Seeing red over copper scrap

Recycling Today, Jan, 2005

A provincial government in China has announced its intention to grow as a leading copper scrap processing center for that nation.

According to the Interfax news agency, provincial leaders in Zhejiang have "laid out a strategic plan for the local copper processing industry, to increase output and raise the sector's technological level."

A spokesperson from Zhejiang Economic and Trade Commission (ZJETC) has told Interfax that the privately-owned copper smelting and refining companies in Zhejiang produce 36 percent of all copper products in China each year.

ZJETC indicates the province, located in the central part of China's Pacific Coast, produces 1.2 million tons of copper products per year, and, unlike many other Chinese copper producers, Zhejiang's manufacturers are not located near copper mines, making them more dependent on scrap. Cities in Zhejiang include Ninbo and Hangzhou.

"Companies normally purchase copper raw materials from the Shanghai Futures Exchange or use copper scrap," says Mac Gongzhong, an official with an agency that reports to ZJETC.

The ZJETC goal is to boost annual production to 3.65 million tons of copper products per year by 2010, according to Interfax.

Provincial leaders have identified five counties within the province that offer several strengths for future copper industry growth, including the location of copper scrap importers and scrap yards and the location of electronic appliance plants and hardware distributors "forming stable industrial chains with copper processing manufacturers"

The province plans to offer "policy, tax and financial measures" to help support additional copper industry growth. As quoted in the Interfax report, Mac says the provincial government will encourage copper products exporting. "The current production mainly serves the domestic market, as China is a large consumer of copper products. But we still support companies to ... bring in foreign investment and to enlarge their sales via exports."