China's newly implemented restrictions on imported copper scrap have caused some drastic changes in global flows that may prompt the country to revert its policy within the next two years, consultant and scrap specialist Michael Lion said during the annual CESCO Week copper conference held in Santiago, Chile, last week.
"People are adopting extreme caution," Lion, who serves as president of Lion Consulting Asia Ltd, told Metal Bulletin on Friday April 13.There is little clarity over how strictly the policy will be implemented and how long it will be in place. And that uncertainty is slowing the pace of investment into scrap processors outside China that treat those materials no longer accepted in the country - namely, scrap with impurities at and above 1%, as well as Category 7 copper scrap, which is used by cable-makers."People are...