US copper scrap exporters are waiting to see how China's new regulations affect the flow of scrap metal to the Asian country, which could have a significant impact on domestic copper scrap prices.
"China is the big unknown," a non-ferrous scrap seller said. "If China starts buying again, we will see a big impact on domestic prices, but we will not see the impact before December."China launched a new policy this month to reclassify high-purity copper scrap imports as recyclable copper raw materials, but US scrap exporters say it remains to be seen "what the risks are" of the new system.China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on October 19 that recycled copper and aluminium that meet the country's standards for renewable metals, instead of solid waste, can be freely imported into the country starting from November 1."People are still waiting to see what the risks are - [China's] new specifications are drastically different from the old ones, and we don't know any scrap yards that can produce to the new specifications," the scrap seller told...