China consolidates scrap inspection operations

China has closed the Mexico City China Certification and Inspection Group (CCIC) office, which coordinates pre-shipment inspections of scrap metal bound for the country, and published a new list of 21 approved CCIC agencies which appears to exclude several countries.

The list includes usual locations of the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, among others, but does not mention Brazil, Argentina, India, Sri Lanka, Russia, Spain and Hungary.

"Although no further details were provided by the Chinese government, it is our assumption that scrap exporters based in these countries will have to approach the closest office of jurisdiction," the Washington, DC-based Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) said in a statement to members this week.

China is a major destination for Mexico's copper scrap, receiving 40pc, or 51,897t, of Mexico's exports in 2017 and trailing only the US. China received 0.8pc, or 1,731t, of Mexico's aluminum scrap exports during the same year, making it the number six destination.

This move is the latest in a series of measures China has been taking to limit its imports metallic and non-metallic scrap. In July, the country said it aims to ban all imports of "solid waste," including scrap metal, by 2020. Imports of category 7 scrap such as electric motors and insulated wire are expected to be banned by the end of the year.

China earlier this year roiled the US scrap export market by suspending CCIC operations in that country for a month.