Copper and aluminium scrap exports from Germany and France dropped in March due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Germany’s copper scrap exports dropped by 22.6pc to 35,162mt in March on 83.5pc drop in bookings from China, which had just started resuming operations, and a 17.8pc drop in demand from India, which went under a nationwide lockdown in the later half of the month. Russia’s imports of copper scrap from Germany, however, surged by 400pc to 3,854mt. France’s copper scrap exports dropped by 34.7pc in March from a year ago.
Germany’s aluminium scrap exports dropped by 13pc and France’s aluminium scrap exports dropped by 13.6pc, primarily due to the drop in demand from Italy, which was severely hit by COVID-19 pandemic. Italy’s aluminium scrap bookings from Germany dropped by 31.1pc and from France by 30.2pc.
| Germany’s non-ferrous scrap exports | |||
| Mar-20 | Mar-19 | Change (%) | |
| Copper scrap | 35,162 | 45,411 | -22.6 |
| Major importers | |||
| Belgium | 5,140 | 4,000 | 28.5 |
| Russia | 3,854 | 771 | 400 |
| Netherlands | 3,833 | 6,524 | -41.2 |
| Aluminium scrap | 85,161 | 97,994 | -13 |
| Major importers | |||
| Italy | 13,385 | 19,432 | -31.1 |
| Austria | 13,335 | 13,136 | 1.5 |
| Poland | 8,930 | 11,099 | -19.5 |
| France’s non-ferrous scrap exports | |||
| Mar-20 | Mar-19 | Change (%) | |
| Copper scrap | 17,223 | 26,395 | -34.7 |
| Major importers | |||
| Belgium | 3,409 | 6,267 | -45.6 |
| Spain | 3,169 | 4,488 | -29.4 |
| Germany | 3,167 | 4,807 | -34.1 |
| Aluminium scrap | 43,651 | 50,518 | -13.6 |
| Major importers | |||
| Spain | 10,094 | 9,805 | 2.9 |
| Belgium | 10,050 | 8,241 | 21.9 |
| Italy | 7,424 | 10,634 | -30.2 |