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Explainer-What impact will US plans to restrict copper scrap exports have?
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 31, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 31, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
The US plans to limit copper scrap exports from 2027, requiring 25% of high-quality scrap for domestic use, potentially impacting market dynamics.
By Pratima Desai
LONDON (Reuters) -The United States is planning to restrict scrap copper exports from 2027, requiring that at least 25% of so-called “high-quality” scrap be retained for domestic use.
In the near-term the measure is unlikely to have much impact as the U.S. already consumes more than 40% of the copper scrap it generates, analysts say.
HOW TO POLICE AN OPAQUE INDUSTRY
Industry sources say much will depend on the definition of "high-quality" and question whether any planned restrictions can be enforced in notoriously opaque scrap metal markets.
"Practically speaking, this would be probably pretty tough to police ... the whole business of scrap collection, recycling, reprocessing is maybe not the most transparent of businesses," said Duncan Hobbs, research director at commodity merchant Concord Resources.
There are also concerns that the rule could distort the market if a few large players attempt to dominate the supply of qualifying scrap, or if the 25% threshold is applied unevenly across producers.
WHAT HAPPENS TO COPPER SCRAP GENERATED IN THE U.S?
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), recycling contributed 870,000 metric tons of copper to U.S. supplies last year.
The United States exported nearly 957,000 metric tons of copper scrap and waste last year, of which more than 40% was shipped to China, according to data from Trade Data Monitor.
Analysts estimate that amount of scrap would yield roughly 580,000 tons of copper metal, which could cut its imports of the metal used in the power and construction.
HOW MUCH COPPER DOES THE US IMPORT?
TDM data shows more than 921,000 tons of copper metal and alloys were shipped to the United States last year. The bulk of that - 70% - was imported from Chile, while 17% came from Canada.
"The U.S. could theoretically be self-sufficient if there were no copper scrap and concentrate exports," said Bank of America analyst Michael Widmer.
(Reporting by Pratima Desai; Editing by David Holmes)
The United States plans to restrict copper scrap exports starting in 2027, mandating that at least 25% of high-quality scrap be retained for domestic use.
The US already consumes more than 40% of the copper scrap it generates, according to analysts.
There are concerns that the regulations could distort the market if a few large players dominate the supply of qualifying scrap or if the 25% threshold is applied unevenly across producers.
Last year, the United States exported nearly 957,000 metric tons of copper scrap and waste, with over 40% of that being shipped to China.
Analysts suggest that the US could theoretically be self-sufficient if there were no copper scrap and concentrate exports.
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