UK’s exports of copper scrap rose by 30pc to 341,903mt and aluminium scrap exports rose by 7pc to 477,483mt in 2019, from the prior year as per Davis Index Analysis
Copper
The UK exported 341,903mt of copper scrap in 2019, up by 79,612mt from the previous year. China continued to be the top importer of copper scrap from the UK.
Imports dropped to 86,401mt in 2019, down by 21pc from 109,505mt in the prior year, as China imposed strict restrictions on copper scrap imports in the second half of 2019.
India and Bangladesh, however, drove the demand for copper scrap from the UK in 2019. Bangladesh imported 52,509mt of scrap in 2019, not having imported any the previous year, while India imported 44,590mt, up by 53.5pc from 29,046mt the previous year, following by the closure of Sterlite’s copper plant in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.
In Dec 2019, the UK’s copper scrap exports dropped by 3.3pc to 21,920mt. China continued to be the largest importer of copper scrap from the UK, but imports dropped to 5,584mt, down by 38.4pc from 9,061mt.
India was the second largest importer of copper scrap from the UK, and imported 4,851mt, up by 97.3pc from 2,459mt from a year ago.
Aluminium
The UK exported 477,483mt of aluminium scrap in 2019, up by 31,862mt from the previous year.
India continued to be the top importer of aluminium scrap from the UK, and imported 138,435mt, up by 0.2pc.
Scrap import restrictions did not affect China’s aluminium scrap imports from the UK, as China imported 125,811mt, up by 74pc from 72,276mt in 2018.
A similar trend was seen in Dec 2019, when India imported 12,963mt of aluminium scrap from the UK, up by 10pc from 11,788mt from a year ago; and China imported 11,032mt, up by 15.4pc from 9,559mt. The UK’s total aluminium scrap exports in Dec 2019 were at 40,041mt, up by 10.5pc over the same period in 2018.