China Issues Second Set of Quotas for Q4 Scrap Aluminum Imports

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Chinese Solid Waste and Chemical Management Centre have issued second set of scrap aluminium import quotas for the fourth quarter of 2019. The reduced quotas are in line with the recent decision by Chinese authorities to sharply cut waste import quotas during the remainder of the year.

The latest approved quota is for imports of 44,935 metric tons (mt) of aluminium scrap. With this, the combined allowable imports for Q4 this year now total 77,875 mt. This is significantly lower by nearly 84% compared with the actual imports of 274,955 mt of aluminium scrap during the entire Q3 this year. The quotas are being granted for import through the ports of Nanhai, Nansha and Ningbo.

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Meantime, market participants expressed fears that the smaller import quota is likely to further tighten up the country’s aluminium scrap market, considering low inventory levels and stable orders from secondary aluminium producers. It must be noted that the country had imported approximately 1.57 million mt of aluminium scrap for the entirety of the previous year.