Analysis
September 25, 2019
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
There have been some discussions recently with articles written about the global scrap trade and China. China is the world’s largest steel producing nation with 50 percent (or greater) of the world’s steel production. A couple of years ago, I received information from one of my Chinese trading contacts about scrap steel being exported out of China for the first time. Late in 2018, that same contact told me the Chinese government had cracked down on ferrous scrap exports. Those exports are now restricted.
I asked my contact today if there has been any “cheating” as that seems to be the norm sometimes when it comes to China. I was told at one time there were some who tried to get around the government restrictions and export scrap anyway. Today, my contact said, “All of those guys are still incarcerated [for] tax evasion. No one dares now [try to export scrap out of China].”
