Copper scrap imports down 33.3% in May

SHANGHAI, Jun 25 (SMM) – China's copper scrap imports in May declined 33.3% from a year ago to stand at 210,000 mt, data released by China Customs on Saturday June 23 showed. 

This compared with a year-on-year drop of 36.7% recorded in April, and brought copper scrap imports from January to May to 950,000 mt. 

China's stricter inspections of all US-imported scrap from May 4 accounted for the decline. Copper scrap imported from the US took up 15% of China's total imports and stood at 535,000 mt in 2017, SMM data showed.

Separately, China's aluminium scrap imports registered 110,000 mt in May, down 40.5% from last year. The imports during first five months of the year came in at 730,000 mt. 

China imported a total of 520,000 mt of metal scrap in May, down 27.7% from a year ago. This brought the imports during January-May to 2.46 million mt.