The price of silage wrap for the 2024 season is currently trading in the region of €98/roll to €105/roll (including VAT and levies).
This is down by €10/roll to €13/roll on 2023, when prices were trading in the region of €110/roll to €118/roll. Prices vary depending on brand and location.
This is the second year-on-year decrease on bale wrap pricing.
In 2022, prices shot up to between €115/roll and €120/roll, including the charges.
This was a 30% jump from 2021, when silage wrap was being sold at around €88/roll to €90/roll, including VAT and the levy.
For 2024, the cost of the Irish Farm Film Producers Group (IFFPG) levy has once again increased.
The levy has increased from €6.24/roll to €7.24/roll plus VAT (13.5%), which equates to €8.22 including VAT for a standard roll of silage film.
The levy has increased from €6.24/roll to €7.44/roll, plus VAT (13.5%), which equates to €8.44 including VAT for a standard roll of silage film.
We caught up with some leading manufacturers and suppliers of bale wrap on the Irish market to gauge the situation. It appears that the drop in wrap prices is off the back of a drop in resin prices, which accounts for 70% to 80% of the cost of producing bale plastic.
Bale wrap accounts for less than 2% of European plastic consumption, so its sales don’t particularly have a big impact on the market.
It’s understood that a reduced demand in the European construction industry had created less of a demand for polymers, which helped to bring the price down.
Competition between manufacturers also seems to be much more active in Europe in 2024, in comparison to last year. The reason behind this is that there was a strike in a major European supplier’s plant last year, which meant there was a reduced supply to the European market.
This meant there was less competition among suppliers, and manufacturers held prices at a higher rate.
The increase in the levy is necessary to stop the erosion of the scheme’s financial reserves due to achieving record recycling levels, at a time of high recycling costs
Manufacturers are warning that increasing troubles in the Middle East is beginning to increase the price of oil, which may see plastic prices creep upwards as the summer goes on.
IFFPG levy increase
For the second consecutive year, the recycling levy has increased. Last year, the rate increased from €160/t to €240/t, with it set to rise to €286/t, plus VAT in 2024.
Breaking this cost down to a single standard roll of wrap, the levy has been increased from €4.16 to €6.24 in 2023, and now up to €7.44/roll plus VAT (13.5%), which equates to €8.44 including VAT.
Liam Moloney, general manager at IFFPG, explained: “Once again, unfortunately, the increase in the levy is necessary to stop the erosion of the scheme’s financial reserves due to achieving record recycling levels, at a time of high recycling costs.
At €105 for a more premium roll of plastic, it will equate to a cost of around €3.75/bale to apply normal layerage in 2024 and €5.25/bale for extra wrap.
“Last year, the IFFPG grew recycling from 36,500t to 39,000t, which is the equivalent to plastic from 20m bales. We expect at least the same, if not more, in 2024. This represents a 93% to 94% farm plastic recycling rate being achieved by Irish farmers.
“These record recycling rates have been occurring at a time of high recycling costs caused by global factors such as the Chinese ban on plastic waste imports in 2018, Covid-19 in 2020-21 and the war in Ukraine in 2022.
“These factors resulted in a 600% increase in the cost of supplying to recyclers over the last five to six years. We are hopeful that rates will stabilise, but global events and unrest are out of our control,” Moloney said.
What does film cost per bale?
Taking a figure of €105 for a more premium roll of plastic, it will equate to a cost of around €3.75/bale to apply normal layerage in 2024. With many farmers now applying an extra layer of wrap, prices will be coming in at around €5.25/bale.
The price of silage wrap for the 2024 season is currently trading in the region of €98/roll to €105/roll (including VAT and levies).
This is down by €10/roll to €13/roll on 2023, when prices were trading in the region of €110/roll to €118/roll. Prices vary depending on brand and location.
This is the second year-on-year decrease on bale wrap pricing.
In 2022, prices shot up to between €115/roll and €120/roll, including the charges.
This was a 30% jump from 2021, when silage wrap was being sold at around €88/roll to €90/roll, including VAT and the levy.
For 2024, the cost of the Irish Farm Film Producers Group (IFFPG) levy has once again increased.
The levy has increased from €6.24/roll to €7.24/roll plus VAT (13.5%), which equates to €8.22 including VAT for a standard roll of silage film.
The levy has increased from €6.24/roll to €7.44/roll, plus VAT (13.5%), which equates to €8.44 including VAT for a standard roll of silage film.
We caught up with some leading manufacturers and suppliers of bale wrap on the Irish market to gauge the situation. It appears that the drop in wrap prices is off the back of a drop in resin prices, which accounts for 70% to 80% of the cost of producing bale plastic.
Bale wrap accounts for less than 2% of European plastic consumption, so its sales don’t particularly have a big impact on the market.
It’s understood that a reduced demand in the European construction industry had created less of a demand for polymers, which helped to bring the price down.
Competition between manufacturers also seems to be much more active in Europe in 2024, in comparison to last year. The reason behind this is that there was a strike in a major European supplier’s plant last year, which meant there was a reduced supply to the European market.
This meant there was less competition among suppliers, and manufacturers held prices at a higher rate.
The increase in the levy is necessary to stop the erosion of the scheme’s financial reserves due to achieving record recycling levels, at a time of high recycling costs
Manufacturers are warning that increasing troubles in the Middle East is beginning to increase the price of oil, which may see plastic prices creep upwards as the summer goes on.
IFFPG levy increase
For the second consecutive year, the recycling levy has increased. Last year, the rate increased from €160/t to €240/t, with it set to rise to €286/t, plus VAT in 2024.
Breaking this cost down to a single standard roll of wrap, the levy has been increased from €4.16 to €6.24 in 2023, and now up to €7.44/roll plus VAT (13.5%), which equates to €8.44 including VAT.
Liam Moloney, general manager at IFFPG, explained: “Once again, unfortunately, the increase in the levy is necessary to stop the erosion of the scheme’s financial reserves due to achieving record recycling levels, at a time of high recycling costs.
At €105 for a more premium roll of plastic, it will equate to a cost of around €3.75/bale to apply normal layerage in 2024 and €5.25/bale for extra wrap.
“Last year, the IFFPG grew recycling from 36,500t to 39,000t, which is the equivalent to plastic from 20m bales. We expect at least the same, if not more, in 2024. This represents a 93% to 94% farm plastic recycling rate being achieved by Irish farmers.
“These record recycling rates have been occurring at a time of high recycling costs caused by global factors such as the Chinese ban on plastic waste imports in 2018, Covid-19 in 2020-21 and the war in Ukraine in 2022.
“These factors resulted in a 600% increase in the cost of supplying to recyclers over the last five to six years. We are hopeful that rates will stabilise, but global events and unrest are out of our control,” Moloney said.
What does film cost per bale?
Taking a figure of €105 for a more premium roll of plastic, it will equate to a cost of around €3.75/bale to apply normal layerage in 2024. With many farmers now applying an extra layer of wrap, prices will be coming in at around €5.25/bale.
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