CMRA says China imported 3.7 million tons of scrap in June

The Beijing-based China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch (CMRA) says data released by China Customs show that in June 2014 China imported 3.7 million tons of scrap commodities, including metal, paper and plastic scrap.

The value of the 350,000 tons of “unwrought coppers and copper products” imported in June was $2.65 billion, according to CMRA, representing a “slight dip” from the previous month.

In its monthly news notice to members, CMRA also says Chinese government agencies continue to seek action regarding perceived overcapacity in several metals production sectors.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has reportedly been assigned “a mission of eliminating the backward and overcapacity [in] provinces countrywide” in several industry sectors, including:

• 19 million tons of annual iron production;
• 28.7 million tons of steel production;
• 420,000 tons of electrolytic aluminum and copper (including recycled copper) smelting; and
• 512,000 tons of lead (including secondary lead) smelting.

The CMRA News Express email also includes results of a China Inspection & Quarantine Services (CIQ) investigation of scrap shipments imported by processors in the Yingtan copper scrap processing zone in Jiangxi Province. Companies in the zone claim they have been receiving short-weighted shipments.

CIQ says it found “26 underweight batches occurring in the Yingtan copper dismantling and processing zone from January to June, which accounted for 13.9 percent of the total batch inspect[ed]. The amount of short weight was 8,661 kilograms (19,000 pounds), with the average rate of 2.66 percent [per shortage].”