Southeast Asia has traditionally been a key intermediary in the global nonferrous scrap trade, where lower grade imported material is refined and then re-exported to China to comply with China’s rigorous import standards. In fact, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of Sino-Thai diplomatic relations.
Yet, faced with increasing uncertainty, many suppliers were heard hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst, seeking alternative destinations for their recycled material, while awaiting clarification on evolving trade regulations and potential barriers to established flows.
Conference speakers highlighted the dual importance of promoting free and open borders for the global scrap trade while upholding national regulatory frameworks. Speakers also emphasized the need for companies to innovate and enhance efficiency to navigate current market downturns effectively.
Challenging import standards for aluminium scrap
On June 19, Samarnlak Tanthiku, senior expert from the Office of Industrial Economics, Ministry of Industry of Thailand (MOI) said that the Ministry has been drafting an e-waste management act and are looking to advance the country’s e-waste processing capabilities through its research and development recycling center.
However, the announcement was looked upon with skepticism, because the Thai port authorities have been actively seizing zorba shipments on the grounds that they are classified as e-waste.
“[The Thai government has] included zorba – so mixed metals with high aluminium content coming out of the shredding auto wheels – as well as insulated copper wire and motors have been included in that e-waste definition,” Robin Weiner, President of the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), said.
On May 14, Thai customs had reportedly seized at least 10 large zorba containers from a major scrap supplier to the region containing remnants of circuit boards, putting supplier on a Thai customs “watch list”.
Another 6 containers purportedly containing circuit boards too were seized on May 20, EARTH Thailand posted on their official Facebook page.
Later that month, the Basel Action Network (BAN) and EARTH Thailand alerted Thai authorities to some 219 mixed metal scrap containers carrying electronic waste, scheduled to arrive between May 30-June 21.
BAN put out a second alert on June 18, warning that 16 containers of suspected illegal e-waste are still slated to arrive between late June and July 9.
Malaysia saw similar container detentions of e-waste and black mass since June 2024.
Several United States suppliers that Fastmarkets spoke to have expressed their frustration at the situation, calling the seizures a “misinterpretation of the Basel Convention” that came into effect earlier this year.
In the EU, zorba is not considered Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), but the alleged hazardous elements it contains have been banned in the US since the 1950’s, a US scrap dealer said.
Companies spend huge capital to ensure that the material is clean enough to be exported, so it feels unfair to have shipments banned and 99 players get punished for one bad apple, the dealer said.
Some market participants have also noted erroneous methodologies in the way authorities have tested for hazardous substances in the scrap, while others have noted that pictures posted of the seizures thus far did not have any indications of printed circuit boards (PCBs), or that the PCBs were “too clean”, implying they had been staged for photos.
Fastmarkets price assessments
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for zorba, 98/2, cif Southeast Asia was $1,950-2,050 per tonne on June 24, jumping $50 per tonne from $1,900-2,000 per tonne the week prior, pressured upward by tighter supply availability.
Beyond the ports, there have been several raids on scrapyards within Thailand, sources told Fastmarkets on the sidelines of the conference.
These raids were to crackdown on yards that were not adhering to local waste management laws, namely those governing excessive gas emissions or the lack of proper wastewater treatment. Some importers were also found to have been mis-declaring their harmonized system (HS) codes to evade taxes.
Amid the confusion, Maersk has paused shipments of all US-origin recycled materials into Thailand, Weiner said during the presentation. This has sparked some concern among market participants that other shipping lines may soon follow, potentially affecting flows of nearly $1.7 billion worth of high-quality raw materials into Thailand.
Suppliers with shipments at sea have had to divert their cargoes to nearby ports or re-export their cargoes. Many had stopped sending aluminium scrap shipments to Southeast Asia altogether and have been looking primarily at the Indian market instead.
One US trader had received notification from the major shipping line that a 350,000 Thai Baht deposit per container would be required before offloading in Thailand. Failure to pay the deposit would result in the container being returned to the US, the trader said.
