China imported 47,000 mt of aluminium scrap in October, down 40.4% on the month, and down 21.5% on the year, and imports totalled 680,000 mt in the first ten months of 2020, down 48% from the same period last year, the latest customs data showed. 

On November 24, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the Ministry of  Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement to fully prohibit import of solid waste.

Leo Yi, senior analyst at SMM, explained the challenges posed by the new solid waste law to China’s aluminium scrap supply and operations at secondary aluminium producers

China approved just 121,000 mt of aluminium scrap for imports in its 12th batch of approvals, bringing the total approved amounts to 818,000 mt so far this year, according to the China Solid Waste and Chemicals Management.

China's environmental authorities on Monday issued the ninth batch of copper, aluminium and steel scrap import quotas for 2020, which was the largest since April.

The long-anticipated new standards for high-grade copper scrap and aluminium scrap metal—due to come into force on July 1–has yet to be implemented at China’s customs, as the procedure for importing material under these standards has not been finalised, SMM learned from several traders, fabricators and smelters.

China should promote the recycling and application of steel scrap and encourage the import of high-quality recyclable steel materials, in order to curb the rally in seaborne iron ore prices, said Li Lizhang, chairman of Fujian Sangang Minguang and a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC). 

China’s imports of aluminium scrap expanded in March, as secondary aluminium producers in the country rushed to fulfill backlogged orders after suspending production for more than a month due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Data from China customs showed that China imported 77,000 mt of aluminium scrap last month, down 39.1% from March 2019. That brought total imports in the first three months of 2020 to 199,000 mt, down 40.1% from the same period last year.

China's environmental authorities on Thursday issued the sixth batch of copper, aluminium and ferrous scrap import quotas for 2020.

China’s industry bodies have kicked off the formulation of standards on imported recycled iron and steel, which will reclassify high-quality ferrous scrap as recyclable materials that may be exempt from the upcoming ban on the so-called “solid waste” imports.