[SMM Analysis] further extension of Action Control, revelation of the status quo of Copper scrap recovery in Malaysia

SMM4, 24th:

On the evening of April 23, Malaysian Prime Minister Muyuddin announced in a televised message of Ramadan that Malaysian copper scrap exports would continue to be affected by the further extension of the operation control order in Malaysia until 12 May. SMM data show that in 2019, China imported a total of 1.193 million tons of scrap copper, accounting for 61.39% of the total domestic scrap copper, and Malaysia accounted for about 16.54% of the total scrap copper imports. At present, China is the largest source of scrap copper import, and the recovery of its copper scrap industry has an important impact on the supply of China's scrap copper market.

Although the action control measures continue to be extended, the Malaysian Government has previously announced the gradual opening of eight areas, including the machinery and equipment industry, the aviation industry, the construction industry and construction-related services, the automotive industry and maintenance, legal-related services, oil and gas-related services, crown disease-related R & D activities, laboratories operating in specific areas, traditional and auxiliary medicine and Chinese medicine services. Scrap copper dismantling enterprises are not included for the time being, production is still strictly controlled, but the overall control measures have a trend of gradual liberalization.

According to SMM research, some factory areas have workers, and far from the urban area, relatively loose control of copper scrap dismantling enterprises have avoided supervision of private small-scale resumption of production, it is still impossible to large-scale resumption of production, once the resumption of production will face heavier fines. Under the order, most copper scrap enterprises are still in a state of shutdown. In addition, due to the reduction of waste copper exports from Europe and the United States, there is also a shortage of local waste wires, waste motors and other dismantling raw materials.

In addition to being affected by the national regulatory policy, the arrival of enterprise personnel also has a great impact on the resumption of work in copper scrap enterprises. In the process of tightening domestic copper import policy in the past two years, Southeast Asia, represented by Malaysia, has become a new concentration of waste in the world. More and more Chinese enterprises have invested and built factories in the region, and have a very important market share in the local market, including dismantling, smelting, smelting and copper processing enterprises. At present, in addition to the arrival of grass-roots workers in Malaysia's local copper scrap plants, the arrival rate of middle-level Chinese managers is also very low. In the context of countries focused on strictly preventing the import of the epidemic, it is expected that the Malay government's measures to restrict the entry of foreigners will not be lifted for quite some time, the lack of decision-making arrangements for managers, and to a certain extent obstacles to the resumption of production.

According to relevant sources, at present, Malaysia's local scrap copper dismantling enterprises have a backlog of scrap copper finished products, occupying a relatively high level of funds, and enterprises are speeding up exports to China in order to alleviate the pressure, but due to port logistics problems, it is expected that goods will arrive one after another in mid-May, when the supply of imported scrap copper is expected to gradually improve. However, in the short term, the domestic import supply is still relatively tight, the shortage of domestic supply is difficult to alleviate, and the production of waste enterprises continues to be disturbed, which is good for the consumption of refined copper.