China issued 10th batch of metals scrap import quotas for 2020

SHANGHAI, Jul 27 (SMM) – China's environmental authorities on Friday issued the 10th batch of copper, aluminium and steel scrap import quotas for 2020.

A total of 10,110 mt of copper scrap, 1,110 mt of aluminium scrap and 3,970 mt of steel scrap will be allowed to enter into China under the latest quota, according to a release on July 24 from the China Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Bureau, a unit of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The latest batch of approvals was sharply down from the last release—the ninth one—which included allowances for 176,746 mt of copper scrap, 209,660 mt of aluminium scrap and 4,990 mt of steel scrap imports.

The ninth batch granted the most scrap metal import quotas since April, easing fears over a shortage of supply after the new system for bringing in high-quality scrap material failed to be implemented by the scheduled date.

China imported 68,745 mt of copper scrap in June, dipping 1.08% from the previous month but dropping 59.61% from the same month of 2019, according to data from China customs compiled and calculated by SMM.

The tally for the first six months of the year came in at 430,618 mt, down 50.17% from the same period last year, as supply was hit hard by the COVID-19 and as Chinese users stepped up scrap imports before imports of Category 6 materials came under the quota-scheme from July 2019.

About 110,000 mt of copper scrap imports quotas were still valid by the end of June, as the first eight batches for 2020, which were released before July, approved a total of 541,700 mt of quotas, according to SMM calculations.

That, combined with the latest two batches, means that there are about 290,000 mt of import allowances for copper scrap for the third quarter of the year, which looks set to be sufficient to meet demand.