[SMM Analysis] Quick Review: Malaysian Action Control extended to June 9

SMM5, 11th May:

On the afternoon of May 10, Malaysian Prime Minister Dansley Muyudin announced that the conditional Action Control order, which was scheduled to end on May 12, would be extended by four weeks to June 9, the fourth serious control since Malaysia announced the order. With the global epidemic control gradually loosening, Malay once again extended the control order slightly more than expected, but SMM still maintained the expectation that the scrap copper disassembly industry would gradually return to production, and believed that the new phase of control would enter the conditional loose control at the later stage of the epidemic.

According to Prime Minister Dansri Muyuddin, although the interstate movement of people is still restricted, it is allowed to open up the economic sectors of the states. Apart from some areas of entertainment and dense crowds, most of the economic and commercial sectors of the states have returned to production. People stranded in their hometowns have also begun to return to their places of work and homes. So far, about 6.64 million or 43.6 per cent of migrant workers have returned to work, and the number is expected to continue to increase in the coming weeks.

Although the control order will continue to be extended, the extension of the control order is mainly aimed at entertainment and densely populated areas, and the industrial manufacturing industry is no longer strictly regulated. And it can be seen from Prime Minister Dansri Muyudin's statement that Malaysia is currently returning to work well, but the development in the next few weeks will be very critical. If the number of confirmed cases increases sharply during this period, it will be forced to re-impose a complete blockade in the areas where the outbreak has occurred.

In 2019, China imported a total of 1.193 million tons of scrap copper, accounting for 61.39% of the total domestic copper scrap. Imported waste is still the main source of domestic scrap copper, of which Malaysia accounts for about 16.54% of the imported scrap copper. At present, it is the largest source of waste copper import in China. If the local dismantling enterprises resume work one after another, it is expected to improve the shortage of imported scrap copper.