China issued the sixth batch of scrap import quotas on Thursday for the year 2020. The quotas permit the import of 2,150mt of copper scrap, 1,030mt of aluminium scrap and 1,510mt of ferrous scrap.
China’s Solid Waste and Management Bureau had previously issued import quotas of 222,020mt of copper scrap and 191,00mt of aluminium scrap in the beginning of April, the second financial quarter as reported earlier. The import quotas were larger as China is facing a shortage of scrap supply due to the spread of COVID-19. With the fresh quotas, total import permits till date stand at 529,761mt of copper scrap and 476,679mt of aluminium scrap. A shortage of aluminium scrap has led to an increase in import of primary aluminium into the country, which surged by 242pc in March from a year ago. After factories resumed operations post COVID-19, demand picked up drastically.
Jiangsu Huilian Aluminium and Zhejiang Jinyun Renewable Resources received licenses to import 550mt and 480mt of aluminium scrap, respectively. Guixi Yingxin Copper received the license for the largest allowance of 1,550mt, in the sixth batch of import quotas.
China is expected to allow imports of high-grade copper and aluminium scrap, now reclassified as resources from July 2020.