However, no such deposit was required, a Maersk representative told Fastmarkets on June 26. Instead there were some new requirements for shipping scrap to Thailand, the representative clarified.
From June 23 onward, both shippers and consignees will have to submit a letter of indemnity at least 3-5 days prior to vessels arriving Laem Chabang Port, and container deposit insurance must be purchased, the representative said.
Post-conference, representatives from ReMA met with the US Commercial Service in Bangkok and officials at the Thai Embassy in hopes of clearing up the confusion regarding mixed metal scrap import restrictions.
“Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, there will be an official statement from Thai authorities to clear these incoming US shipments, but until then, lots of scrap will be flowing into possibly India, and Southeast Asia will have to diversify their scrap sources beyond the US,” a US-based recycler told Fastmarkets.
Thai smelters were heard sourcing baled used beverage cans (UBC) from New Zealand at $1,880 per tonne CIF Southeast Asia, while some United Arab Emirates (UAE) traders had sold similar material of less than 3% attachments at $2,000-2,020 per tonne.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for aluminium scrap, used beverage cans (Taldon), cif Southeast Asia was $1,880-2,000 per tonne on Tuesday June 24, widening downward by $20 per tonne from $1,900-2,000 per tonne to account for the new deals heard.
Tariff pressures, export controls tilting copper scrap trade flows
While Southeast Asia’s aluminium scrap processing role appeared to be waning, the situation is quite different for its copper scrap recyclers.
In May, Thailand became China’s top copper scrap supplier by volume, eclipsing the US for a second straight month and surpassing Japan’s long-held position since March, according to the latest Chinese customs data.
The Southeast Asian nation shipped 21,225 tonnes of copper scrap under HS code 7404 into China, exceeding Japan’s 19,839 tonnes and the US’ 14,023 tonnes.
Historically, the US has been the biggest supplier of copper scrap into China due to China’s strict import standards, but the latest customs data showed a 26,755-tonne, or 65.6%, decline in US-origin copper scrap imports from 40,788 tonnes in May 2024.
Wild swings in London Metal Exchange three-month copper prices, anticipated tariffs and concerns of potential export restrictions have collectively dampened import appetite for US material, conference participants said.
Of key concern during the panel discussions were the increasing number of trade barriers.
“Our members are not concerned – they are deeply concerned,” Arnaud Brunet, director general of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) said during a panel discussion on tariff impacts.
“When there is uncertainty, you cannot make any long-term decisions… trade regulations in general are forms of backdoor protectionism. And we know that the DNA of our industry is to be able to trade globally and freely and easily, and this is likely to not happen in the future,” Brunet said.
“Of course, that will first affect our smaller members who don’t have the resources to face a complex regulatory environment or will simply have business problems because of the tariffs,” Brunet added.
“When there are measures on one side of the globe, you can expect regulation on the other side. And this is what happened when the Trump administration announced tariffs, the EU then announced that they would take measures to restrict the export of recycled materials,” Brunet concluded.
Given that scrap is not subject to Section 232 tariffs, some US aluminium smelters have been importing more recycled materials for feedstock, breeding concern that Europe might soon restrict scrap exports.
Trade barriers not only slow trading of recycled metals, but also the infrastructure and investment in the machinery, which is what will drive an even longer-term slowdown, Weiner said.
Despite a 90-day tariff truce between the US and China and the repeal of reciprocal tariffs, market participants largely maintained a bearish outlook, anticipating little positive momentum for copper scrap markets.
“Whether it will be a baseline 10% or 24% or even 125%, I think [the situation will remain the] same – it will still be too expensive to import copper,” Vivian Jiang, general manager at Ningbo Jintian Import & Export said.
The LME three-month copper price has been gradually rising for the recent two months, with the monthly average close climbing from $9,205.50 per tonne in April to $9,679.18 per tonne in June thus far.
