[BEIJING] Chinese authorities will start accepting applications for licences to import unspecified quantities of soon-to-be-restricted types of scrap metal from late May, the recycling branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said.
China, the world's top metals consumer, has been clamping down on scrap imports as part of a campaign against foreign solid waste, leaving overseas scrap exporters scrambling to find other markets. Imports of low-grade copper scrap such as coiled cable and waste motors - known as"Category 7" - have been banned since the start of 2019. The government said in December that imports of eight further kinds of scrap, including high-grade scrap copper known as"Category 6", as well as types of aluminium and steel scrap, would be restricted from July 1.
Provincial units of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment can start collecting applications for import licences for these eight items from late May, the recycling association said in a statement after an industry meeting in the eastern city of Ningbo on Friday.From July 1, the ministry itself will formally accept and approve import licence applications, it added, without disclosing the total tonnage quota available.