SHANGHAI, Dec. 29 (SMM) –The General Administration of Customs reports that China’s scrap copper imports continued to fall by 3.12% month-on-month in November, to 321,600 tonnes.

The SHFE/LME copper price ratio, although up in November, still left little margin for importing scrap copper, particularly in high-grade scrap. High quotes from foreign scrap yards and the year-end liquidity crunch cooled imports.

Slipping copper prices aside, China’s tighter control of scrap imports has also become a major obstacle to scrap copper importation over the last few years.

Sluggish downstream demand remains the largest impairment to scrap copper importation. Many smelters have cut scrap copper consumption in favor of blister copper or anode plates. Processors are buying scrap copper only when needed.

The November import numbers were 24.72% lower than a year ago, and January-November imports were off by 11.75% year-on-year to 3.51 million tonnes.

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