SHANGHAI Aug.17 (CBI China)--Guangdong Customs has allowed resumption of copper scrap imports which were previously held-up in Hong Kong for the past several months. According to market sources, an estimated 200kt of copper scrap is expected to enter the Chinese mainland market after higher declaration charges and fines are paid. The customs declaration charges rose more than 100% last month, and the proportion of total copper scrap value from customs declaration fees increased from 3% to 7%.
In East China, many copper anode smelters using copper scrap have been forced to cut back or halt production due to a shortage of copper scrap .
The price spread between scrap and refined copper narrowed to the RMB 1,000 - 3,000/mt range this week, dampening domestic demand for copper scrap while increasing the consumption of refined copper. If the 200kt of copper scrap from Hong Kong enters the domestic market, both scrap and refined copper prices are expected to fall.
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