India Relaxes Import Rules

About half of the 1.2 million tons of scrap metal like copper, zinc, nickel, tin and aluminum consumed annually by India is imported, but purchases had started slowing after the government said it would tighten rules in April.

The new regulation, which requires suppliers to register themselves with the government, was aimed to prevent imports of unsafe material such as explosives, Reuters reports.

After protests from traders over cumbersome paperwork in the new regulation, the government said the rules would not go into effect until October.

“This extension will help to improve the import situation,” Rohit Shah, president of Bombay Metal Exchange, told the news outlet. “Imports will go up, but it is too early to say by how much.”

Currently, India has a uniform policy for importing iron, steel, tungsten, molybdenum, copper, brass, nickel, aluminum, zinc and tin scrap. The only condition is that scrap may not contain any type of arms, radioactive contaminant or any other explosive material.

India’s fast-growing economy has spurred consumption of metals, generating a greater need for scrap.