A forecast produced by Jiangxi Copper, one of China’s largest copper producers, is reportedly estimating that some 500,000 metric tons less copper scrap will be imported into China in 2018 compared with 2017.
According to an online article by Metal Bulletin, government scrap import restrictions will create the predicted shortfall.
The publication says Jiangxi Copper’s brokerage division disclosed its estimate in mid-January 2018, calculating a figure that would represent a 45 percent drop in imported red metal scrap.
Much of the drop will result from China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) restricting the volume of wire and cable scrap and scrapped motors entering the nation, according to Metal Bulletin.
In early 2018, the MEP has been slow to release import quotas for both types of scrap. As of mid-January, import quotas for the ports of Ningbo and Taizhou have been greatly reduced, while recyclers and scrap consumers in the Tianjin area in northern China and Guangdong Province in southern China are still awaiting the issuance of any quotas.
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