Chinese copper smelters that Fastmarkets talked to said they were hungry for material, especially given the ongoing tightness in copper concentrates, but the supply is very hard to find now.
One Chinese trader said that they had even put out bids of up to 98.5% LME for No1 candyberry, but have not been able to find suppliers with material.
Most smelters were otherwise still bidding in the range of 96-97% LME, sources said.
Fastmarkets’ monthly assessment of the No1 copper material, RCu-2A,1B (candy/berry), cif China, LME/Comex discount was 13-17 cents per lb on May 27, up 3 cents per lb from the bottom end of 10-17 cents per lb on April 28.
Fastmarkets’ corresponding monthly assessment of the No 2 copper material, RCu-2B (birch/cliff), cif China, LME/Comex discount was 22-34 cents per lb on May 27, widening 1 cents per lb from 21-33 cents per lb the month before.
In contrast with slowing Chinese imports, Indian market participants have been aggressively sweeping up no2 birchcliff, especially since the removal of import duties for copper scrap in February.
Indian buyers were heard bidding at around 94.5-95% LME for US-origin birchcliff, source said.
Next steps for Asia’s nonferrous scrap markets?
The confluence of tightening scrap availability, growing decarbonization efforts and expanding base of market participants is poised to intensify competition for raw material inputs, conference participants told Fastmarkets.
“It’s not just the secondary smelters who are looking for material, increasingly it’s also the primary guys who want to use scrap,” Liu Wei, CMRA Vice President, said during the first panel.
To tackle the impending shortage in scrap availability, Wang Jiwei, deputy secretary-general of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA) and Vice President & secretary-general of CMRA, proposed a four-prong approach.
First, countries need to deepen global cooperation.
Chinese companies have increasingly been offshoring their scrap processing capabilities, not just in Southeast Asia, but also across the rest of Asia, South America and the Middle East.
This will help complement domestic efforts in China to improve scrap collection, sorting and consumption.
In the past year alone, China implemented their large-scale equipment trade-in scheme, established its first state-owned recycling enterprise, loosened its import standards for recycled copper and aluminium and most recently launched its first recycled metals contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
Second, while expanding, Chinese enterprises need to ensure mutual benefit to build a community with a shared future.
Market participants Fastmarkets spoke to on the sidelines of the conference have been increasingly concerned about Chinese companies crowding out local players.
One trader estimated that now 90% of recyclers in Thailand are Chinese, while another estimates about 95% of the yards in Japan are Chinese.
“It’s Chinese for China and Japanese for Japan, they are just doing business amongst their own people, so it’s very difficult to break into those markets even though they are the main buyers of Southeast Asian material,” one Thai trader said.
On a panel discussion about ASEAN localization strategies and investment opportunities, Yongkit Thamphatanaporn, advisor to Genius Recycling (Thailand), said he welcomes Chinese investment provided that the local companies can also benefit, whether it be through a sharing of technological knowledge, jobs, or economic growth.
Notably, with strong demand in the US, some Southeast Asian importers have also become exporters of material instead, Tan Tian, general manager of Doctor Scrap, said.
Third in Wang Jiwei’s proposal, Chinese companies expanding overseas need to deepen mutual recognition of international and local standards.
With an influx of Chinese enterprises, there’s an urgent need for compliance development, Luo Jing, Chairman of the Huimei Group, said.
Shunsuke Kuwada, overseas sales representative & manager from Hirata Corporation, also highlighted that in Japan yard security has now tightened after an incident where solar panel cables were stolen by unknown visitors to the yard. Since June, visitors to scrap yards now have to show identification before they may enter.
The final prong in Wang’s proposal is that not just Chinese, but all recyclers need to continue strengthening innovation to navigate through these difficult times.
Producers need to focus on high-end development, namely incorporating the use of automation, or in reducing gas emissions and energy usage, Liu Wei, CNIA President, said.
