China's Scrap Metal Imports Continue to be Restricted by Quotas

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest round of scrap metal import quota for Dec '19 delivery emphasizes the country’s intention to further limit imports into the country.

The Chinese Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Center issued a quota of 17,984 tonnes of aluminium, copper and ferrous scrap delivery in December this year. The quotas for aluminium scrap totalled 9,844 tonnes, whereas those for copper scrap stood at 7,970 tonnes. The remaining 170 tonnes correspond to quotas for ferrous scrap imports, says agency press release.

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The quota for copper scrap is approved for import through ports of Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Nanhai, Xinhui and Wuzhou. The permitted quota for aluminium import is for deliveries through ports in Dalian, Taicang, Ningbo, Nanhai, Nansha and Wuzhou, the agency noted.

The Chinese authorities had earlier announced to launch new scrap metal reclassification policy by end-2019, which will lift import restrictions on reclassified copper, aluminium and brass scrap. However, latest reports indicate that the launch has been delayed until March next year. Until the launch, import volumes of these scrap will continue to be restricted by quota system.

The agency has approved import quotas of 540,262 tonnes of copper scrap, 476,551 tonnes of aluminium scrap and 23,298 tonnes of ferrous scrap for second half of the current year. The country had imported 5.32 million tonnes of scrap during the entire year 2018.