China issues sixth batch of aluminium scrap quotas for 2020 expanding permissible import amount

According to a recent report from Shanghai Metals Market, China’s environmental authorities, on Thursday, April 23, have issued the sixth batch of aluminium scrap quotas for 2020, permitting additional 1,030 tonnes of high-grade aluminium scrap to enter China.

This, together with the previous batch quota, which allowed an additional 191,100 tonnes of high-grade aluminium scrap imports to China, brings the total permissible amount of imports to 476,679 tonnes.

But while the import quotas are increasing for this year on one hand, the supply in the market is displaying a bearish trend, on the other, due to subdued consumption and supply disruptions amid the worldwide spread of the COVID19.

Chinese authorities estimate that since the spread of the COVID19 has not shown signs of slowdown, the continued virus crisis in April may further impact the production of aluminium scrap and deliveries to China, and may also threaten to disrupt the supply chain.

China, in the first two months of 2020, imported 122,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap in total, down 40.7 per cent from a year earlier, according to customs data. This suggests that a large amount of import quotas has remained unused.