S Africa Declares Halt on Exports of Scrap Metal

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The South African Ministry announced halt on new exports of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap.

The Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel announced that a trade policy directive has been issued to the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) to investigate the market conditions. The local mills and foundries have been citing demand-supply imbalance in domestic scrap metal industry. The exports of scrap have been prohibited for the period of two months that has been allocated for the ITAC investigation. The export permits or applications made before the announcement of investigation will be unaffected.

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The investigation is aimed at determining appropriate amendments to the Price Preference System guidelines.

The South African government had earlier announced plans to consider tax on scrap metal exports from the country, in order to ensure sufficient supply of high quality scrap materials for domestic metal industries. A second round of consultation, with regards to various aspects including the implementation methods and anticipated impacts, is scheduled to begin in mid-July and end in August. The new tax mechanism proposes to revamp current export guidelines established by the South African International Trade Control Administration.