German association seeks scrap import clarity

A cascade of new and pending reporting obligations have caused Germany’s Association of German Metal Traders and Recyclers (VDM) to request some counterbalancing policies that support, rather than seek to control, their industry sector.

The VDM is referring in part to German Supply Chain Act, which came into force Jan. 1, when saying that “securing raw materials for Germany requires more than a growing number of reporting obligations.”

Other members of the VDM have lamented growing export regulations in the European Union. The Minor Metals Department of VDM, however, is experiencing import regulation difficulties.

“The medium-sized special metals trade cannot simply withdraw from Asia. If key European industries are to continue to be reliably supplied with special metals, then international metal trade must not only be controlled, but also promoted," says Maarten Gassmann, head of the VDM Minor Metals Department.

In addition to the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation, there has also been a German Due Diligence Act since the start of this year, VDM says, adding, “These will be joined in the coming months by the EU Supply Chain Act, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the EU Taxonomy Regulation."

The VDM characterizes support from government agencies to comply with the reporting obligations as good, “but it does not help the metal trade when it comes to securing raw materials on the world market for Germany as a business location in competition with other countries,” it says.

“If we want to increase our resilience, then the legislature must not tighten the regulatory corset more and more until we run out of breath, but support the import of raw materials for which the trade takes care and assumes considerable risks," Gassmann adds.

Medium-sized minor metal traders in particular, with various specialties, “are being squeezed out of markets by the complex regulations, in which they are often the only player performing scrap procurement for German industry, says the organization.

“If our members decide to increasingly supply customers outside Germany with minor metals and other raw materials due to conditions, then we have to take this as an alarm signal for a stable supply,” the Minor Metals Department of the VDM says.

The Federal Government's raw materials strategy includes recycling and raw material imports as acknowledged tactics. According to the VDM, the import strategy is being neglected. “We will not be able to meet Germany’s and the EU’s demand for metals such as tungsten, cobalt, molybdenum or indium through recycling or mining contributions alone, especially not if we want to achieve the goals we have set for renewable energies or electromobility. Here we need traders who can hold their own on the world market,” Gassmann concludes.