CCIC Germany halts honey scrap exports to Ningbo, China

The German office of the China Certification and Inspection Group (CCIC) is not accepting any applications for shipments of mixed honey scrap to Ningbo-Zhoushan port in eastern China.

"This is temporary at the moment," a spokesperson from CCIC Germany said. "In the middle or at the end of [September] we will probably open up again."

CCIC Germany is not processing applications because previously approved honey scrap containers were rejected by Ningbo port inspectors. The containers were rejected because prohibited material brass shells were in the cargo.

Ningbo has rejected three shipments of honey approved by CCIC Germany in August. A shipment constitutes one or two containers, each around 20t of scrap metal. Ningbo usually rejects around 4-6 containers of honey approved by CCIC Germany each year.

Brass shells are classed as prohibited material because of the risk that they are explosive if not empty.

CCIC Germany received warnings from the Chinese Ningbo port authority because of the rejected containers. In response to the warning, CCIC is visiting the sites of scrap processors in Europe to ensure their procedures meet CCIC's honey scrap exports guideline to China.

Ningbo has also rejected containers approved by CCIC offices in the Netherlands and France, which ship larger volumes of honey, the spokesperson said.

Honey is a mixed brass scrap that is usually traded in Europe on the basis of a 2-4pc impurity threshold.