. Cheng Yu, deputy general manager of Foreign Economic Relations Department of Fujian Nanping Paper Company, told reporters that at the beginning of the war, the price of No. 6 waste paper (old newspapers, newsprint paper's main raw materials) imported from the United States reached the highest point in recent years, at 150 per ton. Between $160 and $100, it's OK.

"We have to import from other countries, the cost is greatly increased." Cheng Hao said. Nan Paper Co., Ltd. is a large-scale paper manufacturing company. The waste paper in raw materials accounts for more than 70%, mainly imported from the United States.

Zhao Wei of the China Paper Association told the reporter, “Don't underestimate the import of waste paper. It has become the blood of the domestic paper industry.” After the US’s scrapped newspapers are collected, packed, and packed, they are shipped to China and are cut into pieces and washed away. The ink, made into pulp and dried, was finally made into newsprint and once again became a newspaper.

According to China's current tariffs, foreign paper and paper products must be levied a tariff of 10% to 25%, while paper pulp, waste paper imports are zero tariffs, which provides favorable conditions for foreign companies to set up factories in China to increase capital.

China is a large country for paper consumption. Taking Shanghai as an example, the annual consumption is about 4 million tons, and the waste paper produced is also one or two million tons. However, the recovery and utilization of waste paper is relatively weak. In 2001, although domestic waste paper recycling reached 9.95 million tons, the recycling rate was only 27%, which was much lower than the world average of 43.7%. According to an industry analyst, compared with developed countries, there are few waste paper recycling outlets in China, the recycling price is too low, and the quality of paper is poor. The economic benefits that waste paper can produce are not very obvious, making the domestic waste paper imports grow rapidly.

According to the American Society of Waste Recycling Industry, the United States exported 2.3 million tons of scrap steel to China last year, equivalent to the total weight of one million Ford vehicles; it exported approximately 450,000 tons of waste plastics to China, which weighs 14.5 billion. Empty plastic soda bottle.

"This is the garbage trade. It is occupying an increasingly important position," said an industry source.

Gu Minda, director of the China National Light Industry Group's Papermaking Secondary Fiber Utilization Collaboration Center, reminded that the foreign trade has fluctua- tively fluctuating, the supply laws are not stable, and the use risk issue has become increasingly apparent. "Relevant departments and enterprises in China should learn from the experience of recycling waste materials from abroad, turn waste into treasure, and earn money."