Kazakhstan extends ban on ferrous, non-ferrous metals scrap exports

Kazakhstan has extended its export restrictions on ferrous and non-ferrous waste exports while expanding the ban on steel scrap outflows to include all means of transportation.

The Minister of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan issued an order on Oct. 24 imposing a six-month ban on the export of ferrous and non-ferrous metal waste and scrap, a ministry document seen by S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.

The ban comes into effect Nov. 2 and applies to waste and scrap of copper, aluminum, lead, including lead batteries, and other waste and scrap containing cadmium or mercury. The ban also covers steel scrap, including ingots and other semi-finished forms intended for remelting.

Kazakhstan had previously banned for six months the export of the non-ferrous metals by all means of transportation via a mid-October 2022 order. That order also placed a temporary ban on the export of steel scrap by road and sea. The measures were reinstated in October 2023.

In 2022 and 2023, Kazakhstan supplied Russia with 692,000 mt and 591,000 mt of ferrous scrap. In February 2024, to address scrap shortages in its domestic steel industry amid a construction boom (with a 12% increase in housing completions in 2023), the Kazakh government extended the ban on steel scrap exports to include rail transportation.

In 2022, the country's non-ferrous scrap exports included 1,628 mt of copper scrap and 4,845 mt of aluminum scrap with over 95% of the volume absorbed by Russia. In 2023, Kazakhstan's copper and aluminum scrap exports fell to negligible levels, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's Global Trade Analytics Suite.