With the growth of globalization and the increased demand on raw materials, the prices of basic commodities such as minerals, metals, wood, and paper have been volatile and have risen sharply since 2000. This has stimulated the trade in reusable waste and scrap materials, including international trade. Today’s market size is the value of all waste and scrap material exported from the United States in 2000 and in 2011.
The graph presents these data as well as the figures for the intervening years. It also shows by a differentiation in color on each bar the approximate share of the increased export value that is attributable to rising commodity prices and the share that is the result of actual increased volume. The dark blue portion of each bar is the value of exports in 2000 multiplied by the international commodity price index for minerals, ores and metals. (Please note that the Waste & Scrap category as a whole includes more than just minerals, ores and metals—although they do dominate the trade—therefore this calculation provides only an approximation). The lighter blue portion of each bar is the value of exports in excess of the inflation-adjusted value of exports in the year 2000.
Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2000 and 2011
Market size: $5.12 and $32.74 billion respectively
Source: “U.S. International Trade Statistics,” (910 Waste and Scrap), a searchable database presented by the Census Bureau and availalble online here. The commodity price index data used to calculate the inflation adjusted value of the 2000 exports is from “Free Market Commodity Price Indices, 1960–2011,” a report from the United National Conference on Trade and Development available online here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census and the UNCTAD
Posted on September 24, 2012
Quite a fascinating post — especially for someone who used to follow such matters very closely. In the realm of “commodities,” of which waste is, as it were, one such category, leaping demand is always expressed as inflating prices. The reason is that the absolute magnitudes that can be generated are fixed, as it were, by “nature.” We are unlikely to junk our cars in bad times just because waste-steel prices are rising. Rather, we hold on to them.
Very interesting point….