The US-China trade dispute has dampened selling appetite among copper scrap dealers in the United States, though China granting restricted quotas has spurred exports once again.
Market participants were cautiously optimistic regarding renewing exports to China, as the ongoing tariff spat has altered the flow of material conspicuously. A seller source told Fastmarkets he is finding it "harder to sell" to China after import quotas were announced, noting it explains why "spreads have been widening." Demand for final output using copper scrap is falling in China, in part due to the impact of the trade war between the US and China, the seller source said. A major domestic buyer, who also exports copper...