Scrap Metal Imports to China Slump

According to a report by China Daily, the growth rate for the value of imports and exports in China's nonferrous metals industry dropped by 20.5 percent during the first two months of 2012 compared with the same time last year.

Furthermore, statistics provided by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association indicate that the value of the country's imports and exports was only 8.7 percent higher in January and February than the same time last year. The comparable growth figure for 2011 was 30 percent.

China Daily reports that Jia Mingxing, secretary-general of the association, said that the decrease was the result of declines in domestic output and overseas demand and an increase in the number of trade disputes in the industry.

He estimated that domestic demand for nonferrous metals and production of those metals in China will increase steadily this year but that the value of imports and exports of the materials will rise at a slower rate.

"The world's economic recovery remains weak, which will greatly influence the nonferrous metals industry this year," Chen Quanxun, chairman of the association, told China Daily. "The competition in the industry in the international market is getting fierce while new emerging economies are developing rapidly."

China's total imports and exports of nonferrous metal in 2011 came to more than $160 billion, showing a 28-percent growth rate year-on-year.