US and EU Weigh Copper Scrap Retention as Indian Buyers Watch Supply

Why your foreign scrap pipeline is under threat

You check your container manifests for incoming copper scrap shipments, expecting clear sailing through foreign load ports. Major supplying regions are altering their trade rules to keep recycled metal within their own borders. A sequence of policy decisions across the United States and the European Union is altering the flow of secondary raw materials.

On July 30, 2025, the US administration issued a Section 232 proclamation imposing a 50% tariff on semi-finished copper products and derivative goods starting August 1, 2025. While copper scrap and copper input materials were exempted from this specific import tariff, the proclamation directed the Department of Commerce to establish a 25% domestic sales requirement for high-quality copper scrap alongside export controls. The proclamation also called for a report by June 30, 2026, on whether to institute a phased import duty on refined copper of 15% starting January 1, 2027, and 30% starting January 2, 2028.

How US policies impact scrap availability

US recyclers represented by ReMA noted that President Trump did not adopt a recommended export licensing system for high-quality copper scrap in the August 2025 directive. However, domestic sales mandates for high-quality copper scrap remain under review to cover potential shortfalls in national defence needs. ReMA pointed out that the administration did not define what constitutes high-quality scrap, leaving open questions on how future domestic sales requirements will be executed.

This domestic retention effort comes as US stockpiles expand. On October 15, 2026, COMEX copper stocks reached a record 711,609 tonnes, compared to 233,025 tonnes held in London Metal Exchange warehouses. Meanwhile, LME cash copper cathode settled at $14,751 per tonne on October 14, 2026, while regional physical premiums hit $135 per tonne in Shanghai and $347 per tonne for European deliveries planned by Aurubis for 2027.

What the European Union is changing

European regulators are also tightening controls on scrap leaving their territory. The EU revised its Waste Shipment Regulation to raise the approval threshold for non-hazardous waste exports to non-OECD countries. This regulatory shift directly targets foreign outflows of scrap metal to protect local supply security.

At the BIR World Recycling Convention on October 26, 2026, industry representatives warned that export restrictions on recycled metals lead to fewer export outlets and lower local scrap prices. In 2025, copper alloy scrap made up 41.7% of EU copper scrap exports, with roughly 80% of that volume moving to China and India. Industry experts noted at the convention that Europe still lacks the specific processing capacity to absorb all domestic brass and alloy scrap, meaning export curbs risk creating stockpiles rather than immediate domestic consumption.

How to adapt your sourcing strategy

Global copper concentrate supply is expected by SMM to remain tight until around 2029, keeping scrap in high demand worldwide. As supplying nations prioritize domestic sales requirements and stricter waste shipment rules, relying on uncommitted foreign scrap orders exposes your shipments to sudden regulatory interventions. Track destination requirements under revised EU waste regulations, clarify contract definitions for scrap grades, and secure formal declarations before loading at foreign origin ports.

What this means for India

India is a large buyer of copper scrap. India bought about Rs 30,000 crore of copper scrap last year, and about a quarter of it came from the United States. That is why a US domestic sales requirement or a US export control matters so much to Indian buyers: the US alone supplies nearly a quarter of India's copper scrap imports. Both the US measure (a 25% domestic sales requirement for high-quality copper scrap, still under review) and the EU measures (tighter waste shipment rules, still being developed) are proposals under review, not settled law. Indian buyers should therefore plan for a possible tightening of supply, not treat a cutoff as already in force.

A correction on the direction of trade

To be clear about the direction of trade: India is the buyer in this story, and the United States and the European Union are the sellers. Indian importers buy copper scrap from US and EU suppliers. India is not the exporter here. So when this article talks about US domestic sales requirements and EU waste shipment rules, those are restrictions on scrap leaving the US and the EU, which can shrink the supply available to Indian buyers. The advice in the previous section should be read that way: before a shipment is loaded at a US or EU port, confirm the export rules at that origin, clarify the scrap grade in the contract, and confirm the shipment can leave. The earlier closing advice about destination requirements is corrected to this: track the export requirements at the origin, in the US and the EU.