In-depth observation|The supply of scrap copper and scrap aluminum is tight in the short term

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently announced that my country will ban the import of solid waste from 2021, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will no longer accept and approve applications related to the import of solid waste. According to the plan of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in the second half of this year, China’s import of solid waste will continue the approval mode of the first half of the year, and further reduce the import volume of solid waste, including scrap metal, according to the established plan. However, the import of solid waste will be completely banned from 2021. Applications related to the import of solid waste will no longer be accepted and approved.

 

 

 

It is understood that banning the import of foreign garbage is a major decision and deployment made by my country in the new era and new situation, and is a landmark measure for the construction of ecological civilization in my country. As early as April 2017, the 34th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensive Deepening Reform considered and approved the "Implementation Plan on Promoting the Reform of the Management System of Solid Waste Imports Prohibiting the Entry of Foreign Garbage". In June 2018, the State Council issued an opinion proposing to strive to basically achieve zero import of solid waste by the end of 2020. Since 2017, the reform work has been stable and orderly, and the types and quantities of solid waste imports have dropped significantly. According to statistics, from January to May this year, the national solid waste import volume was 3.226 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 45.3%.

 

 

 

Non-ferrous industries further regulate the import of renewable resources

 

 

 

Relevant persons from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said that this year is the year of ending the ban on foreign garbage and advancing the reform of the import management system for solid waste. The newly amended "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes" will come into force on September 1 this year, clarifying the legal requirements for the identification of attributes of imported goods suspected of solid wastes, and the return and disposal of illegally imported solid wastes. And greatly increased the penalties for violations of the law, to provide a legal guarantee for the further promotion of solid waste import management system reform.

 

 

 

It is understood that after the ban on the import of foreign garbage in my country is clarified, the non-ferrous industry will further regulate the import of renewable resources through a "two-step" approach.

 

 

 

The first step is to gradually restrict and prohibit the import of low-metal scrap. Starting from January 2019, my country has comprehensively banned the import of "seven types of waste" with low metal content, and the "six types of waste" with high metal content was converted into restricted import waste in July of the same year, that is, the "approval system". This has greatly improved the actual economic value of my country's imported metal-containing scrap, on the one hand reduced environmental pollution to our country, on the other hand, it also better complements our country's renewable metal resource gap.

 

 

 

The second step is to standardize and legalize the import of metal-containing scrap. Among them, the standard rules for recycled copper and recycled aluminum will be implemented in the second half of 2020. Through the standardized assessment of relevant national standards, it is expected that after the standardization, about 90% of China's imported copper-containing scrap can meet the standardization requirements for recycled metal resources. At that time, metal resources such as copper and aluminum scrap that were once misunderstood in the past will be "Regular identity" entered the domestic market.

 

 

 

Through the "two-step" approach, China's renewable resource industry will achieve industrial upgrading, and both waste copper and aluminum will enter China in the form of renewable resources, which not only meets China's environmental protection requirements, but also forms a powerful supply for China's copper and aluminum. supplement. This step-by-step approach also allows related import trade and industry production and sales companies to fully anticipate and prepare for the transformation and upgrading of the recycled metal import market. On the one hand, it avoids the simple and rough policy "one size fits all", and on the other hand, it also reduces Impact on market prices.

 

 

 

At the beginning of July, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association organized a “Media Briefing on the Implementation of National Standards for Recycled Copper and Aluminum Raw Materials”. At the meeting, Shang Fushan, vice president of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said that the recycled nonferrous metal industry is an important part of the nonferrous metal industry. In 2019, China's recycled copper, aluminum, lead, and zinc production reached 14.37 million tons. Compared with the same amount of primary metals, the annual energy saving is at least 16.41 million tons of standard coal, water saving 1.98 billion cubic meters, solid waste emission reduction of 1.72 billion tons, and sulfur dioxide emission reduction of 521,000 tons, for resource conservation, environmental protection and energy conservation and emission reduction. Made a greater contribution.

 

 

 

He said that promoting the implementation of national standards for recycled copper and aluminum raw materials is a work that the association attaches great importance to. The implementation of standards is an inevitable requirement for the refinement and standardization of raw materials in the development of the recycled metal industry, which can improve product quality and process stability, and promote resource efficiency. Recycling helps improve the global pretreatment and processing level of recycled copper and aluminum raw materials. He said that he should continue to assist relevant national departments to do well in supporting work, strengthen the promotion of standards, and promote the implementation of standards as soon as possible.

 

 

 

With the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association holding a briefing session on the implementation of the national standard for recycled copper and aluminum raw materials in July, it is expected that China's import and export qualification of recycled metals will be launched in the second half of the year, the industrial policy environment is being further optimized, and industrial energy conservation, environmental protection and comprehensive utilization of resources Higher requirements on level and entry threshold will have a profound impact on the high-quality and sustainable development of China's recycled non-ferrous metal industry.

 

 

 

Solid waste import policy has a greater impact on copper and aluminum

 

 

 

From the perspective of industry policies, before the import of solid waste is prohibited in the second half of this year, my country's non-ferrous metal industry will temporarily use the approval system to import metal-containing solid waste. After the national standards for recycled copper and aluminum raw materials are formulated and published as scheduled, the relevant departments will accelerate the implementation of new policies for recycled metals in the second half of the year. It is expected that the second half of 2020 will be the transformation period for China’s import restrictions on solid waste and the implementation of the national standard for recycled metal resources. And all aspects of the market also need to adapt. Considering the difficulty of importing recycled metal resources under the impact of the new overseas crown, the import of non-ferrous metal solid waste represented by scrap copper and aluminum is expected to face a tightening pattern in the short term.

 

 

 

my country's solid waste import policy has a greater impact on the non-ferrous metal industry, especially the two varieties of copper and aluminum, mainly because my country's long-term import of scrap copper and aluminum has been relatively high. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in 2019, China’s imported scrap copper and scrap aluminum were 1.486 million tons and 1.394 million tons respectively, equivalent to 11.68 million and 1.115 million tons of metal, accounting for about 10% and 3% of their respective apparent consumption. .

 

 

 

From the perspective of the domestic copper industry, in the context of the continued tight supply of global copper mine resources this year, recycled metal resources will become an important supplement to mineral resources. In the past, nearly 15% of China’s copper supply relied on scrap copper and other renewable resources. However, due to the gradual tightening of China’s copper scrap import policy in recent years, superimposing factors such as the impact of 2020, the supply pressure of scrap copper raw materials, environmental protection and capital pressure, the current domestic Small crude refineries are constantly facing shutdowns and production cuts. At the same time, the operating rate of large crude refineries is hard to increase, which keeps the supply of crude copper tight. In the first half of the year, my country's imports of crude copper scrap copper raw materials are still relatively limited. Only in the second half of the year, the overseas mitigation of copper price rebound or the progress of the implementation of copper scrap import policy transformation can only partially relieve the pressure of copper scrap supply shortage. (Futures Daily)