According to the latest report issued by China Metallurgical Information and Standardization Institute on December 21, more details have been released about the new import scrap standards in China, which are expected to be effective from January 1, 2021.
The official document for imposition of these new standards has not been seen yet by market sources, but most of them believe it will be released by January 1. In the details for upcoming standards, published in the statement of China Metallurgical Information and Standardization Institute, the classifications of steel scrap to be imported and requirements for impurities (from 0.3 percent to 1 percent depending on the grade) has been presented. These requirements are in line with expectations in the market.
According to the new standard for recycling steel materials (RSM), based on different processing method and chemical composition, there will be seven categories for RSM, including heavy, medium, small, shredded, block type, alloy steel and cast-iron recycling steel materials.
Heavy RSM means solid item, with thickness >=6.0 mm or diameter >10 mm, length<=1500 mm, width <=600 mm and single weight <=1,500 kg, including two grades-HRS 101, mostly coming from large-scale equipment, railway scrap equipment materials, large steel structures, large scrapped ships, and HRS 102, mostly from residual material or tailings during production or processing.
Medium RSM means solid item, with thickness >=4.0 mm or diameter >8 mm, length<=1500 mm, width <=600 mm and single weight <=1,500 kg, including two grades-MRS 201, mostly coming from medium-scale equipment, medium steel structures, medium scrapped ships, and MRS 202, mostly from residual material or tailings during steel production or processing.
Small-scale RSM means solid item, with thickness >=2.0 mm (or new materials with thickness <2.0mm), length<=1500 mm, width <=600 mm and single weight <=1,500 kg, including three grades-LRS 301, mostly coming from small-scale equipment, scrap small motor vehicle or electric vehicle frame, LRS 302, mostly from residual material or tailings during steel production or processing and LRS 303, including new materials from steel processing.
Shredded RSM means items’ bulk density >=0.8t/cubic meters, including three grades-SRS401, from recycled car disassembly material; SRS402, from other recycling materials small-scale or with thickness <=2.0 mm; and SRS403, from industrial processing residue.
Block type RSM means items with length<=1,500 mm, width <=1,000 mm, height <=1,000 mm, and single weight <=2,000 kg, including three grades-BRS501, including processing residue and tailing originating from auto sheet, BRS502, including recycling rebar and wire rod and BRS503, including steel shavings originating from steel machining.
Alloy steel RSM means items with length<=1500 mm, width <=1000 mm and single weight <=1,500 kg, including three grades-ARS501, from recycling or processing residue of Ni-Cr series stainless steel, with Ni content>=7 percent; ARS502, from recycling or processing residue of Cr series stainless steel, with Cr content >=11.5 percent; ARS503, including recycling alloy steel.
Cast-iron RSM means items with thickness >= 2.0 mm, length<=1,500 mm, width <=1,000 mm and single weight <=1,500 kg, including two grades-CRS501-cast iron products with thickness >=2.0 mm and CRS502-residue and tailings from processing with thickness >=2.0 mm.
Impurity requirement:
| Category | Grade | Impurities (<=) |
| Heavy | HRS101 | 0.8 |
| HRS102 | 0.3 | |
| Medium | MRS101 | 0.8 |
| MRS102 | 0.3 | |
| Small | LRS301 | 0.8 |
| LRS302 | 0.3 | |
| LRS303 | 0.3 | |
| Shredded | SRS401 | 1.0 |
| SRS402 | 1.0 | |
| SRS403 | 1.0 | |
| Block | BRS501 | 0.3 |
| BRS502 | 0.8 | |
| BRS503 | 0.3 | |
| Alloy | ARS601 | 0.3 |
| ARS602 | 0.3 | |
| ARS603 | 0.3 | |
| Cast-iron | CRS701 | 0.8 |
| CRS702 | 0.3 |