Page 27 from: December 2012

27December 2012

Congress was partly to blame, but the bigger

culprit was reportedly the stagnant market con-

ditions that have plagued China’s non-ferrous

markets for 18 months. But on the upside, 250

of the delegates arrived from more than 30 for-

eign countries, emphasising for another year

that this truly is an international forum.

An equally important development from the

perspective of the Forum’s long-term health

was the first-time evolution of its traditional

exhibition area into a full-scale trade show. The

newly-named International Recycling Metal

Exhibition & Trade Fair covered 7500 square

metres and several exhibition halls, and includ-

ed displays from 65 exhibitors ranging from

brokers to equipment manufacturers.

Finally, the Forum noted two landmarks: first,

it commemorated the tenth anniversary of the

founding of the CMRA and its critical role in

guiding China’s secondary non-ferrous metals

industry; and second, it honoured Ma

Hongchang, the CMRA’s Vice Secretary Gen-

eral and co-founder, on the occasion of his

retirement from the organisation. It is no

understatement to suggest that without the

CMRA, and especially Mr Ma’s contribution to

its development and outreach, relations

between China’s non-ferrous industry and the

rest of the world’s recyclers wouldn’t have

reached today’s advanced stage.

Exclusive recycling data
As in past years, speakers at the CMRA congress

provided attendees with a rich trove of data on

China’s recycling industry available nowhere

else.

Wang Jiwei, CMRA’s Secretary General and

Vice-President, began the longer of his two

addresses in celebratory mood, outlining the

stunning growth of the industry in the 10 years

since the CMRA came into existence. Between

2002 and 2011, he explained, the output of the

secondary non-ferrous metals industry grew

from 2.73 million tonnes to 10.08 million

tonnes for an average annual average growth

rate of 15.1%. Mr Wang noted, pointedly, that

this exceeded the 14.5% rate enjoyed by the

non-ferrous metals industry in general, which

saw its volumes (including secondary volumes)

grow from 10.12 million tonnes to 34.38 tonnes

during the same period. Accomplishing that

task required, said Mr Wang, direct employ-

ment of 1.5 million Chinese and indirect

employment of an additional 10 million.

Growth rates for the major metal categories are

equally impressive. Between 2002 and 2011,

secondary copper output grew from 880 000

tonnes to 2.6 million tonnes (13% average

annual growth); secondary aluminium output

climbed from 1.32 million tonnes to 4.4 million

tonnes (15% average annual growth); lead out-

put increased from 119 000 tonnes to 1.35 mil-

lion tonnes (26% average annual growth); and

zinc output advanced from 340 000 tonnes to

1.73 million tonnes (29% average annual

growth). Total production of these four major

metals was an astounding 57.41 million tonnes

over the period, with copper accounting for

16.97 million tonnes, aluminium for 25.55 mil-

lion tonnes, lead for 6.36 million tonnes and

zinc for 8.53 million tonnes.

Scrap inputs relatively flat
Curiously, despite the epic growth rates, the use

of scrap as a component of metal production

has remained relatively flat. For example, scrap

accounted for 40% of all copper inputs in 2002

– and also in 2011. More interesting yet, scrap’s

share of aluminium inputs dropped from 30%

to 24% between 2002 and 2011, a trend that Mr

Wang blamed on the startling growth of China’s

electrolytic aluminium industry. Lead scrap,

however, increased from 12.8% to 29% of

inputs, largely due to the increased availability

of lead-acid batteries. Zinc scrap’s share

increased too, from 15% to 24%.

Still, there’s little reason to doubt the strength

or direction of China’s secondary metals sector.

‘Both the scale of the industry, and the total

output, ranked the first in the world,’ Mr Wang

noted proudly. According to him, the 1000 big-

gest secondary non-ferrous metals enterprises

accounted for in excess of 10 million tonnes of

production in 2011, worth Yuan 400 billion

(US$ 64 billion) – or fully 40% of the value

generated by the entirety of China’s massive

secondary materials sector, from plastics to

steel, paper to edible oils.

Mr Wang emphasised that the growth of the

secondary non-ferrous metals industry had

environmental as well as commercial benefits.

He noted that, from 2002 to 2011, the industry

had saved China 110 million tonnes of coal and

8.555 billion cubic metres of water if compared

to producing the same volume of metal from

primary resources. In addition, the total pro-

duction of the four main secondary non-fer-

rous metals would have required mining

approximately 9 billion tonnes of ore over the

decade. He singled out China’s massive second-

ary aluminium sector for special praise, noting

that it had saved Chinese industry 350 billion

kWh of electricity while preventing the gen-

eration of 522 million tonnes of carbon dioxide

and 8.24 billion tonnes of solid waste.

Ma Hongchang, co-founder of
the CMRA.

CMRA President Shang Fushan.

Wang Jiwei:

‘China’s secondary
metals sector ranks

the first in the world.’

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