International

Scrap buyers in China curtailed their purchases from other parts of the world in September, with a contributing factor likely to be the tariffs China’s government placed on several scrap commodities shipped from the United States as part of the ongoing trade dispute.

General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) statistics Oct. 23 show an absence of plastic scrap imported in September and sharp drops in other frequently traded scrap commodities, according to a Reuters summary. The 1.6 million metric tons of scrap paper imported by Chinese buyers in September represent a drop of more than 23 percent compared with August, Reuters says.

The nation’s imports of scrap metal dropped 44 percent from August to 360,000 metric tons in September, according to Reuters. Copper-bearing scrap accounted for about 200,000 metric tons of that total, while only 100,000 metric tons of aluminum scrap were brought in during September.