SHANGHAI, Aug. 22 (SMM) – China’s scrap copper imports posted a 36.64% rise in July to 360,000 tonnes, due mainly to growing shipments from other Asian countries, Customs data show.

Chinese traders that have been selling down scrap inventories on hand in H1 started replenishing stocks in July, boosting the scrap imports during the month. However, most importers favored cheaper materials from Southeast Asia, albeit of relatively low quality, because scrap yards in the US and Europe held quotations up. As such, scrap imports from Western countries remained low.

The delayed delivery of June’s orders is also among the contributors to the soaring import volume in July.

SMM expects a decline in scrap copper imports in August, as importers are busying consuming imported scrap in July.

China imported 2.12 million tonnes of scrap copper in the first seven months, down 12% from a year ago.


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