Copper scrap buyers in the United States are concerned that an increase in US exports to China could pressure discounts in the second half of 2020, leading to a "relatively flat discount" throughout the year.
China has renamed copper scrap with a content range of 94-99.9% and that meets certain impurity thresholds, to copper renewable materials.The classification change from the world's largest scrap importer is expected to "spur demand over time" for US scrap exports, a copper scrap trader told Fastmarkets.US buyers and consumer of copper scrap were concerned about the impact of increased exports. One buyer said, "China is going to be hungry - it is going to affect us big time."A second buyer said, however, that it is premature to assume scrap metal exports to China "will return to the volumes seen several years ago.""Those days are gone," a trader source agreed.A probable...