NEW DELHI - India's imports of non-ferrous scrap metal from Europe, the United States and the Middle East are set to pick up after the government deferred imposing stringent new rules, traders said.
About half of the 1.2 million tonnes of scrap metal like copper, zinc, nickel, tin and aluminium consumed annually by India are imported, but purchases had started slowing after the government said it would tighten rules from April.
The new regulation, which requires suppliers to register themselves with the government, is aimed to prevent imports of unsafe materials such as explosives.
After protests from traders over cumbersome paperwork in the new regulation, the government said this week the rules would come into force only in October.
"This extension will help to improve the import situation," Rohit Shah, president of the Bombay Metal Exchange, said. "Imports will go up, but it is too early to say by how much."
Currently, India has a uniform policy for importing iron and steel, tungsten, molybdenum, copper, brass, nickel, aluminium, zinc and tin scrap.
The only condition is that scrap may not contain any type of arms, radioactive contaminated or any other explosive material.
India's fast-growing economy has spurred consumption of metals, generating higher need for scrap which is recycled to make the base metals.
Industry officials say demand for scrap is likely to grow by at least 10 percent annually in the coming three to five years.
A Malaysian metal supplier, who did not want to be identified, said his sales of scrap to India had dropped by nearly a third since the new rule was planned.
He was now hopeful of supplies picking up with the extension in deadline.
The international recycling industry generates over $150 billion in turnover each year and employs more than 1.5 million people globally, handling well over 600 million tonnes a year of raw materials.
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