Malaysia’s Department of Environment (DOE) has announced new rules for scrap imports, including steel, copper and aluminium scrap, within the scope of efforts to tackle shipments of waste materials.
Importers will have to provide an additional certificate, issued by the exporting side, proving that the content of e-waste in the total steel scrap volumes does not exceed 0.3 percent. Scrap cargoes should exclude hazardous substances as well. Moreover, according to the new rules traders will not be allowed to import steel scrap unless they have a valid invoice from the steel mills or recycling facilities, according to the document issued by the DOE. It was published in late January and the new rules are already in place.
Tighter control of scrap imports in Malaysia will lead to delays in shipments in the near future and will increase financial costs for importers, but will not lead to a sharp fall in shipments, Asian traders have said. Import rules in Indonesia, implemented from November 2019, are stricter and the government there is going to ease them to prevent the rise of billets shipments, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.